I’ve just about recovered from the BBC Good Food Show Summer – as ever it was an awesome show, with well over 100,000 food and gardening lovers coming through the doors! I’m still buzzing with inspiration after meeting so many fantastic producers, chefs, bloggers and food lovers during the show. Here are a few of my highlights, I’m afraid I was having too much fun to take many photos so you will have to use your imagination for some of it!
Backstage snacking
As part of the show team I get backstage access so on Emily Cloke‘s birthday we took some Ooo Meringues behind the Belling stage and ate them with the lovely Simon Diss… then along came Rachel Allen who is even more beautiful and lovely in real life as she looks on the TV!
Tasting, tasting, tasting
My favourite thing about the BBC Good Food Shows is being able to taste products before buying. You can usually try the whole range from a producer before choosing your favourite to buy… or even the whole lot!
Watching producers make loads of money!
It’s all very well bring small producers to the BBC Good Food Shows, but what really makes it worthwhile is when they make lots of money selling their goods! There were some great success stories this year, so a happy Katy I was! Check out all the food lovers enjoying themselves at the show!
I actually had to help this lady load herself up with her bags and bags and bags of purchases from the show, there is a super packed rucksack on her back too!
Discovering the stories behind the producers
I introduced the Northern Dough Company to some of the Midlands’ most popular food bloggers, and at the same time found out even more behind Chris and Amy’s company as Amy explained where they came from, where they want to go, and why their frozen pizza dough is so popular! Excitingly, they are soon to be stocked in Ocado, so everyone will soon have access to their delicious dough!
Post show fun in the bar
I love the evenings of the show – the show team, chefs, presenters, backstage helpers and all sorts of characters get together in the bar for drinks and fun… it doesn’t help with getting up early the next morning but is certainly good fun at the time! This year I met the latest MasterChef champion Natalie Coleman who is super sweet and was loving her first show!
Great British Bake Off Village
The Great British Bake Off Village is a brand new area at the shows, and it had its first outing at the Summer Show! A brilliant collection of stands selling all sorts of baking kit, essentials, accessories, cakes, pies, brownies… etc, etc! I could have bought so many things…
Street Food
Last year I helped to shortlist and judge for the Midlands Best Street Food competition… the four winners were featured at the show so I couldn’t resist going out to enjoy some! I went for a gourmet toastie from The Jabberwocky but could have had slow roast lamb from Ross and Ross Food, veggie delights from Fresh Rootz and Italian cuisine from Squisito Deli. Did you try any of the street food at the show? What did you think of the winners?
Beautiful stands and displays…
I really appreciate it when companies make an effort with their stands and displays at the shows. It really is like a pop up shop window, so should look good!
Fruit gins from bursary award winner Slamseys:
Spice n Tice are a regular show favourite with their gorgeously bright range of rubs, chutneys and spice kits:
Demijohn always has a great looking stand, a liquid deli where you can taste his range of artisan liqueurs, vinegar and oils and buy them in your favourite bottle – beautiful and delicious!
Lunch at the Good Food Kitchen
A new addition to the shows is the Good Food Kitchen, where mouth-watering dishes from the Good Food recipe collection are recreated and served with wine too if you wish. I took a well needed break with the team to try the mozzarella and butternut squash salad and lamb chops with smokey aubergine and mint aioli, both really delicious. Can’t wait to see what they will be serving up at the next show!
Cute chicks
A walk around BBC Gardeners’ World Live (co-located with the Summer Show) led us to some super cute chicks from Poultry Talk, a not for profit organisation offering advice on the safe and happy keeping of chickens. So cute they may have persuaded me to get myself my own chickens!
A rare moment…
Have you tried Gower Cottage Brownies? If not, you must. Frankly, they will be amongst the best brownies you will ever eat. Kate Jenkins and her lovely husband Rob (@thebrowniebitch on twitter!) are rarely seen together on their stand, so I was delighted to capture this rare moment on camera and share with you here!
Helping out where we can…
I always try to help producers out when possible, so Emily Cloke and I had a go at helping on some stalls while producers took breaks! Fun times! As you can see, we loved playing shop!
