Chilli and Chocolatebelfast - A Belfast Food Blog

Make a date with St. George’s Market this Valentine’s Day

Posted: 11 February '10 by Niall

Congratulations and be prosperous in the Year of the Tiger!

Goodwill might be thin on the ground in St. George’s Market this weekend, however, with chefs from Chinese restaurants across Belfast competing in a special masterchef event organised by Belfast City Council. The challenge will take place this Sunday (February 14th 2010) as part of the annual Chinese New Year celebrations.

As well as providing some entertainment on Valentine’s Day, the event is another stage in a successful campaign by the council’s food safety team to encourage Chinese takeaways to include healthier options on their menus.

High Sherriff of Belfast Councillor Christopher Stalford, who will be on the judges’ tasting panel, said: “More than 50 chefs from Chinese restaurants across Belfast took part in our healthy cooking workshops last year, with celebrity chef Nancy Lam; and to build on that success, we thought this would be another way of getting the ‘healthy’ message out there.

“Research shows that Chinese food is the takeaway of choice across the UK but very often the nutritional value is reduced because the recipes have been adapted to suit our ‘westernised’ palette.

“The aim of this project is to encourage takeaways to include healthier options on their menus and for chefs to go back to their traditional, healthy roots.”

This Sunday’s competition will see chefs prepare one meal which will be judged on its taste, nutritional value, and how hygienically it has been prepared.

Joining the High Sherriff on the judging panel is Jeremy Chan, owner and chef of Sinley restaurant in Cookstown, and William Lam from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

The winning chef will be announced at the event and they’ll enjoy a two night stay at Galgorm Manor in Ballymena, sponsored by Firmus Energy. The winner will also be invited to the annual Chinese New Year gala dinner at Belfast’s Europa Hotel.

Details

• The masterchef event runs from 12pm to 2:30pm.
• There’ll be a spectacular Lion Dance from 1pm to 3pm.
• Entertainment includes acrobats, jugglers, martial arts demonstrations and Chinese arts and craft workshops.
• If you’re hungry there will also be lots of food stalls selling local and global cuisine.

More information

For more information visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events.

Tags: belfast, event, st georges market

Categories: News : Things to do

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Super Market sweeps up the plaudits

Posted: 19 January '10 by Niall

The City Food and Garden Market in St. George’s Market is one of the highlights of our week – it’s a great start to the weekend – and is seems that The Guardian think so too, having named St. George’s as one of the top 10 markets in the UK. You can read the original post in The Guardian here.

The Saturday market is a real treat for all the senses: the air is full of exotic spices and the aroma of exotic delicacies for you to try; the happy murmur of shoppers talking to stall-holders about their produce; the sense of expectation that turning the next corner will reveal another stall of new and never-tried-before cuisine; and the strains of the live musical entertainment weaving through the crowds. Perhaps the best thing about the market, however, is the atmosphere – people genuinely care about the produce on display, from the proprietors to the customers. Freshness and flavour is the order of the day.

Many of the stalls actively encourage you to “try before you buy” too, with plates of free-to-sample food allowing customers to mull over their choice before handing over their hard-earned money. The choice is really bewildering, and everything looks so good. A word to the wise though – you will want to buy everything – like a recovering compulsive gambler in Las Vegas, you will have to take yourself aside and have a quiet word with yourself (or with your partner when your monthly statement comes in)!

Our favourite stalls include: the olive oil from Biostore; artisan chocolate from Co Couture; cold meats, olives, and cheese from Love Olive; bread from The Yellow Door; and free-range, organic rare-breed meat from Pheasants Hill Farm.

All of this walking about and tasting is hard work mind you. Fortunately, there are also a wide variety of hot food stalls (and seated areas) for you to take a break. You’ll often find us enjoying those tasty crepes from the French crepe stall, or trying something a little more fiery from the Jamaican food stall (the heat from those little pasties really sneak up on you!). There are also stalls selling filled sodas, tea, and coffee.

Having criticised the poor organisation of and motives behind the Belfast Christmas Continental Market and the Belfast Taste and Music Fest 2009 I think it’s only fair to say that Belfast City Council have really gotten this one right – St. George’s Market is something for Belfast to be proud of. Well done BCC!

