Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012

Next week is Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012, an annual campaign run by HGCA to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast.

I have to admit, I’m usually one of the 1-in-4 people who skip breakfast during the week – even though it’s not called ‘the most important meal of the day’ for nothing:

1. Breakfast eaters tend to be slimmer than breakfast skippers.
2. Eating breakfast can aid concentration and mental performance at work and at school.
3. It provides you with the nutrients and energy needed for an active lifestyle.
4. Research shows that breakfast eaters are less depressed and have lower levels of stress than breakfast skippers.

Get involved

Everyone from food producers to retailers and shoppers are encouraged to get involved in the campaign, either running breakfast events or just by making the effort to have a healthy breakfast each morning.

I can’t seem to find any events in Northern Ireland on the get involved page, but that shouldn’t stop you!

We’re trying to do our part by making a huge batch of our Cherry & Oat Breakfast Bars to bring into our breakfast-dodging colleagues in work.

Do you think you could help people “shake up their wake up”?

Breakfast ideas

If the thought of making breakfast has you completely stumped, we’ve a few of our own ideas for your breakfast, and the Breakfast Week website has loads more – just visit their breakfast ideas page to find out how to make:

• Breakfast hash with bacon and poached eggs
• Devilled tomatoes on granary
• Traditional breakfast
• Oatcakes and scrambled eggs

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012

Other information

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012 runs from 22-28 of January.

You can find out all about the campaign by visiting www.shakeupyourwakeup.com.

Boojum Mexican Burrito Bar

Follically challenged in the face department? Is your ‘tache more of a No Show than a Mo Bro? Have no fear, Boojum is here!

The Mexican burrito bar, with stores on Belfast’s Chichester Street and Botanic Avenue, are getting in on the Movember moustache madness by serving up burritos for £3 on 30 November 2011 – with all proceeds of which going to the men’s health charity.

There’s one condition – you have to be sporting the Boojum cut-out moustache!

To get yours, just visit facebook.com/boojumbelfast and sign-up to download your PDF soup-strainer.

Movember has a serious side

Movember is a worldwide phenomenon which sees men growing and grooming their upper lip hair in the month of November, in order to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate and testicular cancer, highlighting a serious issue that affects many lives but isn’t openly talked about.

You can find out more about Movember by visiting the Movember website.

Boojum Belfast join the Movember fun

Belfast Beer and Cider Festival 2011

Forget the MTV Europe awards – we’re looking forward to The Belfast Beer and Cider Festival 2011!

Organised by CAMRA NI, the festival makes its 12th appearance in Belfast, returning to the Ulster Hall from 17-19 November to celebrate the best of artisan beer and cider.

Event details: The Belfast Beer and Cider Festival 2011

• When: 17-19 November, 2011
• Where: The Ulster Hall, 1-7 Bedford Street, Belfast
• How much: £3 daytime, £6 from 5pm on Thursday, £7 from 4pm on Friday and Saturday, £2 for CAMRA members
• Buy tickets: Available at the door

You can find The Ulster Hall on Google Maps

About the festival

Real beer means real flavour, and between the 100 or so beers, 14 ciders and 4 perries there’s bound to be a few that really tickle your tastebuds – but there’s only one way to find out!

Our plan is to try the best-named beers first and work backwards – we’ll be starting with Blue Monkey’s “99 Red Baboons” and Allgate’s “Twitter and Busted” and seeing where we go from there.

We’re pleased to see that our local breweries are also well represented, with Northern Ireland’s newest brewery, Ards Brewing Company, adding its Ballyblack Stout to a fine selection of beers from Hilden, Whitewater, and College Green.

The festival also has tutored tasting sessions, live music, and pub games going on, so there’s plenty to keep you entertained, and has to be one of the best value-for-money events in town!

More information

All the the details for the event are available on the Belfast Beer Festival website: www.belfastbeerfestival.co.uk.

You can also contact the event organiser:
By email: organiser@belfastbeerfestival.co.uk
By telephone: 07545274883

You can visit the CAMRA NI website at: www.camrani.org.uk.

The Belfast Beer and Cider Festival

Thanks to John McDonald who kindly let us use his photos from last year’s festival.

The Belfast Wine Festival, 29 August 2011

The Belfast Wine Festival is bringing the wonderful world of wine to St. George’s Market on Monday 29 August, 2011.

The festival, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, is headlined by the flamboyant Saturday Kitchen star, Olly Smith.

