Masterclasses at Newport Food Festival

Newport Food Festival is back and bigger than ever!

The beauty of this festival is that it is firmly rooted in the community, using the Market as one main venue and encouraging local producers and traders to take part and showcase what the area has to offer

Local chefs will be providing many of the demonstrations but as always there is a fair sprinkling of top names as well.

The Riverfront  is the venue for the Masterclasses, which are kept small so that you get up close and personal with the chefs, see exactly what they are doing and have the chance to talk to them both during and after the class.

A very strong line-up will be on stage and for your £7.50 admission you will get a great insight into some top dishes and techniques.

Starting the sessions is Emma Evans who runs Secret Supper Club, was a finalist in My Kitchen Rules and is about to open a new restaurant in Caerleon. Green’s will be located in the old Drovers pub and will offer top class food and a great atmosphere.

An Italian touch will come from Sergio Pasquelle of Gemellis restaurant in Newport. Expect superbly executed dishes and some insight into great flavours.

Next will be Newport boy, and Festival Patron, Hywel Jones who will show why Lucknam Park regularly retains its Michelin Star.

Newly ensconced in his own restaurant in Penarth, Caerleon born James Summerin will demonstrate why he has a superb reputation for fine dining food and why Penarth can expect a Star soon.

Head Chef at the Parkway in Cwmbran, Clive Williams is next up and, having seen his demonstrations in the past, I can guarantee that he will offer some tasty treats and a great insight into cooking at a very high level.

Local hotels will be represented again when a chef from the Celtic Manor offers an insight into their cooking. As yet the name isn’t confirmed but when you cook for the Ryder Cup and NATO conferences you have to be at the top of your game, and all of the Celtic Manor chefs certainly are.

Finally Festival Favourite and multi-award winning Anand George of Purple Poppadom brings Modern Indian cuisine to the stage and demand for his Masterclass will be high.

Unlike some events, where a couple of hundred people are trying to see what the culinary champions are doing, the Newport Food Festival Masterclasses are small and intimate, you are right up with the chefs and with only 20 people in the audience hey are like private lessons.

Tickets are available from Friday 1^st August and check the Website at http://www.newportfoodfestival.co.uk/ 

Mark Sargeant added to Newport Food Festival!

The latest exciting addition to a very strong Chef line up at the Newport Food Festival is Michelin Starred Mark Sargeant!

Kent born and based Mark will be one of the highlights of this year's festival on 5th October and will, I am sure, draw even more to attend.

Running two restaurants in Folkestone, Rocksalt and the Smokehouse Fish and Chips, Mark was previously best known as a mainstay of the Gordon Ramsay group being head chef at Claridges and co-writing some of Ramsay's books, as well as appearing regularly on Hell's Kitchen and advising on Kitchen Nightmares.


This photo of Rocksalt is courtesy of TripAdvisor

 

Mark uses local and seasonal produce as much as possible and has access to two farms for vegetables and eggs as well as having the harbour not just near, but under his cantilevered restaurant! Doesn't get much more local than that!

 





This photo of Rocksalt is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I love the fact that the children's menu at Rocksalt is called Small Fry and features such dishes as Big Strong Mussells, Fish Fingers (and Thumbs) and Grown Up Steak. No pandering to children here with nuggets and curly chips, but a scaled down adult menu presented with an attractive sense of humour.

 

According to some interviews Mark's favourite piece of kitchen equipment is his Sausage Machine and the development of in house charcuterie would bear this out.  Some dishes are very simple but pack real flavour and texture, for example a starter of Radishes with Anchovy Sauce, two ingredients and a little sourdough on the side but the kind of starter that really does act as an appetiser, refreshing the palate and making you crave more.

 

In addition to co-writing Gordon Ramsay's books Mark also has his own, My Kind of Cooking out and it has been one of my well thumbed books for some years.

 

 

Adding Mark to the line up shows how the Newport Food Festival is gaining a strong reputation although only in its third year. With Masterchef finalists Larkin and Dale, rising star Matt Dawkins and Spice Supremo Anand George already confirmed the chef line up goes from strength to strength, and there may well be some more additions to come.

 

Mark will be one of the really hot tickets for this year, and once the box office opens the lines will light up, so get in early or miss out.

 

By visiting the Newport Food Festival website http://www.newportfoodfestival.co.uk/blog/ you can register to get news about the box office opening.



Festival Fever

Many years ago my summers were a procession of festivals. The Isle of Wight, Weeley, Bickershawe, Plumpton and Pilton. For the younger generation of reader I should point out that Plumpton and Pilton are probably better known these days as Reading and Glastonbury.

Check out the line ups in these posters and goggle at the prices!! I'm sure that inflation since then is slightly lower than the 50,000% plus that seems to have occurred. Might be cheaper to get a payday loan.

 

These days I am unlikely to consider three days camping, even in a modern fully fitted glamping yurt, and my diet has improved since the days of the macrobiotic diet (Mung Beans done 500 ways for the uninitiated) and nicotine topped up by regular "vitamin" supplements. Dark Star is less a 30 minute Grateful Dead track and more of a lovingly crafted artisan Boudin Noir.

