The Real Food Festival 2013

Yay! Food! Festival! Sunshine! All is right with the world. Okay, perhaps sunshine was a bit optimistic (the one day I go out without my coat) - we did get battered by hailstones at one point... But the food part definitely lived up to expectations. 

"Taking over the whole Southbank Centre site in the heart of London, along the river Thames and around the Royal Festival Hall, the Real Food Festivals showcases some of the finest small producers in the country plus the best street food vendors on the scene, top chefs, live animals and music!" - The Real Food Festival.

So I wanted to share some of our lovely day with you...

We began with a demonstration by Omar Allibhoy (of Tapas Revolution fame), where he cooked six tapas dishes. He did Chorizo braised in Cider (which we promptly had for dinner that evening), Spanish Omelette, Gazpacho, Pan Con Tomate, Marinated Spanish Olives, Gambas (prawns) a la Plancha and Mussels. We picked up some really good tips from him and he has a book coming out in August! Yay! I shall add it to my Amazon wish list. At the end there was a tasting session but it was more of an aggressive free-for-all scrum of people grabbing for tasty morsels. I think I was elbowed in the boob several times. 

Then we explored...

Now we had a good idea of what was at the festival, it was time to start eating. Rob went straight for Barbecoa's pulled pork (£5). Apparently Terry Wogan also enjoyed one of these yesterday... Disappointingly, Rob found it overpoweringly sweet and said that it didn't have the texture of something that had been properly smoked and roasted dry for many hours (as a good pulled pork should). It felt more like it had been stewed in a slow cooker for a day. 

I opted for tapas from Donostia Social Club's food van - An Iberico Pig Cheek with Celeriac Puree (£5).

It was very, very nice. Plus the guys in the van are super friendly. The celeriac managed to deliver both a bitter and sweet accompaniment to the melt in the mouth meat. The sauce was rich and it was a treat to mop it up with a soft, fresh slice of bread. They had plenty of other things that I would have loved to have tried and as they visit Kingston quite often, I feel I will be making a return visit very soon. 

Rob, being the growing boy that he is, decided on a second course. A Black Pudding and Apple Sausage Roll from Little Jack Horner.

I had a conversation with a fellow foodie recently as to the underrated value of a good sausage roll. When treated with love, good ingredients and care, it is a noble and delicious food. Something that Little Jack Horner are definitely doing right. It was impossible to choose just one - I was temped by the Pork and Smoked Chilli.

Time for pudding. I'd spotted Crumbs and Doilies from a mile off. Their selection of cupcakes were to die for. Both full size and miniature - what could be cuter than a mini cupcake! Having trouble deciding, I went for the Popcorn Cupcake - a rum butter sponge with salted caramel icing and laced with crispy popcorn topping. A speciality for sure. It was so tasty. I was tempted to go back for a box but knew that my stomach wouldn't thank me for it. Rob went for a brownie from Outsider Tart. It took him more than a few hours to eat it.

It was a really nice day and I have to be honest - I am not at all hungry this morning. I had my fill. We enjoyed a nice post lunch walk in the sun in Richmond - our home. I just wanted to share with you how beautiful it is. Having serious Richmond love right now...

Think we're off out again in the sun today so I shall bid you adieu! Got a few tasty recipes lined up so stayed tuned for those fellow foodies!

Outsider Tart

Wide leafy roads. Delicatessens. Hazy afternoon sun. Yummy mummys guarding their Mamas and Papas pram whilst indulging in skinny lattes and artisan croissants. It can only be Chiswick. Those who have been to Chiswick will know how appealing it's peaceful streets can be. Filled with quality shops, restaurants and a few good old gastropubs, Chiswick mixes London style perfectly with suburban heaven. Of course, you have to be disgustingly wealthy to have a nice house here, unless you fancy renting a pool-house cupboard for your entire months salary. 

That doesn't stop me dreamily wandering it's streets and staring through windows at things that I will never be able to afford. But food is a necessary expense. At all times. Let me introduce you to one such necessity. Outsider Tart is run by a couple of New Yorkers, living the Chiswick dream, and sharing the American love for a great piece of cake. Their menu never ceases to confound and amaze me. From brownies to cookies to the up and coming trend of whoopie pies, if you need an excuse to sit down for a brew then look no further.

We first discovered Outsider Tart at an international Southbank Food Festival. My eyes meeting with a delectable selection of brownies and whoopie pies across the crowded courtyard, there was no way I couldn't just have a look. Despite having sampled many of the great food on offer already, including a huge piece of Apple Strudel, a Maker's Mark brownie had found it's way into my hands for later and a whoopie pie had made it's way into Robs hands for immediate consumption. I've only previous tried supermarket whoopies, but this had no contention. The beautiful chocolate sponge with the marshmallow centre melted in my mouth and made me want to raid the rest of their stall. I needed all of the whoopies. 

I'm of the opinion that no brownie at all is better than an average brownie, and I have been questing to find that moment of brownie heaven for quite some time now. I like my brownies squidgy and rich with a crumbly outside and the closest I've come to that, surprisingly, is Pret's chocolate brownie. But that all changed the moment the Outsider Tart brownie hit my belly. I was in brownie heaven. Four times the size of the meagre Pret brownie, this was fudgy, crumbly and sickenenly good. I tried to savour it, I really did, but it was gone in a matter of minutes. I'm also a big bourbon fan, so the additional Makers Mark flavouring made it all the better.

Since that day, Rob and I had been obsessing of their website and the sweet memory of those treats. But last weekend, I finally had an excuse to visit the place itself! I could not contain my excitement. After a stroll and a bit of book shopping, we finally arrived at our tasty destination for the true American experience. Another great factor of Outsider Tart is their huge selection of teas. As a tea freak, I had serious trouble in deciding what to have. I settled on a Teapigs chilli chai whilst Rob went for a cream soda (of which there were 3 varieties to choose from!). The shop is full of US goodies, stocking a huge variety of peanut butters and other treats. 

There were so many delicious looking cakes to choose from. I opted for the Mile High Bar. Is it a brownie, is it a cake, is it a cookie? I have no idea, but it tasted beautiful. Chewy cranberrys, fudgy chocolate and crunchy biscuit made this an explosion of textures and flavours - a joy to eat. Rob sampled what appeared to be an oatmeal whoopie, although I couldn't tell you for sure. Full of dried fruits and nuts, his treat felt as though you were eating something remotely healthy. Balanced with the creamy centre, getting your mouth around this was an exciting feat. Our only problem this time was finishing our treats. We had to take a doggy bag home, although I think we managed to get about 10 minutes down the road before I was snuffling for the bag again.