Stories of Leicester Food Fair

Gonna scoff my head off today at the Leicester Story Telling Festival food fair. Right here at @BBCLeicester! #Leicester50StoryFest pic.twitter.com/y1C7POoMFN

— Jack Rafferty (@JackRaff) March 3, 2017

The festival’s first day had already been well received (not least by the BBC Leicester staff!) and the second had a fun atmosphere as locals came in to the BBC Leicester building to taste their way around Leicestershire and Rutland.

As ever, Rothley Wine was well received with both elderflower and Spirit of Freedom sparkling wines on offer for tasting. There were a number of businesses representing who were very close to the building. New city darlings, Delilah, put in a strong performance with their deep and smoky chorizo in tomato. This usually features as a part of their brunch offering, served with griddled toast and creamy scrambled eggs. I for one will be leading the charge for that dish in the near future!

Also popping in from around the corner was Cocoa Amore who were full of interesting information about the origins of the cocoa they use and how the flavour profile changes as you move around the globe. I was surprised to see that their white chocolate buttons were by far the most tasted item, when they were also offering some really delicious dark chocolate and in particular beautiful quality chocolate coated coffee beans which were a real treat.

Gorgeous truffles coated in lemon sugar

For a refreshing break, one only needed to pop over to the Charnwood Brewery stall, where their copper coloured ale, Vixen, was being dished out on tap. As The Boy was missing out on the fun, I picked him up a selection box of brews to enjoy at home – I can’t have all the fun, can I?

A new business to me was Lotus Bakery from Rutland. From their delicious selection of sweet and savoury bakes I enjoyed the winter vegetable tart for my lunch, which had a beautiful combination of seasonal vegetables and sweet, sharp feta on top of a gorgeously crisp pastry. So good was this that I also indulged in a fragipane tart slice to enjoy at home. It was rich and fruity, a real credit to the genre! Their free samples of fudge were also not to be missed.

The giants of gin industry, Burleighs, were also delighting punters with their rich web of botanicals and team members who have a fantastic level of knowledge about how to make the most of the different gins in their range with super suggestions for the best mixers, great cocktail ideas and beautiful garnish suggestions.

As well as local classics, like Dickinson & Morris‘s beautiful pork pies from Melton Mowbray, you could also take a mini-break around the culinary world with local favourites Bobby’s, Everest Dine and Alino African Bar and Restaurant on Narborough Road. Much as you would expect in Leicester really – we are blessed with both fine local food producers and some of the very best chefs imported from all around the globe! It was also lovely to see all of these producers mingling and sharing ideas and experiences – any future collaborations are sure to only be a huge benefit to us as foodie consumers in the county!

Cheers!