Don’t miss the Allergy & Free From Show London Olympia & GF Food Fair for the diary

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday (3^rd-5^th July) is the Allergy & Free From show in London. A fantastic 3 day event that is the gluten free highlight of my year! I always look forward to it. There is something so unique and special about being able to attend a food show – and a massive one at that – walking into the room, seeing rows upon rows of delicious food, inhaling the aromas of freshly baking pizzas and simmering pots of curries and knowing you can EAT IT ALL!!! It’s a truly wonderful feeling and one that unless you’ve ever had to follow a restricted diet, I don’t think you can truly appreciate what a rare and extraordinary experience this is.

I always get ridiculously over excited and eat far too many samples, but have the most wonderful day. I always used to love going to food shows, but when I was diagnosed coeliac I had to stop attending as being faced with so much gourmet food I could no longer eat made me depressed. Not the case with the Allergy and Free From Show!!

You get to see and sample all the best gluten free foods available on the market, learn about new products, any newly launched companies and buy foods from small independent producers who aren’t readily available in the shops. It’s a gluten free delight!  My advice is take a big rucksack with you and be prepared for crowds. Last year they had 29,652 visitors over the 3 days… yes 29,000.

(Other allergies also catered for too and I should mention that there is the occasional stall that is dairy free/egg free but not gluten free. However, I should think 98% of the food on offer is gluten free)

It’s held in London Olympia – the big event theatre and it’s absolutely packed with stalls as far as the eye can see. You want to know the best part – they give most of the ticket away for free! Click here to get some yourself and learn more about the event.

Who’s excited?! – Me, me me!

GF Food Fair

One of my friends from Bedford also wanted me to let you know about the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair that is happening on Saturday 5^th of September in Biggleswade. Mark it in your diary. It’s obviously on a smaller scale than the Olympia one, but some of the top brands attend along with some local businesses. A great event if you are in the area and all gluten free!

Coeliac Awareness Week & Dinner at Pho

Today is the start of Coeliac Awareness week. Every year it makes me stop and think about my own diagnosis. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was life changing, both for the better and worse. However, every year I like to think it’s getting a little bit better. Along with wider knowledge and awareness of coeliac disease, means more people are being diagnosed, increasing the demand for gluten free food in shops, restaurants, supermarkets and even airlines. This means more gluten free companies, a greater variety of food and a better quality, both inn terms of taste and nutrition. There are now some gluten free products on the market that you genuinely wouldn’t know where gluten free. Others I feel still have some way to go and others are still distant longing memories….but I’m sure they will be available one day J

I recently learnt that Caroline Quentin, of Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek fame, has herself been diagnosed coeliac. I read an interview she gave and I think its one of the best, most genuine and informative stories I’ve read. If you yourself suspect you may be coeliac or have a problem with gluten, it’s imperative to go to the Dr for tests FIRST. Under no circumstances stop eating gluten, you need to have been eating it in order to get an accurate result and your symptoms could do down to something different, so don’t self diagnose.

And now for something completely different

I’ve now moved to London after starting my new job, meaning the 4 hour daily commute is no more – yay! I’m now living in a lovely house with 6 new flat mates. I feel quite settled in the area already but sharing with so many people means I haven’t been able to being all my ‘stuff.’ I’ve also had no time to do any baking yet (not to mention lack of tins etc), it may take a few weeks, but rest assured I will be baking again soon!

To celebrate my move to London I went out with a friend for dinner. We chose a restaurant called Pho as it was close to work and we both love Vietnamese, oriental flavours. This turned out to be a fantastic choice and upon arrival I was told that apart from the steamed buns (fair enough), I could have any other dish on the menu – most of it naturally gluten free. Wow, what choice and I was impressed they knew exactly what I meant when I said ‘gluten free’

The restaurant was quite compact, but we got a nice table for two and enjoyed carrot, apple and ginger juice while perusing the menu. I liked the vast selection of chilli dressings and sauces on the table for you to spice up your dinner if you liked.

I decided on two smaller dishes to make my main. Summer rolls to start, which are just like spring rolls, only made with a sticky, chewy rice wrapper rather than a crisp wheaty one. I’ve heard lots about them but had never tried them until now. They are stuffed with veg, rice noodles, mint and your choice of extra veg or prawns. There was a choice of chilli sauce or spiced peanut sauce, I was dithering over the choice and the waitress kindly bought me both. My favourite by far was the peanut one. Nutty, creamy and with a gentle kick. Delicious.

