On Saturday I was at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham. It was a busy, tiring but very enjoyable day. Over the four days, it was expected that over 80,000 people would attend the show – it was so busy on Saturday it felt at times as though they were all there in one day! There were hundreds of stalls from every concievable angle of the food and drink industry – sausage makers, cheese stalls, vineyards, salt producers, cooking equipment.. the list goes on.
Here’s my round up of the best..
Cropwell Bishop
Local to me, Cropwell Bishop (named after their home village in Nottinghamshire) are a family business producing a small range of Stilton cheeses. The same family have been making Stilton for over 100 years from their dairy. They work with local suppliers to ensure that Cropwell Bishop remains as delicious as it always has been. They are one of just a few creameries in the country who are legally allowed to call their cheese Stilton (as opposed to ‘blue cheese’). Whilst at the stall, I tried some absolutely gorgeous cheese, in particular their ‘Classic Blue Stilton’ which is rich, creamy and completely delicious. Its made with vegetarian rennet too meaning anyone can enjoy it.
Cornish Sea Salt
The only time I’ve really tried flavoured salt was during a meal at J Bakers (top 10 meals of my life) in York a few years ago. We had mini jacket potatoes with smoked sea salt and the memory has never left me. I have to admit I am a salt fiend and probably eat far too much of it and now that I’ve tried some of Cornish Sea Salt’s flavours, I’m worried its only going to get worse! I was lucky enough to get a press pack from these guys and in the back were some samples for me to take home – chilli, garlic, onion, smoked, luxury pepper. The company is fairly new, launched in 2008, and in that time they’ve attracted the attention from numerous high profile chefs including Mark Hix and Nathan Outlaw. I tried the onion salt on my poached egg this morning and it really lifted it to the next level. I’ll definitely be using their salts in my cooking going forward.
Spicentice
Another company local to me – the Spicentice guys were very friendly and their brightly coloured stall drew us in immediately. They specialise in spice rubs, pickles and spice mixes. The spice mixes focus around Indian cuisine with a few extras thrown in for good measure. You get a list of ingredients and recipe card for great dishes like Methi Chicken, Lamb Tagine, Aloo Gobi etc. I think this is a great way to make new dishes accessible to less adventurous cooks. I picked up a whole bag full of goodies including a moroccan rub and spice mixes for Goan King Prawn curry and Methi Chicken. I’ll report back once I’ve tried them out but I’ve got high hopes!
Overall, it was a fantastic day, I’ll be back next year for sure. If you want to see more from my day at the show, visit my facebook page – I’ve got an albumn full of pictures from the day, including some great facials from the Masterchef cook off between Dhruv and Shelina in the Supertheatre.. great fun!
and highlight of the day … meeting John Whaite, GBBO 2012 winner..
