A spontaneous visit home resulted in me attending the 21st BBC Good Food Show, at the NEC in Birmingham with my Auntie, who is also a big foodie. I’d never been before, whereas she had, so I was VERY excited but at the same time I didn’t really know what to expect, other than lots of food. We walked through the entrance and all I could see was stand after stand. It was huge! The first thing I spotted was the ‘World Cheese Awards’ area, it was my idea of HEAVEN! Tables and tables of cheese! I just wanted to be able to taste them all but unfortunately you couldn’t. Cheese is definitely my down fall in life. I ended up buying three cheeses from The Cheshire Cheese Company; taste of the raj, caramelised red onion and red rioja cheddar and cheddar with ale and mustard. I like trying new cheeses. The taste of the raj tasted like coronation chicken without the chicken, it was lovely. The Cheshire Cheese Company had a really interesting selection of cheeses. They sold the sticky toffee pudding cheese that I’ve tasted before. The offer was 3 cheeses for £10 so I chose my 3 favourites, it was difficult though. I’m saving them for the Christmas period. I know that once their open they won’t last long.
After wandering around the hundreds of cheeses we started to browse the stalls. We started tasting everything on offer; cheeses, sausages, olive oils, brownies, chutneys, jams, quiches, biscuits, ice-cream etc. etc. I also made the most of sampling all of the alcohol stands as I wasn’t driving. I looked at my watch and it was only about 11am and I’d already had shots of raspberry gin, cassis, wine, cider and vodka. I thought I better slow down. I bought some carrot and date chutney which had a slight spice to it. I bought my friend Tegan a few little presents; chocolate and banana jam, chocolate, cherry and banana jam and a chilli peanut butter. I bought a bottle of bottle green spiced berry cordial. It tasted exactly like mulled wine but it was obviously non-alcoholic, perfect for those adopting the role of driver over the Christmas period. I bought some toffee vodka after trying a shot, it was so easy to knock back. I thought it could be good fun over Christmas. I also bought a fantastic Greek salad which I had for lunch for the following two days. My Auntie bought A LOT! Cheese, cassis, balsamic vinegar, knifes, Sambuca … (that’s about all I can remember but there was definitely more). We had so many bags that we had to go and invest in a BBC Good Food Show wheelie bag, a concept we found very amusing.
We watched a number of demonstrations at the show. We saw Gennaro Contaldo making Calzone on the Saturday Kitchen stage. We saw Rachel Allen doing a demonstration in the Magimix Theatre. My highlight of the show was meeting John Torode. He was doing a book signing so we went and bought a book each for him to sign. My Auntie bought me the MasterChef Kitchen Bible as an early Christmas present so I could get it signed. It was amazing to meet John Torode, even if it was just for a minute. After the book signing we headed to the Supertheatre to watch the ‘Michelin Starred Challenge’. It was between Glynn Purnell and Michael Caines. It was fascinating to watch these two talented chefs in action. I’d really like to visit their restaurants at some point in the not too distant future. Glynn Purnell was hilarious, he should have a television show. I managed to get their autographs afterwards. We also watched Michael Caines a little later on on the M and S stage where he was cooking a two course New Years Eve dinner; a haddock broth and fishcakes.
After we had had our fair share of wandering and tasting it was time for lunch, something I’d been looking forward to all day despite the amount I had already eaten. We ate in the MasterChef restaurant whilst watching the action from the MasterChef stage next door, which was hosted by Andy Peters. To start with we both had; Caramelised red onion and goats cheese tarte tatin which was served with a hazelnut and apple salad. For mains I had; Monkfish with butternut squash fondant, French beans and sauce vierge. This was lovely and a great lunch dish as it was light. For pudding we both had; Mango and passion fruit iced parfait with vodka and lime sorbet. The vodka and lime sorbet was served in a brandy snap basket. The pudding was my favourite part of the meal. All the food was inspired from contestants of MasterChef.
My favourite discovery of the whole show was Tim Kinnaird’s Macaroons and More stall. Tim Kinnaird is a MasterChef finalist and his macaroons are incredible! I bought four; mint chocolate, salted caramel, passion fruit and chocolate and gingerbread and chocolate. They weren't cheap but after eating them I wish I had bought more. The salted caramel one was my favourite. I've become a big fan of salted caramel recently.
I really enjoyed the BBC Good Food Show and I can’t wait to go again next year!
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