The Summer Rolls were great. Very fresh and packed with crunchy crisp veg and I loved the chewy rice wrapper. A little hard to eat with chopsticks, but fun.

For the main I had a green mango salad with citrus dressing and peanuts. Again another dish I’d never had before. You don’t eat it and think ‘mango’ its green mango meaning it’s crunchy and shredded in strips. It adds just a subtle fruity note, but more salad than fruit. The dressing was amazing. At first it was very zingy and citrusy, then as I ate more I got little hits of chilli coming through. I love that. It doesn’t look that special on the plate, but there were hidden layers.

My dining partner went for a big bowl of Chicken Pho – an iconic dish which is described as: “Pho [ pronounced fuh] is the Vietnamese national dish; an aromatic, nutritious and delicious rice noodle soup served with a side plate of fresh herbs and chilli to add as you please. The addition of these herbs and table condiments is an essential part of eating phở and adds another dimension to the dish - our chilli paste for a kick, fish sauce for extra saltiness, garlic vinegar for sourness.”

She loved it and it was such a huge portion she couldn’t quite finish it.

We were both very impressed. The whole meal came to £12 each and they do takeaways too if you don’t have time to sit and want to grab something on the go. They have a few locations in London and I’d be happy to visit one again. It’s so nice to get something so fresh and tasty as a quick option. Plus, extra bonus points for most of it being gluten friendly – hurrah!

London Hints & Tips Please!

As I’m new to London I’d love any hints of tips of nice (affordable) places to eat that offer some good gluten free options. Restaurants, food markets, little cafes, hidden gems, places for cake or lunch on the run etc. I’m open to anything including raw, vegan, veggie, sushi (hold the meat through please). All advice welcome. The areas I visit most are Kings Cross, Farringdon, Kentish Town, Camden

Thanks J

Gluten Free Fair Trade Marmalade Steamed Sponge with Fresh Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise (custard)

Steamed sponge puddings are my ideal dessert when the nights are chilly and drizzly or when I am simply in need of something comforting. Is there anything more nostalgic and comforting than a steaming hot sponge topped with sweet sticky jam and lashing of custard? It’s the food equivalent of a hug.

Raspberry jam or golden syrup are the classic childhood steamed sponges, but I’ve given mine a more modern twist by using Seville orange marmalade in place of the jam, while the sponge contains dark mucovado sugar, ginger and a little extra marmalade. This gives the sponge a deeper, almost burnt caramel flavour with just a hint of warming ginger which goes brilliantly with the bittersweet marmalade and prevents it being too sweet. Dousing it with a creamy fresh vanilla bean speckled crème anglaise (custard) really elevates this pud to a level almost deemed sophisticated, but you can of course serve it with the instant Birds custard (just like my mum used to) if you want full on nostalgia.

Grab yourself a spoon and a slice of steaming hot, lightly spiced sponge with its glossy sticky marmalade topping; pour over pools of creamy fragrant vanilla infused custard, snuggle into your favourite chair and enjoy!

I made this gluten free steamed marmalade sponge with crème anglaise (or custard!) for the recipe inspiration section of Wayfair. They challenged me to create a recipe using some of their amazing selection of cookery and bakery equipment to celebrate World Fair Trade Day on 9^th May. There are now lots of fair-trade products available in the shops and this one makes use of fair-trade sugar and a jar of fair-trade marmalade, just look out for the Fair Trade symbol on packs. This symbol means the farmers are paid a fair price for their products

Next week is also the start of Coeliac Awareness week (11^th – 17^th May) another event close to my heart, so it’s a fitting recipe all round.

If marmalade is not your thing, you can replace this with the jam of your choice, or even lemon curd, golden syrup, mincemeat or chunks of fresh fruit. Get creative with the spices and flavours too by adding cinnamon, cocoa powder, chocolate chips or lemon zest to make it your own.

You can see the full recipe here.

Celebrating 8 Years of Apple & Spice with Apple & Cinnamon Oat Pancakes with Caramel Sauce

Wow it’s hard to believe my little blog has been going 8 years! As is my tradition on my blogs anniversary, I was in need of an apple inspired recipe to celebrate. I always like to try and do something a little different and as Pancakes Day (Shrove Tuesday) is tomorrow, pancakes seemed the ideal treat.

