Talks 'n Tasters at Newport Food Festival

One of last year's great successes was the Talks 'n Tasters stage, where visitors could see chefs and producers close up, taste their offerings and often get hands on experience in making them.

This year there are more sessions and three venues!

Tickets will go on sale on 5th August so here's a preview of these popular sessions.

From a start in an unoccupied stall in the Market Hall the sessions have expanded into a designated area of the Hall, Waterstones in town and the Lamb public house.

In the Market the sessions start at 10 am with Nia Thomas running a Cup Cake session. Love em or hate em there is no doubt that Cup Cakes have been the latest Big Thing and Nia will bring 16 years experience to the session. She also does courses for Newport Community Education so you can find out how to develop your skills as well.

As a huge coffee fan the Coaltown Coffee session on Top Tips for Home Brewed Coffee is a must for me. Scott James started the company and also runs a Barrista School so yu should learn lots and perhaps make that perfect cup of Joe!

Next up is Isla Black of Tasty Bites who brings her Jamaican background to producing some extremely tasty food. Her Jamaican Beef Patty is amazing and one of my favourite snacks at Llanyrafon Manor Market.

For the Wine Lover Neil Cammie offers some insights and the chance to Know your Merlot from your Cabernet in a wine tasting session. Neil is an expert in his field, writing a Western Mail Wine column and his company Fine Wines Direct does what it says on the tin.

Welsh Food Heritage is the subject for Sian Roberts who will show that Wales has a strong food heritage and we do more than Welsh Cakes and Cawl.

Abergavenny based Barry Chantler of Chantler Tea will reprise his very successful Tea Tastings and offer an insight into finding your perfect blend and making a great cuppa.

Finally I will be doing another hands on dough making session where we learn that bread isn't too hard to make, needn't take up all of your day and tasted better than supermarket pap. You get to make your own dough and take it away, with a recipe, to finish at home.

Over in Waterstones, Coaltown Coffee will do a Latte Art demonstration twice during the day so combine these with the Market sessions to seriously up your coffee making skills!

Diane Corister from Honeybunch Cake Company will demonstrate Cake Icing and Decorating.

Lucknam Park chef Luke Woodward will be demonstrating the other Big Thing of recent times Macarons. Dainty little Almond based meringues that come in many colours and flavours.

Nia Thomas runs a Cup Cake icing demo after Luke and I would not be surprised of elements of Nia, Luke and Diane's sessions come together for the final session where Luke will create Afternoon Tea,

The third venue for the Talks 'n Tastings is The Lamb public house which will feature Beer Tastings from 5 local breweries. Gareth from Tiny Rebel, Jamie from Tudor, Martyn from Untapped, Natasha from Rhymney and Simon from Pipes will each showcase their fine ales and beers in tutored tastings.

Tickets for these events, and many are free, are available from the Riverfront Box Office.

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.

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