In between the workshops, in which you’ll discover the best that the Old and New Worlds have to offer, you’ll be able to visit the food and drink stalls to sample a wide variety of wines and food – or even take your own taste-test to find out what type of wine you like and why!

The tickets

There are two types of tickets: Premier Cru and Grand Cru.

Premier Cru tickets start at £16.50 for entry to the event (although the website has them for £15!), and includes a complimentary tasting glass, wine tasting booklet, a tasting Card with 12 free samples and other wine-related goodies.

Grand Cru tickets are priced at £55 and include a three course lunch or dinner with VIP guest Olly Smyth.

You can buy your tickets online by visiting http://www.belfastwinefestival.co.uk or by calling T: 0843 2896922.

Event details

• 11am – Doors open
• 12pm – Intro from our host Olly Smith
• 12.30pm – Wine workshop: “How to taste wine.”
• 2.00pm – Choosing perfect wines for Summer/Autumn – a sampling of red and white wine, food and wine matching ideas.
• 3.00pm – Roses from around the world.
• 4.00pm – Sparkling wines: “Alternatives to Champagne”
• 5:00pm – Big Reds: “New world V Old world”

Olly Smith is headlining The Belfast Wine Festival

Other information

There is more information on The Belfast Wine Festival at www.belfastwinefestival.co.uk.

You can also find The Belfast Wine Festival on Facebook.

Olly Smith has his own website which is full of information about the festival’s host: www.ollysmith.com.

Galgorm Resort and Spa

Hot on the heels of his challenge for the Northern Ireland crown in The Great British Menu, Chef Chris Bell is hosting a ‘Taste of Irish Summer’ evening in The Galgorm Resort and Spa on Tuesday 9th August 2011.

The evening is being held in the River Room, the Galgorm’s AA rosette restaurant, and is a celebration of Irish Summer produce, with Chris using the very best of seasonal ingredients from local suppliers to showcase his considerable talents.

Priced at £60 per person, the Taste of Irish Summer menu includes:

• Canapés & Prosecco
• Chilled Tomato Consommé
• Hot Smoked Sea Trout, Champ Potato Cake, Samphire and Watercress Cream
• Saddle of Antrim lamb, Roast Garlic Mash, Thyme Roasted Vegetables and Lamb Jus
• Strawberries & Cream
• Irish Cheeses & Biscuits
• Coffee & Petit Fours

You could really push the boat out and add the wine package which complements these dishes for an additional £50, or make a night of it by taking advantage of the offer of a one night stay, with breakfast and access to the thermal spa, for £55 per person.

To make a booking or to get more information, you can contact Beth on 028 2588 2562 or email bswindlehurst@galgorm.com.

Chris Bell, Head Chef at Galgorm Resort and Spa

You’ll also be able to catch up with Chris at the Belfast Taste and Music festival from 4th-7th August in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens.

Contact Galgorm Resort & Spa

Galgorm Resort and Spa
Galgorm
Co. Antrim
Northern Ireland
BT42 1EA
T: +44 (0)28 2588 1001
F: +44 (0)28 2588 0080
W: www.galgorm.com
You can also find Galgorm Resort & Spa on Google Maps.

Festa del vino Veneto at Carluccio's

Italian food is one of the most popular and accessible of cuisines, with each region contributing its own unique ingredients and flavours to create a really varied food culture. There really is something for everyone!

It’s also true that, where there’s Italian food, there has to be wine to complement it.

So, when Carluccio’s announced their Festa del Vino Veneto (literally meaning the Venetian Wine Festival), I jumped at the chance to get to know the food and wine of this north-eastern corner of Italy a bit better.

Fortunately, I was able to try out one of their hour-long wine tasting sessions in their St Christopher’s Place branch. I say fortunately because it was fully booked, which just goes to show you how popular the events at Carluccio’s are.

Carluccio's Caffe at St. Christopher's Place, London

The course catered for around twenty people, which was a good number as it meant the sommelier, Mike Stocks, could answer any individual queries and give tailored advice.

The anti-pasti

Each table was set for two, with a range of five glasses for each person. A large sharing platter of antipasti was soon brought to the table, which was to be split between two – perfect to ensure we weren’t drinking on an empty stomach (as there were only five wines to taste, this wasn’t a classic spittoon affair, and we were able to drink the vino on offer). The antipasti included a sumptuous range of fresh meats (salami, parma ham), olives and olive oil (produced by the same Venetian vineyard that had made the wine). There was also a delicious red rice salad, a risotto with broccoli and croutons, homemade tuna and caper fishcakes (served with garlic mayonnaise), small skewers of ciabatta, ham and parmesan or polenta and gorgonzola.