I thought about doing traditional pancakes, but also wanted something a bit more healthy and substantial to eat for brunch and decided instead to create pancakes using ground up gluten free oats in place of any flour. They are also sugar free, being naturally sweetened with freshly grated apple (skin on) and a dash of cinnamon for a flavour boost. I’d consider them fairly healthy – just don’t look too closely at the caramel sauce I then drizzled over them!

Using the oats as the only ‘flour’ base worked well, and together with the grated apple, gave the pancakes a nubbly soft texture and a delicious slightly nutty flavour where the outer edges had toasted in the pan. The inside texture wasn’t quite as fluffy as regular pancakes, but softer and moister with a definite porridge flavour. However, as a porridge and breakfast lover I was delighted with this. I think these would make fantastic breakfast fodder with a little yoghurt and fresh fruit.

The batter won’t win any awards in the looks department, it is a little lumpy and brown in colour, but the taste and toppings soon perk them up.

I decided to use almond milk in the pancakes as I like its subtle nutty flavour and creaminess, but you can use regular milk too. As they stand the pancakes themselves are also dairy free, but you’d have to use a different sauce if you wanted to make the whole dish dairy free. Maple syrup would be a delicious alternative! Oaty, apple packed and lightly cinnamon spiced these pancakes were a tasty way to celebrate 8 years of Apple & Spice.

This year I’ve managed to combine 3 of my food loves – apple, spice and breakfast all in one – hurrah! See below for my previous years apple inspired treats.

1st year – Spiced Apple Cake

2nd year – Individual Apple & Oat Crumbles

3rd year – Overnight Spiced Apple Stack

4th year – Fruity Tea Loaf

5^th year – Roasted Apple & Custard Pots

6^th year – Apple, Caramel & Almond Tart with Peanut Praline

^7th year – Apple & Hazelnut Upside Down Double Layer Cake

This Years Apple & Cinnamon Oat Pancakes with Caramel Sauce

Pancakes

50g gluten free oats

1 large red eating apple

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp baking powder

100ml almond milk

1 egg

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Sauce

½ tin carnation caramel

3-4 tbsp almond milk

Handful of pecans, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 100C. Lay a piece of kitchen roll over a large plate and place into the oven to warm. Also add a couple of serving plates.

Start by making the sauce. Heat the caramel and milk together in a small pan until a nice warm drizzling consistency. Transfer to a small serving jug and set aside.

To make the pancakes, blitz the gluten free oats in a processor until they are broken down. They should resemble coarse flour, you don’t want it completely powdery. Add to a mixing bowl.

Quarter the apple, remove the core and grate it into the bowl, keeping the skin on.

Add the cinnamon and baking powder and stir together.

Measure the milk, add the egg and lightly whisk together. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mix and beat together to incorporate. You should have a fairly thick dropping consistency batter. Add a little more milk if too stiff.

Heat a large frying pan and brush the base with a little oil. Add heaped tablespoons of the pancake mix and form into round shapes with the back of the spoon.

Allow to cook over a low heat for 1 minute before flipping over with a pallet knife and cooking for a further 30 seconds, or until slightly puffed and browned.

Remove from the pan and transfer to the large plate covered with kitchen roll in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining batter.

When ready to serve divide the pancakes between the plates, top with a handful of pecans and drizzle with the caramel sauce.

Makes 8 small pancakes

Leiths School of Food & Wine: Gluten Free Bread

Last week I spent two very exciting days attending a gluten free baking course at Leiths School of Food &Wine! I’ve was diagnosed coeliac nearly 4 years ago, and although I’ve never allowed it to stop me from baking, I’ve never had any kind of training or professional advice about the best ways of creating gluten free dishes and foods and so decided it was high time I did.

I wanted to learn some special techniques for some of the more complicated/advanced aspects of gluten free baking, rather than just a general beginners gluten free cookery course, which would probably have covered things like cakes and biscuits, which I feel I have mastered pretty well on my own. Instead I selected two individual day courses to combine for a more in depth knowledge of some of the most problematic foods to create when baking gluten free. Day 1 was Gluten Free Bread and Day 2 was Gluten Free Pastry.

