Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts

Sunday, 9 December 2012

We Feast London; Festive Special

Earlier in the year - we ebulliently trekked to London Bridge for We Feast (here is the lowdown), so when the lovely people behind it announced the next instalment around Christmas time I was in.

This time we were off to Islington on a crisp sunny Sunday afternoon. The bar were serving hot drinks in the form of mulled cider and mulled negroni. We started with the cider and headed to the longest queue - which happened to be Yum Bun. Pork, hoisin sauce and chili in a thick pancakey / bready bun. They were completely delicious and a  great starter, no wonder they had the longest line.




On the table there were lovely candle displays which really didn't look like they could pass a fire safety test! Candle's in paper bags? Effective and dangerous

We didn't need much coaxing before joining the Anna Mae line. The biggest dilemma  Straight up mac and cheese with pickle on top or Chili Mac, the standard mac topped with homemade chili, a dollop of sour cream and a tiny bottle of Tabasco. OK, it wasn't actually that much of a dilemma. It is a good job we were sharing as this was a huge portion. The chili was better than your average and went amazingly well with the main event. The sour cream was complementary and unfortunately we were too ravenous and slightly out of control so when the Tabasco didn't open at my first touch we disregarded it and devoured everything else.







Time for a refuel at the bar, this time we went for the Mulled Negroni which is basically turbo mulled wine - including Gin, Campari and something else I can't remember  It was slicker than your average mulled wine. My only problem with these sort of things is they get quite cold quite quickly. Even more of an excuse to drink fast.


Next on the agenda? Mishkin's. I still haven't been to the real deal although it is firmly on my wish list. We went for the hot salt beef English Muffin's with mustard and a sauerkraut salad-y topping. We had them cut this in half, one with hot mustard (for me). Heaven. I honestly need to go here immediately for a proper dinner. The small but perfectly formed burger (esque type affair) was delicious.



After all this we started basically groaning in fullness the only sensible thing to do was start thinking about all things sweet. In the meantime though we found the music to be very enjoyable. A mix of folk and country, we had a little dance along.



Someone we had seen earlier was having the most incredible rainbow cake. It would be ours. The stall from Pomp De Franc also had an impressive array of cupcakes. They wouldn't divert us from the rainbow cake though. It reminds me of something you'd see on the Great British Bake off in the Showstopper challenge. The taste however may not have won Mary and Paul over. It was good, but each layer had the same taste. Variation in flavour would have been better. The buttercream however was immense.







As we thought we were leaving the only thing left to do was eat chocolates. First up from Co&Co. The champagne chocolate blocks were absolutely heavenly. They tasted like a Charbonnel et Walker. They are new business who we will definitely be seeing more of.





Next door to them are my neighbours The Modern Pantry. These had some truffles that looked very much like one of my favourite snacks from The Zetter Townhouse. On biting into them though then were very different...completely filled with ooey gooey caramel, which I wasn't expecting therefor ending up with a handful of it! Better that than a scarfful though.

There were so many other fabulous traders whom we didn't visit, mainly because we frequent them anyway! One of these were the lovely Pizza Pilgrims boys. Their pizza is down right delicious...


The ambiance was also very festive and didn't feel too cold in the warehousey space






Thank you We Feast London, until next time!
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Tuesday, 13 November 2012

BBC Good Food Show

After a false start and heading all the way to West London sans tickets, on Sunday I finally made it to the BBC Good Food Show. As someone who goes to a lot of trade exhibitions I don't venture to a lot of 'Consumer shows'. I am never prepared for how incredibly packed they are and how RUTHLESS people are to get their monies worth.

Feeling a tad delicate I was in the mood to gently browse and stuff my face, naturally. First up we headed to the restaurant to see what was on offer, thinking it HAD to be good. You purchase 'DC's' which are dining currency. After perusing what was on offer the choice was clear. Sushi and monkfish biryani; 4DC's (or £'s) for the sushi and 6DC's for the biryani; so the tenner that was just changed was now in another till and I was ready.


First up the biryani. It was absolutely delicious and just what the hangover doctor ordered. The sushi I managed to fumble and drop. Luckily they let me take another one and that was gone in about 5 seconds flat, luckily in my mouth this time. Was it the best sushi I've ever eaten? No. Was it functional? Yes.


Feeling slightly more human it was off to the stalls.. There was unfortunately not a huge amount of choice. Lots and lots of sauces, chili sauce, curry sauce and all sorts of sauce. I did however get to bring my new camera so this will give you a better idea of what was on offer (and what is in focus!)

I can't get enough garlic
Cured meats
Argh the crowds
Starbucks showcasing Verismo, which for the record is pretty good
Co-located with the food show is the wine show. Pretty small but some gems in there. And a hairy dog is always appreciated...
Buckfast, snigger

Bubbly Champagne Company and cute little toppers


M&S got in on the game

Then coffee was required, Starbucks Verismo Latte
Dessert? Chocolate fondue
and marshmallow fruit kebabs
White chocolate fountain was something to behold
Crabbies
Masterchef's at work
Did I buy anything? yes I did - three dozen sausages! They were a pack of 6 for £3 or 6 packs for £10! 36 sausages for £10, how can you say no to that?! One pack have since been made into some delicious hot dogs. The other packs are snuggled away in the freezer waiting to be turned into lazy Saturday morning breakfasts  sausage casseroles and probably more hot dogs  Does anyone have any sausage recipes to recommend to me??
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