Needless to say, this wide variety of flavours was carefully selected to complement the wines that we were to sample.

The wines

The first wine on the menu was a Prosecco. The Ruggeri Santo Stefano is £14.75 and described as a ‘fruity, easy drinking style of Prosecco’, recommended for ‘celebrations, as an aperitif or with dessert’. This really was a tasty Prosecco and worked perfectly as an aperitif to kick-start the wine tasting. It’s classified as dry and it’s one of the sweetest Proseccos you can find, which definitely limits the amount that you can drink before it becomes too sickly.

Not long after the bubbles had been downed, Mike was pouring out the second offering, this time a Soave: Bertani Soave Sereole. Mike explained that ‘soave‘ has become a generic by-word for cheap and cheerful. That aside, it was served at the Coronation of King George VI, so if it’s fit for a king, then it was a case of bottoms up for all the wine-tasters. The claim that this is a ‘truly world-class soave’ lived up to it’s promise; this wine undergoes six months of ageing in French oak barrels, giving it more character than regular soave. Retailing at £10.50, the sommelier marketed it as the perfect wine to get you merry on a summer’s day, and that it was. It was light, tasty and is best eaten with oily foods (think salami, olives and parma ham) and would work perfectly for a picnic.

Next up was a rosé. I am not a big fan of rosé, largely because I generally find it too sweet and sickly, but I thought for the sake of research that I would give this one a whirl. The Bertani Bertarose retails at £8.95, making it the cheapest of the five wines on offer at the wine tasting evening. It is made from Molinara and Merlot grapes and is described as ‘fresh and fruity with a crisp, dry finish’. It was definitely crisp and because of this I liked it more than the average rosé wine. That said, it wasn’t my favourite vino of the evening, but as far as rosé goes, it was definitely more palatable than most (for me anyway!).

The fourth selection Mike produced was a light red called Bertani Bardolino Le Nogare (£10.50). The first thing of note was the colour: this was unlike any red I had seen, it was almost translucent and a very distinct hue. It went down a treat – this was a tasty red that Mike assured us would work perfectly with barbeques and antipasti. The cherry notes of the wine had a feint spice to it and this worked particularly well with the ciabatta, parma ham and parmesan skewers.

Perhaps the favourite offering of the evening, however, was the final wine. Described as the ‘King’ of Venetian wines, the Bertani Amarone Villa Arvedi lived up to it’s name and received many murmurs of approval from the assembled wine lovers. In making this wine, the grapes are traditionally dried before pressing to produce an intense, powerful red with flavours of ‘dried fruit and cherry’. Mike explained that the secret to the Amarone taste is that the grapes are transported and laid out in the traditional manner and left to dry for three months. The best of the grapes are then selected, pressed, vinified and fermented for 30 months, making for a very aromatic and intense wine. The Bertani Amarone is 15% abv – by law, Amarone must be at least 14% abv – and although it’s smooth and well-balanced, it needs to be paired with a substantial meal or be consumed slowly. It is what Italians call ‘meditation wine’ meaning that they drink it leisurely while they relax and chat. Needless to say, the Amarone comes in with the biggest price tag, at £30.

The cynic in me would think that this had been left till last, after four other wines had been consumed, making £30 a bottle seem like a steal. That said, it was definitely the standout wine of the five on offer; and I confess, we found it so tasty that myself and my friend bought two bottles of Amarone, one as a gift and the other to share later and meditate over properly.

The Bertani winery in Veneto

The verdict

Overall the wine tasting experience was both enjoyable and informative, and Mike’s passion for the vino was clear as he offered up plenty of interesting facts about the wines. He also poured generous amounts of wine into our glasses and, despite the ample size of the antipasti platter, I left the wine-tasting feeling rather merry.

I can only come away from the Festa del Vino Veneteo Wine-tasting experience fully recommending it.

Let’s hope it’s not too long before Carluccio’s opens in the Northern Irish capital!

Now, what goes with that classic hybrid of Irish-Italian cooking, the Spaghetti Pie..?

Where to find Carluccio’s

Carluccio’s – St. Christopher’s Place
3-5 Barrett St,
London,
W1U 1AY
Tel: 020 7935 5927
Fax: 020 7487 5436
W: www.carluccios.com/st-christophers-place
You can also find Carluccio’s – St. Christopher’s Place on Google Maps: maps.google.co.uk

You can keep an eye out for more events by visiting the events page on the Carluccio’s website.