The bread course was great fun. We were a fairly small group of only 7 students, meaning we all got to work around the one big table, chat and get to know each other. Being a gluten free course everyone there was either coeliac or had a wheat intolerance. It was so nice to be in a group of people and feel ‘normal’ while we all chatted about our favourite recipes and restaurants and the little bug-bears we have about gluten free. We were 6 girls and 1 male, who along with the female cast of teacher and 2 female assistants was a little outnumbered. David was lovely though and reminded me a bit of Howard from the previous series of Great British Bake Off.

What I enjoyed the most was how hands on it was. Our teacher over both days was a lovely lady called Adriana, a past Leiths student, who started specializing in gluten free after her daughter was diagnosed coeliac. Adriana would show us a recipe, describing the techniques to use and the reasons behind why certain ingredients were used. We were then let loose to create the same recipe ourselves.

First up was gluten free focaccia. When baking gluten free bread you need a sough that it is a lot wetter and softer than regular bread dough. It’s more like a thick paste and you can’t knead it as you would for wheat bread. This is because the wheat flour (and gluten) is replaced with a range of starches and gums that absorb a lot more water, and it needs to be wet enough to allow these starches to become hydrated and rise without being too heavy and dense.

The focaccia recipe also used some ground almonds as one of the ingredients that I thought at first was a little odd, but Adriana explained that this was to help improve the breads protein content. This wasn’t done for health reasons, but for structure. Gluten is the protein found in wheat and so if this is removed, they the structure that makes up the texture of the bread will also change. Adding gums can help replicate the elasticity of gluten, but adding another protein source can also help the structure and texture of some breads – top tip! Makes sense once you think about it.

We shaped our focaccia breads by smoothing out the dough with very wet hands, left it to prove, dimpled the top with our fingers to create the characteristic hollows in the top, drizzled with olive oil and decorated with sea salt and fresh rosemary sprigs. A short bake later and we were all bring fantastically crisp and golden focaccias out of the oven. The aroma from the fresh rosemary was mouthwatering.

As always happens it was interesting to see how the same recipe could produce slightly different results for each of us. I was very proud when I was deemed Star Baker for my focaccia!

We hungrily tore off pieces to taste and I was very impressed. The crust was crisp with a great salty flavour and the inside was soft and springy, with well defined air holes that are characteristic of focaccia. The rosemary had given it a wonderful fragrance too. After a quick taste we set them to one side to cool and began work on our pizza bases which would be our lunch.

I worked next to a lovely girl called Kizzy and as the day wore on we discovered we had a lot in common including a love of food and baking. It was such a treat to find a kindred spirit and we helped each other out throughout the day. The recipe for the Focaccia is below and the course also included Pizza, Seeded Crackers, Chai Multi Seed Loaf, Teff Bread, Corn Tortillas and…Brioche!!!

Some of the recipes I felt were more successful than others but the hints and tips and knowledge I picked up throughout the day was wonderful. Adriana and all the staff were so friendly and open with their knowledge and encouraged questions that it was a great day. We got to take all our breads (that we hadn’t previously devoured) home with us.

I was most excited by the brioche. It was meant to be orange and cranberry, but they ran out of ingredients and so instead I improvised with a chocolate chip, sour cherry and freshly ground cardamom version. My brioche loaves were still hot from the oven when I had to run for my train home and so I ended up perfuming the train with the heady scent of cardamom (I got a little over excited and added far too much to my brioche) but it smelt and tasted lovely. The texture was not quite like regular brioche but for a soft buttery yeasty sweet bread it was divine!

Note: I’d highly recommend the course and wanted to point out that I attended the course of my own accord. I was not invited by Leiths to attend, I received no discount on the fees and they never knew I write a food blog.

Next up pastry!

Gluten Free Focaccia (also egg and dairy free)

Ingredients

110g gluten free plain flour (we used Doves Farm plain)

220g cornflour (corn starch)

55g ground almonds

2 tsp salt

2 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp caster sugar

14g quick active dry yeast

350g/ml tepid water

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Fresh rosemary sprigs

1 tsp sea salt for sprinkling

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C. Place a large baking tray into the oven to heat up. Lay a sheet of silicone paper onto your work bench.

Combine the flours, ground almonds, salt, xanthan gum, sugar and yeast into a bowl. Mix well to ensure all combines.

Weigh out the water and add the olive oil. It should be warm but not hot.

