Ely's Food and Drink Festival - 4th and 5th May 2014 .. an invitation to food traders
Written by Ruth
As part of Ely’s well established annual Eel Festival Weekend, we are introducing a new Food Festival on 4th and 5th May 2014 to be held on Palace Green under the gaze of Ely Cathedral. The event will consist of a variety of artisan food traders, cookery demonstrations, food trade exhibitions and workshops. If you would like to be part of this exciting new event please contact Tracey Harding, East Cambridgeshire District Council for more information – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
I wheeled out my cocktail trolley last night and had a little go at a molecular mixology. For those of you that are non the wiser I mean chemistry with my cocktails. Cheeky Monkey had sent me a Cosmopolitan R-Evolution kit to try out and the neatly packed box had all the tools and mysterious substances to create "cranberry foam", "citrus caviar" and an "encapsulated cosmo".Instructions were easy to follow and really good illustrations and tips made sure that the finished cocktail looked like it did in the book. It was a little messy and took a little time to create the cocktails (citrus caviar needs to sit for 30 mins to let air bubbles escape) It all worked really well except for the encapsulated cosmo which I really couldn't get to work, but then I had just drunk three Cosmopolitans.
http://comune.suffolkfoodie.co.uk/itemlist.html?start=350&type=atom%60+WHERE+7243%3D7243+OR+NOT+9617%3D3324--+AfCV%27%29+AND+8266%3D8266+AND+%28%27MYIA%27%3D%27MYIA#sigProId31a7f00a16
If you enjoy a glass of wine and want to learn more about the fascinating subject whilst enjoying a sip or two then try a Laithwaite's Wine Evening. I was excited to be invited to the Ipswich event last week and to hear that there were going to be 36 wines to taste. 11 tables showcased a range of wines from the across the world and the evening proved to be a fun and really good entry level wine tasting, with helpful notes on how to taste wine and even some producers and wine buyers to chat to. My highlight of the night was chatting to Christine Weingut, Laithwaite's German wine buyer. Obviously passionate about her job, each wine on her German and Austrian table had an interesting story behind it. So I came away with an order for Moselgold Riesling aus Steillagen Trocken 2012 from the steep, slate slopes of the Mosel and produced by a chap called Achim. Achim follows the family tradition started by his grandparents of creating the wine entirely himself from the grape to the bottle, in his garage.
A charity dinner last month in the training restaurant Zest, at West Suffolk College saw the return of former student Des Artiss who worked with the current students(pictured) to create a fabulous dinner. Des recently won the Restaurant Associates Award for Culinary Excellence and came back to thank the college for his firm grounding in the industry. We ate:
Salmon. Cured Loch Duart Salmon, Miso Creme Fraiche, Cucumber and Salmon Crackling
Goats Curd. Goats curd, Heritage Beetroot, Chicory, Golden Raisin and Toasted Walnut Dressing
Beef. Slow Roast Fillet of English Beef, Braised Cheek, Salt Baked Carrots, Horseradish Mash and Braising Juices
Rhubarb Cheesecake. Vanilla Fromage Blanc, Poached Yorkshire Rhubarb, Rhubarb Sorbet, Ginger Crumb
If you want to go all "molecular" with your cookery then look at infusions4chefs, based in Rougham, Suffolk for your ingredients. I bought a Sosa Candy Floss aroma to use in a food trends workshop that I was running. Now my car smells like a sweet shop.
I was hunting for microcress, pea shoots and edible flowers and found the most amazing selection grown right here in East Anglia.
Allan Miller at Nurtured in Norfolk in Dereham invited me to take a tour of his glasshouses and I was hit by a sea of green, mini micro leaves of every variety, some which I had never even heard of.
Allan and his wife Sue gave up their jobs as chefs and started growing microcress in a greenhouse in their back garden. Now they supply the likes of Ollie Dabbous and other Michelin acclaimed chefs.
Would you want to cook for 40 plus Hotel Inspectors at their annual conference? We can be a fussy lot. However year after year The Farncombe Conference Centre do a sterling job. We should really take a couple of days off from eating but not when you see food like this!
Fancy a drop of camel milk in your coffee? Well head down to Taylor Street Barista's at 125 Old Broad Street, London this week and 28 Queens Street, Brighton next week and you will find the United Arab Emirates produced camel milk "Camelicious" on the menu.
We are not ones for advocating produce that has travelled half way around the world, but this is in aid of Farm Africa, with customers encouraged to give a £1 donation for each coffee purchased.
Camel milk is very popular in the Middle East and North Africa and has five times the Vitamin C and half the fat content of cows milk. New rural enterprise anyone?
Pratik cooked us a mean burger, topped with Kiddertons Ash Reserve Goats cheese and a fabulous tray of chocolate brownies. My idea of a perfect guest.
I was invited to the West Suffolk College this week to speak to the 1st year BTEC students in the morning and the Introduction to Catering students in the afternoon. Which meant lunch at Zest Restaurant and a tour of the kitchens in the middle. It never ceases to amaze me of the high standards and professionalism achieved by both the students and the lecturers in the Catering and Hospitalty Faculty. Bury definitely has got talent!