Organic Food Festival 2009
“The Organic Food Festival is Europe’s largest showcase of all things organic. Now in its ninth successful year, the Festival demonstrates the growth of the organic movement and the increased recognition of the role organic production can play in creating a sustainable future.”
It was last week end in Bristol. We’d already been there last year and we had a great time so we went back this year and we spent a really nice Sunday. Weather was great and there was a lot going on in Bristol harbourside, from stalls to cooking demonstrations, via free dance lessons and massage sessions.
The entry fee was £5, which I admit is not cheap. But given all there is to see, taste and experience, I think it’s worth the price. We’ve been to more expensive and far less entertaining festivals.
We’ve tasted:
- cheese - I just love all kinds of cheese and I think we tasted them all: cheddar, gloucester cheese, blue cheese, brie, goat’s cheese, mozzarella (true mozzarella, so delicious!)…
- olive oil - I use a lot of olive oil in my cooking and a good olive oil makes all the difference in a salad dressing. We’ve tasted Palestinian and Italian oil and we’ve both preferred by far the first one which had more flavour
- jams & chutneys - I am not a big fan of chutney so I was more tempted by jams, which were all really good. It’s also a source of inspiration if you’re a jam-maker yourself because you can find there some unusual yet very tasty fruit and spice combinations.
- biscuits & crackers - I think I’ll never find a biscuit that I don’t like…
We’ve also seen an interesting cooking demonstration (12.15 pm on Sunday) by Gill Meller, head chef at River Cottage. He’s shown us how to cook unusual ingredients: an ox tongue, pig spleen, pig liver and pig brain.
I do like offal and cook them from time to time, so it was not a big surprise for me. My mom cooks ox tongue or sometimes pig tongue quite regularly. I also remember eating brain when I was little. The only thing I’m not a big fan of is liver, but I think that it’s due to the way my mom cooked it. It was too dry for me and I really didn’t like it. I should maybe try other recipes now. As for spleen, I didn’t even know that it was edible and have never tasted it…
This cooking demonstration was not about technical skills or sophisticated cuisine. It was about using good ingredients and minimizing waste. Offal have become unpopular ingredients and I can understand why. But let’s face it: they’re good, easy to cook and cheap. I should cook them more often and I’m going to the butcher today!
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Ox tongue? Wow! What was the result?
We had Feast of Fields in Ottawa last weekend, which looks quite similar but they also make it a contest by teaming up organic farmers with chefs. I really would have liked to attend the event. Next year…
Unfortunately we couldn’t taste the ox tongue because it was not ready by the end of the demonstration, but I’ve already eaten it before and I really like it. The texture is different, interesting but nice (for me). And the taste depends on the spices you use to marinate it. You should definitely try it!