But the Summer and early Autumn are still Festival time for me, though -despite music being the food of love - it is the food festival that I now attend regularly.

Of course the Glastonbury of the Food world is the Abergavenny Food Festival and I can hardly wait for July  2nd when the line up is announced and the tickets go on sale.

21st and 22nd September are the key dates here and a great time is guaranteed for all.


Before that there is a new festival in South Wales.
Valleys FaCE (Food and culture event) is set for July on the Festival Park Shopping outlet in Ebbw Vale,

 

Valleys FaCE is   not -for-profit community regeneration project, organising a two day food and culture event within the Heads of the Valleys area.  It is hoped that ValleysFaCE will become a sustainable biannual event that will look to “relocate” in a different local town each year.

 

The aim is showcase existing SME’s within the local area, incorporating local artisan food, drink and craft producers.  It will also be an opportunity for local cottage industries with long term plans to create a solid customer base and possible viable future business to “test the water” with their products. Updates are available here http://www.valleysface.com/ 

 

I will be baking for a stall at the festival so come along and meet me and my breads,

 

 

August will certainly involve some festival activity though my exact itinerary has yet to be confirmed.

 

Early September means a trip back to Ireland.

 

First up it's the 30th Anniversary of Ballymaloe Cookery School, and a weekend of activity and celebration is planned. Immediately after I shall be moving from East Cork to West Cork and the town of Skibbereen.

 

 

During West Cork Food Week the town hosts the Celtic Cook Off in the West Cork Hotel. Chefs from the Celtic Regions, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Brittany cook off in a competition using West Cork produce.  More on this event as the line up finalises.

 

Back from Cork to Abergavenny and barely will the dust have settled on the UK's biggest food festival than it will be time for the Newport Food Festival on October 5th.

 

 

Now in its third year, it is bigger and better than ever with more stalls, great chef demos and some hands on food activities for visitors. I shall be hosting a couple of hands-on bread making sessions in the Market Hall and all participants will take home some rising dough to bake at home.

 

Again the line up is still finalising but more on the blog as it comes clear.

 

Not quite the festival season of my youth, but equally enjoyable and still a highlight of the year for me.

 



Brilliant Back Yard

Antonio Smith is a local food hero in Newport, and totally committed to his hometown.

This year Antonio demonstrated that commitment by becoming the main sponsor of the Newport Food Festival, doing a demonstration and serving up some damn fine food on the streets.

His company The Back Yard Company makes and sells authentic Jerk Sauces, with no artificial ingredients, for the real taste of Jamaica. Of his main rival, a sauce with a passing reference to the main musical genre of the Caribbean island, he says “It’s good for barbecue, but it ain’t Jerk”.

So how does a Jamaican come to be making the UK’s most authentic sauces in a small Welsh City?

Jamaican by birth Antonio has spent nearly all of his life in Newport and started using his Grandmother and Great Grandmother’s recipes to make his own sauces. As the business expanded he had to move production to the Food Centre Wales, in Hebron, but is keen to bring it back home. Newport City Council should get behind him and find suitable premises in town.

The name Back Yard Company is a direct tribute to Antonio’s Great Grandmother who never used the kitchen of her house but always cooked in the back yard. Using three stones and log wood she cooked often using a Dutch oven. As Antonio says Just listen to Bob Marley, he sums up Jamaican Cooking in No woman no cry: “And then Georgie would make the fire light, Log wood burnin' through the night, Then we would cook corn meal porridge
Of which I'll share with you.” And here's the proof.

To make an authentic Jerk Sauce there are three essential ingredients, Thyme. Allspice and Scotch Bonnet peppers. If they aren’t in it, it isn’t Jerk. Though widely viewed as a hot sauce by varying the ratio of the ingredients a range of heats can be produced, The Back Yard Company currently do 7 heats with a new even cooler one – Mr Cool- just launched.

I asked my resident chilli wimp to try Jerk Chicken at the Food Festival after Antonio assured her that he would give her the cool Mango sauce, she had previously refused a tasting at the Hove Foodies Festival in May, but with Antonio’s assurances she went ahead.

“Oh that’s really good” she said, “I’m getting warmth across my mouth but no killer burn at the tip and no horrible after-burn in my throat”. So impressed was she that her Jerk Bap was gone before I managed half of my (hotter) one, and she was thrilled to discover that she had the second coolest sauce!. So the message is clear Jerk Sauce is about flavour and working with the main ingredient not just making the Jamaican equivalent of Phall or Napalm.

So is your mouth watering? Want to get your hands on “Di Real Ting”?

Back Yard Jerk Sauces are available along the M4 corridor and in Manchester! The stockists will expand but Antonio got a huge cheer at the Newport Food Festival when asked that question. “Anyone in from Tesco? Good, we only sell through Real Food shops”. True legend, and a man after my own heart. So look in good local shops and Afro-Asian supermarkets or go to a food festival, if Back Yard are there you can try the sauces and buy both them and some amazing Jerk Chicken.