Pour most (not all) of the water over the dry ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon until everything is combined. It should be thick but wet to the touch. A few lumps are fine. Beat for 1 minute. You want a wet dough without it being runny, it must still hold a little shape without oozing. Add a little more water if needed.

Turn the dough onto the silicone paper and form into a mound. Dip the whole palm of your hand into a bowl of water and you’re your hand to gently shape and smooth the dough into an oval shape, around 1 inch thick. Keep dipping your hand into the water to smooth it out, it should look very wet and smooth on top when done. Don’t worry its looking too wet.

Once formed, set aside to prove for 20 minutes.

Once slightly puffed, dip your fingers into water and dock the dough to form dimples in the surface, only make the hollows about halfway into the dough, don’t press to the base. Be gentle as the dough will be soft and airy.

Brake off sprigs of rosemary and place some inside each of the hollows. Sprinkle over a generous amount of coarse sea salt and drizzle with a little extra olive oil.

Remove the hot baking tray from the oven and slide the focaccia onto it, still on its silicone paper. Return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and tap the base of the bread, it should sound hollow. If not, bake for a further 5 minutes and test again.

Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Eat or freeze on day of baking.

Coconut, Mango & Lime Chia Pudding and Running Race for Life

Chia seeds are quite new to me. I’ve seen them used a lot on American blogs, and have just started to hear whispers of chia seeds being used in specialist breads in the UK, but as yet they are relatively unknown and unused.

Chia seeds are quite unique in that they have the ability to swell up, and thicken liquids into gels and gums without any heating. The seeds look like pale grey sesame seeds, but are crisp and crunchy in such a way that they give a little ‘pop’ when you bite into them. They can be eaten in their raw state sprinkled on top of salads or cereal, as you would other seeds, or, their unique thickening abilities can be harnessed are used to create different tastes and textures in recipes.

They are also a bit of a ‘superfood.’ Chia is an ancient seed that has more Omega 3 ALA (19.3g/100g) and dietary fibre (37.5g/100g) than any other natural food. It is also a great source of protein (20.4g/100g) and other antioxidants. I was persuaded to try it as I have been trying to eat more protein recently as I’ve been training for taking part in the Race for Life event, that I ran this morning!

I was inspired to try creating a chia seed pudding after seeing a recipe on the fantastic blog Not Quite Nigella. I was intrigued at how these tiny crunchy seeds could create a thick almost porridge-like pudding. I had a very ripe mango in the fridge and decided to puree some to stir into my chia pudding to flavour it. To enhance the tropical feel I used coconut milk instead of regular milk and added a little lime zest. The coconut milk was the kind you can not buy in cartons from the supermarkets for pouring on your breakfast cereal, not the thick kind in tins used in curries.

I was amazed that even as I was stirring the ingredient together in a bowl I could feel the texture starting to thicken, you don’t even need to crush the seeds. I set the pudding in the fridge for a few hours before taking another peak. It had completely thickened up and was sturdy enough to support the weight of a small spoon when placed upright into the bowl!

I feared I may have made it too thick, but it turned out to still be soft and spoonable. The seeds had swollen in such a way that they now resembled a cross between quinoa and tapioca. They had a gummy, almost gelatinous outer layer with a crisp seed encased in the middle. It really was a most unique texture. Soft and granular with the crunchy popping seeds. The closest thing I can relate it to it tapioca pudding. If you love tapioca you’d love chia pudding, if that frog spawn texture is not your thing, then you probably won’t be a fan.

The flavours of the coconut, mango and lime worked really well together, giving it a tropical edge. It wasn’t too sweet and could easily be eaten for breakfast rather than a dessert if desired – something I know some people already do. It’s a shame it’s grey coloured, as I found that slightly detracted from its overall appearance.

I loved the novel experience of eating the chia pudding, but I did find the texture a little odd, personally I’m not a big fan of tapioca and this was a little too similar. I do love the pop and crispness of the seeds themselves though, so will try baking them into a cake or some biscuits to see how they turn out. They are worth eating for their nutrition value alone and I’m sure some clever people will be able to create some amazing foodie creations with chia given their unique thickening abilities. I can see chia becoming more and more popular.

Have you tried chia pudding or chia seeds? If so, what’s your favourite way to eat it?

