A historical picnic

Last week I found myself at the London College of Fashion - not a venue I've visited before, but this opportunity was opened up to me by the wonderful London Festival of Architecture.

The event was a "panoramic picnic" with a view of London's rooftops, celebrating the launch of the college's roof terrace and also commemorating historical themes in architecture.

The push for Christmas perfection

I'm just back from enjoying a friend's Christmas ale (brewed with nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and cloves) and home-baked bread, including another guest's Christmas fruity walnut and beer bread. This was a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, (this version made with a mix of Red Stripe and coconut porter, apparently) and was absolutely delicious. No kneading or rising time required - I'll be making it myself as soon as I get a chance.

Image: Freefoto.com

On the subject of Christmas television cookery programmes, I always have a burst of initial enthusiasm, only to start feeling slightly exhausted by them at some point in December.

A pumpkin curry for Halloween

Has Halloween got bigger this year? Every pub I go to is decorated with fake cobwebs and giant plastic spiders. The traditional jack o'lantern, when it appears, looks positively tasteful compared to this lot, even if it is a bright orange colour, as bold as a can of Tango or a Sainsbury's carrier bag.

If you've bought a  pumpkin, either for carving or, like me, because you were carried away by the fact that you can buy such a big vegetable for just a pound or two, you may now be wondering what to do with it.

Racing pigs and London honey at the Lambeth Country Show

I hadn't long been in London when I visited last year's Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park. Now that I'm more of a city girl, the whole concept of having sheep, ducks, goats, owls and racing pigs in the middle of south London seems more bizarre than ever. Racing pigs? I hear you say - yes indeed.

But as this is a food blog, I suppose I'd better tell you about the edible aspects of it. There were the amazing fruit and vegetable sculptures once again, and a produce show displaying perfect plums, purple potatoes, tomatoes like jewels and lettuces as frilly and elaborate as any flower.

The fruit and vegetable carving competition (You can't see it so well here, but the carrot sculpture on the right is a version of Antony Gormley's Field for the British Isles artwork of 1993)

I tried some great cakes, including a Jamaican rum cake that was egg free and dairy-free and extremely tasty (made with wholegrain spelt flour, coconut oil and raw cane sugar by the Heavenly Cake Company).

Plenty to taste at the Great British Beer Festival

Where can you find a Golden Salamander, British Jewels, White Out and a Trembling Rabbit in London this week? At the Great British Beer Festival, of course. The event’s been displaced from Earl’s Court to Olympia to make way for some kind of sporting event. This means that there isn’t quite as much space, but I must say I prefer the architecture of Olympia to Earl’s Court, which resembles nothing so much as a giant warehouse.

I don't know how packed it will be at the weekend, but midweek the Olympia venue seemed big enough to me – there was plenty of space for milling about, and more beers than you could even think about trying. There were 800-plus brews in all, including foreign and bottled beers, ciders and perries.

I tried some of the more unusual brews, including a Cherry Blonde from Enville brewery in Staffordshire, which had a fantastic balance of fruit and hops. I tried a bottled alcoholic ginger beer from Fentimans, who are better known for their soft drinks. This beer was the genuine article – not an alcopop made with industrial alcohol but brewed with sugar, yeast, ginger root and water. It tasted like an old-fashioned ginger beer, and would be lovely on a summer picnic.

The Great British Beer Festival

Where else can you find a Cherry Blonde and a Chocolate Marble in the same room as a Knight of the Garter and Black Beck Belle?

It is, of course, the Great British Beer Festival, the country’s biggest beer festival. It runs until Saturday at Earl’s Court.

The festival opened yesterday and last night was my first ever visit. I’m told it gets packed later in the week, but on a Tuesday night it was busy yet there was plenty of space to get around and no queues to get served (with the possible exception of if you wanted to try the new Champion Beer of Britain, which is Oscar Wilde from the Mighty Oak brewery in Maldon, Essex).

My personal favourite was Cherry Blonde from Enville Brewery in Stourbridge, Staffordshire, but then I like my beers light and fruity. There is a strong selection of cider and perry, too.

As a former Norfolk girl I was pleased to see around 10 Norfolk beers including Flintknappers Mild from the Chalk Hill Brewery, based at the Coach and Horses on Thorpe Road in Norwich, Woodforde’s Wherry from Woodbastwick, Burston’s Cuckoo from Elmtree in Snetterton, Raspberry Wheat from Iceni in Mundford, and Old Stoatwobbler from Spectrum in Tharston, near Long Stratton.

The closest comparison I can make is with the Norwich beer festival held each October. The Great British Beer Festival is bigger but also more expensive (and for CAMRA members, you get a discount but in Norwich you don’t pay anything). Norwich wins hands-down for having a prettier building. Both are well-run by enthusiastic volunteers, and both have more beers than you could possibly try even if you went every day all week.

Food
Naturally I took a close interest in the food stalls. The prices are not as bad as I had feared and a number of the stalls are offering quite tasty options. Highlights include:

- Merry Berry Truffles from Burton Upon Trent. Not just truffles but also chocolate flavoured with spices and other things (lime and ginger works well, I also enjoyed the chocolate with black pepper, and for foolhardy types there is a burning hot chilli chocolate too). The chocolate pieces are £2.50 a bag, £4 for 2 bags. There are lots of samples too.

- Posh pies from the Crusty Pie Co. Pork pies, smoked ham and mustard pies, vegetarian pies and too many others to list. Small pies are £2 each, or 3 for £5. Large pies are £6. They also do traditional pork scratchings.

- Pipers crisps. What goes better with a beer than crisps? They do flavours including Norfolk Bloody Mary, sweet chilli and my favourite, sea salt and cider vinegar. 80p a small bag, or £1 for the parsnip crisps. Plenty of samples.

Four Great British beer festival tips:
1) Check out the new breweries bar – in association with Wetherspoon’s – if you want a guarantee of finding something you have never had before (though unless you are a seasoned pro, most bars will have several beers you have never had).

2) If you have never been to Earl’s Court before, don’t get confused by the one-way system in the toilets after a few beers.

3) Drink halves or thirds (yes thirds), not pints, so you can try as many beers or ciders as possible.

4) Keep hold of your glass – and give it back at the end if you want a refund of your £3 deposit.

The festival is open noon to 10.30pm until Friday August 5, and 11am to 7pm Saturday August 6.
More information at http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/