You can also find the Prosecco and other Veneto wines in the online shop at Carluccio’s.

Boojum's Burrito Revolution

It’s Free Burrito Day in Boojum’s Chichester Street in Belfast this Saturday, 09 July 2011, from 12pm to 6pm.

The give-away marks the end of their Burrito Revolution on Facebook, a race for “Likes” between Boojum’s Belfast and Dublin outlets, which Belfast won by over 900 clicks.

To celebrate the win and say thanks for your support, husband-and-wife team John and Karen Blisard will be furiously filling, folding, and wrapping burritos in their Belfast city centre outlet this weekend – all that work, and picking up your own burrito won’t cost you a penny!

That’s right – no vouchers, or quizzes, or special passwords, just free burritos.. Now that’s our kind of revolution.

You can find out more about Free Burrito Day here.

Find Boojum, Chichester Street

Boojum
Chichester Street,
Belfast
T: 028 9031 5334
E: info@boojummex.com
W: www.boojummex.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/boojumbelfast
You can also find Boojum – Chichester Street on Google Maps.

Other information

You can click here to read our review of Boojum, Chichester Street.

BBC Good Food Show at Westfield London Shopping Centre

The BBC Good Food Show is rounding off their Summer schedule with a special pop-up event at Westfield London Shopping Centre, from Friday 8th of July to Sunday 10th.

You’ll be able to pick up some new cooking techniques and some inspiration for your own Summer-time menu at the Cookery Stage, where there’ll be appearances from MasterChef 2011 Champion Tim Anderson, finalist Sara Danesin Medio and Out of the Frying Pan’s James Knight Pacheco, along with our own favourites, La Cucina Caldesi.

There’ll also be a whole range of specialist food and drink producers selling and giving out samples of their produce, including Cotswold Gold‘s cold-pressed rapeseed oil, Auberge du Chocolat‘s delicious hand-crafted artisan chocolates, and organic meats from The Well Hung Meat Company.

With everything that’s going on, it really does look like there’s something for everyone here – and it’s totally free!

Just a shame it’s not in Northern Ireland..

The details:

• Where: Westfield London Shopping Centre
• When: Friday 8 July – Sunday 10 July, 2011
• Times: Fri. 10am-9pm, Sat. 9am-8pm, Sun. 12pm-6pm
• Cost: Free

Here’s the timetable for the Cookery stage:

BBC Good Food Show Westfield 2011 - Cookery Stage timetable

You can find more information on The BBC Good Food Show website.

Finding out all about Sawers Deli

We’ve always thought that the best way to learn about a city is through its food, and Belfast is no exception. We have some real culinary gems – you just need to know where to find them!

The Belfast Bred walking tour will show you some of the highlights, with samples to try at each location – the chefs will even be on-hand for a chat.

It’s a walking tour with a difference, though. Lead by Barney, a chef from RMS Titanic who’s been defrosted after spending 99 years in that iceberg, you’ll be told all about Belfast’s culinary history as he searches for the finest ingredients to recreate the famous ship’s launch menu.

This year’s venues include: Sawers Deli, Mourne Seafood restaurant, the John Hewitt bar, Nick’s Warehouse restaurant, McHughs Bar and St. George’s Market.

Just remember, it’s a walking tour – so wear a comfortable pair of shoes!

Belfast Bred – What you need to know:

• When: Every Friday and Saturday at 10:15am, 24 June – 3 September 2011
• Where: Start at Sawers on Fountain Street and finish at St George’s Market
• How long: About 21/2 hours
• How much: £20 per person
• Buy online: www.gotobelfast.com
• Buy by telephone: +44 (0)28 9024 6609
• Buy over the counter: from Belfast Welcome Centre, 47 Donegall Place, Belfast

Belfast Bred - A walking tour of Belfast's food

Kabosh

Belfast Bred is written by Seth Linder, performed by Michael Lavery and directed by Kabosh’s Paula McFetridge.

Founded in 1994, Kabosh is an independent, multi-award-winning, Belfast-based theatre company. Committed to challenging the notion of what theatre is and where it takes place, it is the only site-specific theatre company in Northern Ireland.

You can find out more about Kabosh at www.kabosh.net.

Platform was one of the first restaurants to contact us when we started our blog, so we have a bit of a soft spot for them.

It’s one year on – they grow up so fast, don’t they – and Tony kindly invited us back for their birthday celebrations.

Luckily, our roving reporter Elham had taken her party dress with her when she left these shores..