Alternatively you could visit the newly opened restaurant Dutchy’s in Caerleon. Not the easiest to find but go to the side door of The White Hart and it’s upstairs. Antonio told me of a recent evening when three lads, first time diners, came in. “How did you find us” they were asked. “Well we drove around for 20 minutes, then parked the car and got out. After that we just followed our noses, literally!”

Caerleon is a small town with a long history and major Roman Remains, but upstairs at the White Hart you enter a Jamaican Beach Shack!

Photo from Backyard Jerk Sauces Facebook Page

With a menu featuring Pork, Chicken and Goat Dutchy’s also has Vegetarian and Vegan dishes on offer, so something for everyone. The only dishes I didn’t find on the sample menu were Goat’s Head Soup or Mannish Water though the latter is probably best suited to Stag Parties!

To find out more about The BackYard Company.
 
There is no doubt that Antonio Smith and his Back Yard Company are both Local and Great!

Visit UK Food Bloggers Association

Super Supper at Newport Food Festival

A good Supper on the eve of a Food Festival is becoming a must, providing a launch pad and building the buzz about the event.

Last year the Newport Food Festival Supper was held in the Market Hall already bedecked for the main event and was well received (see earlier blog post).

This year it moved to the Riverfront where many of the Demonstrations and Masterclasses would take place and presented the organisers with a challenge. How do you convert a relatively bland area like a theatre foyer into an intimate dining area? Answer with hard work and good will. Starting at 8:30am teams built backdrops, put in tables and dressed them and organised cooking facilities. The other challenge that was faced was returning it to a foyer by the morning to allow the Festival to take place.

There had been a lot of interest as the first ever Supper was a huge success and tickets sold out very quickly leaving some people disappointed but determined to act quickly next year!

The experience started outside the Riverfront as two comedy French Chefs welcomed diners before they moved in for drinks and a mingle with other diners. It was good to see old friendships being renewed and a lot of enthusiasm being built up.

The menu, as last year, was designed and cooked by three local restaurants the Waterloo Hotel, the White Hart Llangibby and Ristorante Vittorio. Vittorio’s provided the desserts whilst the White Hart and Waterloo each had a starter and main course dish on the menu. Menu choices had been made previously so service could start promptly and each diner would receive their choice.

Last year service was provided by a group of unemployed people who had been trained for the event and several used their new skills to gain employment in the hospitality industry as a result. It is this involvement of the community and development of skills that I really like about the Newport Food Festival and which sets it apart from other festivals. This year the waiting staff were all from the Crosskeys campus of Coleg Gwent, youngsters getting valuable experience that could serve them well for the future.

But to the food.

We  had both chosen a Wild Mushroom dish served with Melba Toast, Hollandaise and a slow poached egg. It was brilliant, earthy mushrooms offset by crisp toast, rich Hollandaise and a poached egg that oozed a golden yolk when pierced. Near perfection.

At this point the French Chefs reappeared as Italian waiters who toured the room entertaining diners and allowing time for the dishes to be cleared and mains to be served.

The mains were not easy to choose; I could have gone for all three dishes but settled upon Duck with Quinoa. Perfectly pink breast. with a cigar of chopped leg meat in a thin pastry and, a rich cinnamon/peppery thick sauce and a rich jus. Another triumph for the chefs.

Mrs K had opted for the Sewin with a mussel veloute and declared it Yum! I tried a little and would have to agree, herb crusted and with several plump mussels resting in a rich veloute the Sewin was great and the dish hit the mark on all levels.

A return of the chefs, this time as Health and Safety Officers provided a comedic interlude as they demonstrated Kitchen Hazards involving knives and flames whilst again the tables were cleared down.

Wine had been placed on the tables but I snuck away to the bar and bought a bottle of Tiny Rebel beer. I have written before about this Newport micro-brewery and their range of ales but was pleased to find a new brew there. Chocoholic is infused with Belgian Chocolate, but before you think it horribly sweet or alchopoppy, it is not. A great bitter bite is balanced by a chocolate perfume and as a fellow drinker said “We have dessert wines why not a Dessert Beer?” Not one for a long session but a nice crisp beer.

Desserts arrived and we had covered the options. Mrs K choosing the Seasonal Fruits with Mascarpone, served with ice cream and fresh raspberries this was a clean tasting delight. I had opted for Tiramisu which had a good alcohol kick and a smooth creamy texture and finished my meal in style.

As coffee was served the stage was set for the finale of the evening and Bhangra band RSVP tuned up.

This was a highly interactive band and soon diners, including the Mayor, were lining up to learn the moves and dance. Even if you couldn’t get onto the dance floor you could join in at your table and the room was soon a sea of “light bulb changing” and “Frisbee throwing”. Perhaps the most enthusiastic dancer was food blogger Heather Grant (@cookupaparty) who threw herself into the dance with, it must be said, more enthusiasm than actual talent!

 RSVP have played major festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading so getting them for the Supper was great. They would also take Bhangra to the streets of Newport during the festival playing in several locations around the festival.

If you want to see what you missed go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PcRJhGnDPY

As with last year the Supper was a huge success and set the tone for the Festival brilliantly. Thanks to the chefs and their staff, the Coleg Gwent students and the Festival staff who made it all possible.

Visit UK Food Bloggers Association