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 8Image 9Image 10

Other information

Variety Market
Day: Friday
Opening hours: 6am – 1pm
Details: Stalls sell a variety of products including fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, antiques, books and clothes.

City Food and Garden market
Day: Saturday
Opening hours: 9am – 3pm
Details: The market offers a huge range of local, continental and specialty foods including meat and fish, cheese, coffee beans, tapas and organic products. There’s also entertainment and music on most Saturdays.

St. George’s Market
12-20 East Bridge Street,
Belfast
BT1 3NQ
T: 028 9032 0202
W: www.belfastcity.gov.uk/stgeorgesmarket
You can also see St. George’s Market on Google Maps.

Tags: belfast, st georges market

Categories: Local Food Heroes : News : Northern Ireland : United Kingdom

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Beyond the pre-packed sandwich – Snax ‘n the City

Posted: 18 January '10 by Kelly

Like most people I find myself in a bit of a rut when it comes to what to eat over lunchtime. Most days it ends up with me sitting at my desk eating a horrible pre-packed sandwich!! So, when a colleague suggested “Snax ‘n the city” I jumped at the chance to try something new.

It’s a small enough sandwich bar on Linenhall Street in Belfast that serves most things – from full breakfasts to sandwiches to hot food. It’s normally very busy (which is always a good sign), packed with people on their lunch hour. As it was so cold outside I decided that I needed something filling and warming – and the traditional stew certainly fit the bill. It was fantastic.. a delicious and hearty Irish stew served with two thick slices of fresh wheaten bread. The £4.15 price may seem a little extravagant for a lunch-time meal but this was hardly a light snack – I struggled to finish the stew (although I did force myself – the things I do for our readers!).

My friend Elaine tried the lasagne which came with a fresh salad, coleslaw and two pieces of garlic bread – and at £4.95 that seems like real value for money to me.

While you can eat in we decided to take our lunch back to the office. The food was packed in neat little containers – these were so well designed that even I was able to eat my lunch without making a mess at my desk!

Our Verdict

I am making Snax ‘n the city a regular lunch-time treat – the menu is quite varied and there is plently to choose from so you wont get bored. They also seem to have fairly quick service which, if you have a short lunch-break, is an absolute must.

Make sure you try the stew, it really is delicious.

Snax ‘n the City
19 Linenhall Street,
Belfast,
County Antrim
BT2 8AA
T: 028 9031 9631‎
You can also see Snax ‘n the City on Google Maps.

Tags: belfast, lunch

Categories: Lunch in the City

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I heard it through the grape vine

Posted: 02 December '09 by Niall

There are times when I think that there is simply nothing to do in Belfast and then something new presents itself..

On Friday 13th of November I went along to the “Walkabout Wine Tasting” at Direct Wine Shipments accompanied by Linda, one of the Chilli and Chocolate members (Kelly was working and very distraught at missing the night). I only discovered that DWS was open to the public and held these sorts of events quite recently – apparently these evenings have been going on for some time, so why had I never heard of these wine-tastings before? Who knows, but I was determined to make up for lost time.

And what a fantastic night it turned out to be! At £10 a ticket the event certainly didn’t break the bank and I’m happy to report that it was more than value for money – which rarely seems to be the case where events in Belfast are concerned.

We were greeted at reception by the event staff and taken into the tasting room armed with the tasting notes, a map showing the layout of the wines, and a glass of chilled prosecco. There were 26 wines in all, from Old World to New World, red to white – and even a toffee-sweet Sauterne – a fantastic mix of flavours and aromas. The wines at DWS are from smaller, artisan producers, the vast majority of which you won’t have seen in the bigger off-licences and online stores – the sorts of people that produce wine because they love it, and have been making wine for generations. My particular favourites were the Chateau L’Escart Prestige 2007 (a delicious and darkly concentrated Bordeaux Superieur, with red berries, prunes, and cherries on the nose and a mouth-watering long finish) and the Crisita Collection Vacqueyras 2007 (a powerful but silky-smooth wine from the Rhone Valley that has plenty of ripe dark fruit). There were also some carafes of chilled water and nibbles on hand (cheese, focaccia, and some fantastic delicious Castilian olive oil) to help clear your palate between wines.

