Wednesday 6 July 2016

My discoveries at the Summber BBC Good Food Show

I was lucky again with the Good Food Show and won tickets!! I was so excited as I really loved the Winter show so had been entering all the competitions I could find to get tickets!
I went with a friend on a Friday this time - Stephen took the day off and looked after the monkeys!! We got there early-ish which was great as it can get so busy that you can't get to the stalls that you want to. I did a bit of research before hand this time on Twitter to see which companies would be there. The bargains I got from the Winter Show were fabulous.

I wanted to get a bottle of gin ( I know my priorities!) and was looking forward to sampling a few of the Gin stalls - I had in my mind a Damson or Rhubarb gin but when I tried this little beauty I just knew I had to have it!



It is similar to Pimms but not as sweet  - it is infused with Earl Grey Tea, borage, lemon verbena and other botanicals. sounds odd but oh it is delicious - served with lots of ice and lemonade.





The only other item I was specifically looking for was something called Brownie Butter.I had seen a lot of coverage about it on Twitter and was very curious  Eventually after looking at the guide a million times and not seeing the stand we found it - It is made by a company called Gower Cottage Brownies It is a business run by Kate who has sold hundreds of Brownies from her place in Wales. The Brownie Butter  didn't fail to disappoint! It is heaven I could (and did) eat it straight from the jar. It didn't last long! We had friends to stay and used it on vanilla ice cream - everyone agreed it was delicious - glad I only bought the one jar!!!!




One of the things I love most about the Good Food Show is stumbling across something delicious! This is one of those very things - Tortilla mix! Sounds odd but it was yummy. I love a Spanish Omelette and frequently buy the ones that are ready made as proper Tortillas take a long time to cook - all the potatoes and onions cooked in olive oil on a slow heat so that they caramelise does take a while. There is a small business called Zantiago who have slowcooked the onions and potatoes for you so all you have to do is add the eggs! Easy peasy. I cooked this for my 3 year old and 1 year old and they loved it! Unfortunately you can currently only get these in a handful of places in London but they are looking to sells in Delis around the UK.




The other item that I tried but didn't buy at the show but have subsequently is this delicious Ice Cream from a company called Oppo



There are 3 flavours - Salted Caramel with a hint of Lucuma, Madagasca with a hint of Baobab and Mint Choc Swirl with a hint of Spirulina. I tried the Vanilla one at the show and was amazed at how delicious it was and the whole tub only has 82 calories in! They are sugar free ice creams with only natural ingredients to make them taste so sweet. The Salted caramel is absolutely delicious and has a Maple syrup taste to it the exotic sounding  Lucuma is from Peru and is shaped like a melon with golden flesh and a big stone inside. In The Vanilla is has Baobab which is an African plant the pulp is sweet and has a slight tang and according to their website is somewhere between a caramelised pear and a grapefruit! Finally in the Mint choc ice cream is the weirdly named Spirulina! This is a leaf from the South China Sea and provides the deep green colour to the ice cream. I am looking forward to trying this one next - I am sure it will be as delicious as the others.
Finally as we left the Good Food Show there was a Goody Bag with all of these delicious things inside! What a treat!!!!


Overall it was a fantastic day and we didn't even get a chance to visit the BBC Gardeners World show that was in the other hall! Would have liked to have a 2 day ticket to come back again!!! And we didn't watch any of the Chefs in the Super-theatre perhaps I will do next time!!
Really looking forward to the Winter Show now! There is so much to see and EAT!