Here’s a quick list of just some of all the good stuff I came across this afternoon at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2013, the “UK’s largest showcase of fine food and drink”. The fair continues tomorrow and Tuesday at Olympia Exhibition Centre. I loved my nibbling meander through the fair and thought it presented a fabulous opportunity to sample a range of great products from Britain and abroad while chatting with passionate producers and entrepreneurs.
Award winning “posh pop” drinks from Breckland Orchard in Norfolk come in a variety of refreshing flavours. I really liked the cream soda with a splash of rhubarb.
I was intrigued by and genuinely enjoyed sample the range of drinking gazpachos from Cho. Strawberry gazpacho? It works.
Without a doubt the most exciting thing I tried at the fair was the range of fantastic cheeses from southwestern Spain on offer from artisan cheese importer, Extremaduran Warehouse. Their sheep cheeses in particular were absolutely gorgeous. I could not get enough of their Torta del Casar DOP (raw merino sheep “torta” of cheese with dense creamy interior that you eat with a spoon) and Crema de Queso de Oveja (90% Torta del Casar and 10% sheep cream).
I got three words for ya: crispy bacon pie. Or, as they call it in Sicily, a sfogliagusto of ciccioli croccanti. Seriously, it along with all the other pork products I sampled from Modena based company, Gigi il Salumificio amazed!
The chimi mayo (chimichurri mayonnaise) and chipotle ketchup from Argentine steakhouse, Lomito, in Northwood rocked my palate.
Established in Cumbria in 1828, Woodall’s makes excellent and flavoursome British charcuterie. I really liked their Royal Ham ( marinated in ale and molasses for eight days then hung and smoked in oak before being air-dried for six months).
