Image above: The piece de resistance from Theo Randall which was worth waiting for: pan-fried scallops with pancetta, fresh red chilli, parsley and capers served with lentils di Castellucio and rocket. [Saturday 19 June] | [View all photos]
Having had such a good time at Taste of London 2009, Ana Maria, Ivor, Kara, See Yun and myself went together to check out the 2010 festival.
Learning from the previous year, we got there early to make full use of the four hours we had and so we all poured in along with hordes of other hungry visitors. Then we had the hard job of trying to choose what to sample from the 129 choices on offer.
Ana Maria and Ivor started with Argentine black angus sirloin served with humitas chimichurri from Gaucho’s whilst See Yun and I shared a delicious spit-roasted Old Spot suckling pig, which got paraded around!, with black summer truffles from Launceston Place. Some of the other food highlights we shared were (in no particular order):
- Pan-fried quail with ginger from Sake No Hana
- Pan-fried scallops with pancetta, fresh red chilli, parsley and capers served with lentils di Castellucio and rocket from Theo Randall (which was packed!)
- Cochifrito suckling pig from Fino
Whilst we dined well, baby Kara was a delight to have around enjoying all the attention and, of course, the best meal on offer – her Mum’s cous cous!
For this year’s Taste Theatre demonstration, we squeezed into see gastronomist extraordinaire Heston Blumenthal (of The Fat Duck fame) entertain us about how to BBQ properly this summer. And in one simpler dish he showed how to cured mackerel smoked in hay which looked very impressive to make.
This year wasn’t all about the food either. We found this random Italian stand selling what tasted and looked like alcoholic Irn-Bru which was a bit of an acquired taste. And I discovered just how tasty Rekorderlig cider is and basically drank more in that one day that I’ve probably done in the last two years combined! Thankfully, they didn’t have to carry me home and I was still sober enough to have fun playing with baby Kara as the day drew to a close.
So my two “discoveries” for this year is Launceston Place and Swedish Rekorderlig cider – if I can find where to buy some that is! :P
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Hey Sam fantastic photos……..makes me hungry all over again! Kara had a fabulous time with ‘Uncle Sam’and it was really good to catch up with See Yun.
@Ana Maria: Glad that you liked the photos and just let me know when I can babysit baby Kara. :)
Cool photo. 129 choices?
It looks unfair, because my menu for both breakfast and lunch is
always the same. I should be you.
@Yeji: Yeah … far too much (and far too expensive) to try everything so we had to pick. Actually, it kinda reminds me of all the dishes your Mum cooked for me when I visited. I do miss her cooking a lot! :)
Hahahahahahahaha.
You finally made me laugh loud even in the morning!
@Yeji: hee hee … well, I do love eating and your Mum loves feeding me so we make a great combination! :)