Platform’s 1st Birthday Party

Having recently moved to London, one of the things I love most is discovering bars and restaurants. There are so many different styles of food available that half the challenge is choosing where to try next. So I was really excited when Kelly and Niall told me about the 1st year birthday party of a bar and restaurant on Tooley Street, literally in the heart of London Bridge.

Platform is nestled beneath an old railway arch of London Bridge, and platform number one of London Bridge Station is right above the restaurant, inspiring their name.

Platform SE1 Restaurant and Bar

The location is great: central and a stone’s throw from major bus and rail networks, so it means that getting home after a big feast – or a few too many delicious cocktails – is that little bit easier. It’s also in the trendy Bermondsey Street area of bars, cafés and gastropubs.

When we arrived we were greeted by a welcoming, makeshift cocktail bar, set up near the entrance to the bar. It offered a choice of complimentary drinks – either a Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer, lime), a Tooley Bellini (peach puree, prosecco), or for the designated drivers of the evening, a Virgin Apple. I plumped for a Tooley Bellini and my friend went for a Moscow Mule; both of which were zingy and refreshing. It was great to see the cocktails made-to-order at the welcome bar; with the Moscow Mule shaken, not stirred – naturally!

Cocktails at Platform's birthday party

Cocktail in hand, it was time to check out the food. There were specialist stalls scattered around the restaurant, serving some delicious canapes.

The menu for Platform's birthday party

The main bar featured the Crustacea stall, where you could help yourself to servings of fresh crab on crisp wafer. The presentation was great; a large crab lay on ice and freshly cut lemon, on a large metal serving dish on the bar. The crab shell itself was purely decoration, as the meat was in a separate dish in the middle of the ice. Separate sections of wafer remained on the bar, so you could load up with as much crab meat as you fancied. The meat was delicious, and the wafer was really crisp, which made for a great combination of flavours and textures.

Fresh crab at Platform's Crustacea stall

Next up was my favourite stall – the Fish Stall. Located in the corner of the downstairs bar was a stall that had mini cones of Pollock and chips, all wrapped in faux-newspaper. This added to a retro feel of the bar and was nice to have the novelty of eating your fish and chips out of newspaper – albeit altogether more glam.

There was also a large flat fish on a serving platter, and the chef behind the stall informed my friend and I that it was Turbot, also known as the king of the flat fish. The chef said we were in for a treat as he took the meat directly from the Turbot and made us a fresh courgette salad, serving it to us with an anchovy garnish. He was right. I previously hadn’t been a big fan of Turbot but this melted in the mouth, while the courgette salad and anchovy garnish made for a really nice contrast, and brought out the flavour of the fish.

My friend was delighted that his favourite starter, calamari, was at the stall; he pretty much orders calamari for his starter in most restaurants we go to, so he’s something of an expert. He gave Platform’s calamari the two thumbs up.

The Meat stall offered up mini cuts of roast beef with a horseradish and beetroot dressing. This dressing was tasty, if not a bit hot from the horseradish… Unfortunately we had arrived a bit too late for the best cuts of the meat so there wasn’t much to pick from but what we did have, we enjoyed!

Roast beef at the Meat Stall at Platform's birthday party

This was all rounded up nicely with that very English dessert of Eton Mess, which was just delicious. I have a sweet tooth anyways, and I don’t think you can go too far wrong with Eton Mess, but this was a yummy swirl of cream, meringue, strawberries and strawberry coulis.

THe Platform concept is all about sourcing and presenting the best in British food – and being a stone’s throw from Borough Market (London’s most well known food market), as well as cross-shareholding with an organic farm, Platform has the luxury and facility to do just that. This was really reflected in the tasty, fresh food that was featured during the evening. It was also great to see the chefs in action at their respective stalls, and to be able to chat to them too, and to see how passionate they are about their menus.

Platform’s décor is recycled glam. The owners pride themselves on not wasting anything, and by their own admission, the furniture is recycled. This only adds to the relaxed, homely atmosphere, with its chunky wooden tables, chairs and bar while the high ceilings, and large chandelier add a modern-kitsch feel.

Platform's recycled glam décor

The atmosphere was relaxed and Platform struck me as a great place to meet after work for some great food and a good cocktail.

I’ll definitely be going back.

Find Platform

Platform
56-58 Tooley Street,
London
SE1 2SZ
T: 020 7403 6388
E: info@platformse1.co.uk
W: www.platformse1.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/PlatformSE1
You can also find Platform on Google Maps.

The photos

All of the photos have been supplied by Yusuf OzKizil. You can see more of his work at: www.ozkizil.com