The fact that the tickets were only £10 did mean that there was a good mix of people, from those that clearly knew their wine to those just starting on the path to enlightenment, all of which made the event far less formal than you might have previously imagined. It should be said that the staff were also fantastic – visiting wine-tastings and dedicated wine stores can be a bit unnerving, but the event staff were very approachable, happily mingling and casually chatting about the wines on show, which clearly put everyone at ease.

The “walkabout” ran from 4.30pm to 7.30pm, with people coming and going when they needed to. We made in down by about 6pm, but it was still more than enough time to try all of the wines and chat to some of the other lucky attendees. I say “lucky” because the wine-tasting was limited to 100 participants, and the tickets were sold out before the night of the tasting. Infact, that night we heard that there is another wine-tasting planned for Saturday 5th December, “The Wines of Christmas”, but all of the tickets had already been snapped up!

Another big “plus” from the evening was that the wines at the tasting were all reduced – the Cristia Vacqueyras down from £13.50 to £11.48, for example – making your new favourite wine that much more appealing.

Our verdict

We had a great night out at Direct Wine Shipments: we met some nice people, tried some superb wines (several of which have already made an appearance in our wine cellar), learned more about some producers and wines that we hadn’t come across before, and made some savings on buying our favourite bottles.

You should give these wine-tastings a go – a “different” night out in Belfast – highly recommended.

Other information

You can find the DWS store at:
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.

There are some other events that you might be interested in:

• Thursday 3rd December: Masterchef Dinner at Jeffers Bar & Grill. You can read more about this event
• Wednesday 10th February 2010: Eldredge Vineyards Wine Tasting & Supper at 8pm – £25. You can read more about this event

Tags: belfast, direct wine shipments, wine, wine clubs, wine tasting

Categories: News

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Belfast Christmas Continental Market 2009

Posted: 12 November '09 by Niall

If you’ve walked past Belfast City Hall in the last week you can’t have helped noticing that it’s time for the Belfast Christmas Continental Market again!

Kelly and I love seeing the market come to town – apart from the chance to taste food from around the world, the atmosphere is usually fairly festive. It might sound strange but standing in the freezing cold, browsing through the stalls with a warming glass of “gluhwein” (mulled wine) always puts me in the mood for Christmas.

This year the stalls include:

• Bratwurst sausages and German beers
• Gluhwein stall
• Liqueur coffees
• Gourmet burgers
• Spanish paella
• Toasted baguettes
• Waffles, crêpes and Dutch pancakes
• Continental and Irish cheeses
• Charcuterie with meats from around the world
• Greek dips
• Garlic soup from Switzerland
• Polish bigos (a traditional stew)
• Franzisskaaner German bar
• Hilden Brewery

My one gripe is that it can be expensive – you can literally watch the pounds flowing from your wallet – and the presence of the Laverys beer tent is a bit strange, and seems to monopolise proceedings with massive queues outside the tent and some very un-continental quaffing going on (I know that that’s two complaints, but who’s counting). That said, it’s nothing that should discourage you from heading down and having a look – over 750,000 people visited the Belfast Christmas Continental Market last year, so they’re doing something right – and it’s worth the trip for those French crepes alone!

We’ll report back after our visit with some photos and some advice on the stalls that you should make a point of visiting.

See you there!

Event details:

Date: 17 November – 19 December 2009
Venue: Belfast City Hall grounds

Opening times:
Monday – Wednesday: 9am – 8pm
Thursday – Saturday: 9am – 10pm
Sunday: 1pm – 6pm

Just remember that the market will start at 10am on Tuesday 17 November and close at 8pm on Saturday 19 December.

Other information:

Apart from the Big Wheel and a children’s carousel, Santa’s Grotto and magical forest will be at the market every day between 3pm and 6pm Monday – Friday, 10am – 7pm on Saturdays and 1pm – 6pm on Sundays.

Tags: belfast, christmas, continental market, event

Categories: Things to do

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