With local restaurant owners, drink makers and some of Brighton’s best musicians gathered together, Foodies Festival had something for everyone. Whether you are vegetarian, pescetarian or a meat lover, or looking to expand your knowledge on how chilli chocolate is made or how to cook the best curry, or even if you were there simply for the free samples of booze, you can’t associate the festival with anything but fun.
The Drinks Theatre was one my personal favourites, and why wouldn’t it be? You get to go on a round-the-world wine tasting adventure and you also learn about alcohol making which could be pretty useful if you like drinking.
And after the wine there was the chocolate…
At the Tasting, Cake and Bake theatre we listened, we learned and we ate chocolate. The international chocolatier Fiona Sciloti presented her chocolates made with tea, herbs, flowers and honeys and shared her special techniques. There were also chocolate master classes and cake baking and all sorts of stuff to make your mouth water.
For our little friends at the Children’s Cookery Theatre, kids were learning how to make some delicious meals like Chinese noodles, veggie couscous and tomato soup. It was educational even for the adults; I did make some notes myself.
The Chefs Theatre was a proud host to some of Britain’s most talented chefs such as 2014 MasterChef winner Pina Coombes (who with the help of the audience cooked a delicious Malaysian curry which the rest of us got to try), the Michelin star chefs Matt Gillan, Adam Simmonds and Stephen Crane, and many local restaurant owners.
The owner of The Chilli Pickle, Alun Sperring, who has been a chef for 27 years and part of Foodies Festival family for two years, said that he would definitely do it again next year and also added:
“I think it’s amazing, it is such a vibrant city and it has become more and more a food destination. Brighton itself has so much to offer and the festival brings new people to the town. This is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate food.”
In The BBQ Arena Mark Llyod was giving amazing advice and top tips for the best BBQ all weekend, so if you happen to have a garden, you love BBQs and you want to impress your friends with some cooking skills, here are Mark’s Five Top BBQ Tips (for students only):
- Don’t cook when you’re too high.
- Don’t buy too much food.
- Make sure it’s (bloody) cooked properly.
- Buy a temperature thermometer
- Don’t drink too much before you cook.
The food stalls had their charm and the appetizing aromas definitely put a smile on my face as soon as I entered the festival. With the diversity of worldwide cuisines, your mouth would either be left on fire after trying some ‘Extreme Chilli chocolate’, amazed by the taste of locally produced mushroom ketchup, or soaked into a marshmallow heaven, but nothing would have been the same without the sound of Brighton’s local musicians on the entertainment stage. The music was flowing, the glasses were always full and tummies were kept happy.
Words and photos by Plamena Manolova