Coconut, Mango & Lime Chia Pudding

(Inspiration taken from Not Quite Nigella blog)

Ingredients

½ large mango

30g chia seeds

1 tbsp agave or honey

Grated zest 1 lime

110ml coconut milk (the kind sold in cartons for adding to your breakfast, not the thick kind used in curries)

Method

Remove the flesh from the mango and put into a small food processor. Blitz until a rough puree is formed, a few chunks are fine.

Pour the mango puree into a bowl and stir in the chia seeds, agave syrup and half the grated lime zest.

Stir in the coconut milk, mixing for 30 seconds until the mix starts to thicken slightly and a few bubbles appear.

Cover the top of the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge to set. Anything from 3 hours to overnight is fine.

Once thick and set, divide the pudding between serving bowls or glasses, top with a little extra diced mango and a sprinkle of lime zest.

Eat and enjoy

Makes 1 – 2 generous portions

As mentioned briefly above, today I also took part in the 5k Race for Life event in aid of Cancer Research UK. Myself and 10 other women who are all part of the Wonderful Women group I belong to, decided to get together and run the course to raise money. I’ve spent the last 3 months trying to get fitter on the treadmill at the gym and until this morning had only managed to get to 4K without having to stop for a rest.

We all met at Meadowhall (a big shopping centre in Sheffield where the race began) this morning at 9:30am where we, along with thousands of other women all dressed in pink, set off for the run.

I am delighted to say I did it! I ran the course and finished in 31 minutes, 4 seconds. A personal best. It was a lovely sunny day and the atmosphere was fantastic with people cheering us one. It’s not only made me fitter, but we’ve raised lots of money for a great charity and all got a medal at the end to show for it.

Exploring Sheffield Food Festival

This weekend there has been a food festival going on in Sheffield. Street food, market stalls and local restaurants have been lined up snaking throughout the city centre. I had planned to explore it on Saturday, but the weather was so dreadful with torrential rain that I postponed until Sunday when the weather was slightly improved (although still raining)!

The first sight that greeted me was a real shire horse in a pen. This was a stand displaying naturally grown veg with plants arranged in vegetable plot style design. I’m not entirely sure what the horse was about, but I think the stall was from a local farm and they had brought along the horse to attract people. He really was a lovely specimen.

The first food stand I visited was a stand called Karkli, a new business selling pouches of Indian snacks made from fried lentil flour. I loved the spiky shape; they reminded me of spiky edged caterpillars. They were very crunchy and at first all you could taste was a savoury saltiness but there turned out to be a few cumin seeds in the mix and after a few chews you were left with an aromatic spiciness. Very good.

I then explored the rest of the stands on offer.

The Yorkshire Crisp company was giving tasters of their hand cooked tubs of crisps with some new interesting flavours. Not all of them were gluten free, but I got to taste a Hendersons Relish flavour. Hendersons Relish is a bit like Worcestershire sauce with the added benefit of being gluten free and vegetarian. Yorkshire folk are very protective and proud of this relish, (don’t ever say it’s similar to Worcestershire Sauce within anyone earshot or they get very offended) and my boyfriend eats it on everything!

I also tried a sweet chili and lime variety, which was nice but more of a paprika flavour to me and I didn’t detect the lime.

A bakery stand had some very cool Lego cupcakes. Those Lego bricks and even the little Lego men were edible!

Another stand had some beautiful looking gourmet marshmallows in a whole assortment of pastel colours and flavours. The black cherry & anise one looked amazing and such a fabulous colour.

A Mediterranean stand was selling olives, cheeses and sundried tomatoes. I tried a taster of feta and wow, it was amazing. It was more like a stiffly set cream cheese than any feta I’ve ever had before. It was so smooth and creamy, it just melted in the mouth. I bought a slice and had it with some roasted peppers for lunch today, so delicious.

I wanted to buy something for lunch from one of the pop up restaurant stands and there was quite an assortment to choose from.

Caribbean – goat curry anyone?

A selection of salads and roasted meats from The Showroom looked very inviting

I was drawn to the stand selling fat burritos stuffed with rice, beans and meat of your choice. I couldn’t have the burrito, as wheat tortillas aren’t gluten free, but I asked if I could have the filling of the burrito just on its own which they were happy to do for me. I was given a plate of a little bit of rice, bean chilli, jalapeno salsa and a couple of corn chips. I was slightly disappointed at the small portion but it was warm and filling which is what I needed as it had started raining again. The salsa had a gentle heat to it.

It made for a fun morning out, and I hope there is another event next year.