Abergavenny Food Festival (Wales, UK)

This year's Abergavenny Food Festival was a big success.  With an amazing selection of chef demos, speakers and food based companies from around Britain and beyond, it was a weekend to remember.

Take a look at all our photos on The Abergavenny Food Festival Album 

Here are TSO's standouts for the weekend:

Best Demo

The Fabulous Baker Brothers

Brothers Tom and Henry are now filming their 2nd season of their successful show, and it is clear why.  Their personalities and humor just radiate off the stage throughout the demonstration.  The crowd participation with kneading the bread, singing of Unchained Melodies and a special way of measuring out flour made the demo beyond entertaining and these two a certain household name in the culinary world for many years to come.

Best Stand
hada del cafe
Martina truly is the Coffee Fairy, and her enthusiasm for all things wonderful shows in everything she does.  Her company was founded in 2007 from delicious coffee beans harvested in northern Nicaragua, but it is the inspiration behind the coffee that makes her story special. She raises money for better education and improving the community in the towns she works with. 

The coffe doesn't fail on any level, winning Great Taste Awards in 2009 and now being carried in Harvey Nichols.  We wish her much success now and in the years to come!

Best Talk

The Food of Spain
Claudia Roden with Michael Jacobs

Claudia Roden talks to the Andalucian-based travel writer Michael Jacobs about her five year immersion in the regional cuisines of Spain which has produced yet another extraordinary volume in her chronicle of the food and peoples of the Mediterranean basin. Claudia Roden fascinating story fuses together food traditions with cultural heritage and history.  

Italians Know How to Live

Last month I spent the best 5 days exploring Tuscany, and the final conclusion I made is that the Italians sure know how to live!

Our trip started in Pisa which is such an easy airport to fly into and usually some awesome deals.  The train takes you one stop into Pisa Centrale and the city is at your disposal then.  The Leaning Tower and cathedral is about a 20 minute walk on the other side of the city, but it's the best way to explore the non-tourist sections.  Pisa is a great place to explore from and we used it as our hub to tour around Tuscany.

Just an hour train ride away are the 5 cliff towns of Cinque Terre.  We started in Riomaggiore and walked La Via Dell' Amore to the next town of Manarola.  The views over the cliffs were so beautiful, that it was quite clear why it is deemed Lovers Walk.

Each town is just a short distance between them where you can walk, jump on a ferry or hop on and off the train.  All the bouncing around does get your appetite going, and there are plenty of cafe's and restaurants to try, but instead of a sit down mean, we opted for a picnic.  Pop into one of the fresh veggie stands and pick up vine tomatoes. Then over to the deli for proscutto, fresh buffalo mozzarella and bread.  For under 10 euros and it couldn't have been more delicious!

Back to Pisa for a restful night, but then off the next morning for a few days in Florence.  Florence is in my top 5 cities that I have travelled to thus far.  The whole city is full of culture; art and music all around you ever corner that you turn.  Between the shopping and site seeing, there are amazing restaurants throughout the city, but the best are down the hidden streets and pop out into the smaller piazza's.  I found out on day one not to order a Neopolitan pizza, because in Italy it comes standard with anchovies.  Aside from that little mishap, we rebounded strongly with a lovely fresh gnocci and PLAIN pizza that evening.

There are certain memories that Italian food triggers for me, my first job in a Pizzeria, Christmas Eve dinners at Carmine's in NYC after seeing the tree and my first trip there with my high school at 15 where I first fell in love. Between the fantastic meals, romantic scenery and bottles of wine, you can't help but to fall in love with Italy over and over again.

PISA

CINQUE TERRE

CHIANTI - WINE TOUR

FLORENCE

A Sweet Town - Abergavenny, Wales

When I'm in the UK I'm in Abergavenny nearly every week both for work and pleasure.  It is a sleepy town most of the time, but comes alive during the Food Festival which attracts over 40,000 people and some top chefs.  I'm looking forward to it in a couple weeks, and wanted to give tribute to some of the local individuals and businesses doing some great things in food.

I work with Chef Penny Lewis and her fantastic cookery school called The Culinary Cottage located just outside of Abergavenny in a beautiful rural setting.  Penny has cooked for the Queen and family on several occasions and personally teaches all the cooking courses herself.  All of her recipes not only taste great, but are a great addition to your home meal rotation.  If you live or visiting the area, make sure to say hello to Penny.  Support her on twitter @culinarycottage and visit her blog for her recipes.

My favorite cafe in Abergavenny is Cwtch, which means loosely means 'snuggle' for the local Welsh.  Graham is the owner and took over this cafe January this year, and has done some great things with the place.  Now the stand out part of the cafe for me has to be the cakes.  Graham not only runs the cafe but bakes all the cakes himself!  He is such a pleasure to chat with, which is the prefect accompaniment to the meal.



His raspberry chocolate cake was perfect so I couldn't attempt to replicate it but it did inspire me to put a NY twist and make this raspberry chocolate cheesecake. 

Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake

• 180g graham crackers
• 75g melted butter
• 100g milk or white chocolate
• 300g light cream cheese
• 200ml double cream
• 75g sugar
• 150g raspberries
• icing sugar

1. Blend the graham crackers in a food processor and add the melted butter.  Mix well and place in a 20cm flan ring with a push-up base and pat down with the back of a spoon. 

2. Melt the chocolate in a microwave or a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water. 

3. Mix the cream cheese, cream and sugar together until smooth. Add the raspberries and stir in, then add the melted chocolate and quickly swirl through. 

4. Spoon into the flan ring and smooth the top with a palette knife, then place in the fridge and chill for 2 hours. 

5. Serve dusted with icing sugar and a little melted chocolate if you like.