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Stratford to be treasure trove of good food during Food Festival

Shakespeare's birthplace will be transformed into a delicious treasure trove of good things to eat and drink as the town hosts the fifth Stratford Food Festival on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September 2011.

As well as lining the banks of the River Avon, this year the festival also hits the streets by joining with three great food markets across the town, offering a fun-filled and tasty day out for all the family.

The event brings together a fantastic selection of great local producers and some from further afield, who are passionate about putting the very best on the table. So whether you want to stock your pantry, equip your kitchen, feed your mind or simply slate your thirst, you're bound to find something that more than fits the bill from the exciting festival programme this year.

Make a day of it, or make a weekend of it, find the town's beautiful riverside gardens bustling with stands as deliciously diverse as organic meat and veg, locally brewed real ales, beers and ciders, artisan cheeses and award-winning ice creams. There will be a British Farmers' market in the heart of the town as well as a French Market on Bridge Street and an Italian Market on Henley Street, plus live music and entertainment all weekend.

Work up an appetite and try some organic beef from Brown Cow, succulent hog roast from Castlemoor or a juicy burger from Happy Herefords. Turn the heat up with David's Chilli Oil or Anila's Authentic Sauces and enjoy some tasty nibbles from The Big Yum. Why not follow with a sweet treat from the Crumbly Cupcake Company, some beautifully handmade cakes and biscuits from Truly Scrumptious, or chocolate goodies from the Cacao Bean Konditorei & Café.

Or if you prefer savoury, why not savour a plate of fine cheese from Lymn Bank Farm or sample Alan Coxon`s unique multi award winning historic "Ale-Gar" Roman and Ancient Greek vinaigres?

Wine lovers will find plenty to savour too, with superb wines from Kiwi Cuisine and Pure Spain, as well as something stronger like English Gin from Foxdenton Estate and exciting liqueur and party drinks from the Perfect Tipple.

You can even pull up a stool at the bar and enjoy a perfectly pulled pint of UBU from Warwickshire's own Purity Brewing Company, at Stratford's favourite local, The One Elm, who will be out in force at the festival, as will the Royal Shakespeare Company's Rooftop Restaurant and Bar and The Lazy Cow, Warwick.

Learn how honey is made with the Stratford Beekeeping Association, growing your own and sustainable living, buy gadgets for your kitchen from Lakeland and sit back and watch a cookery demonstration, glass in hand. The proceedings will be overseen by chef, author and TV presenter Alan Coxon, who is the festival's ambassador this year.

Tickets, costing £5 for adults, will be available online from www.stratfordfoodfestival.co.uk or by calling the ticket hotline which will also be available, soon. Children under the age of 16 have free entry.

Optional extras include the Taste Trail, an exciting trail of stalls at the festival and participating eateries in the town, and VIP tickets giving you the best seats in the house and guaranteed entrance to demonstrations.

Join them on Saturday 24th or Sunday 25th September and tuck into a tasty day out in a fabulous riverside setting. The festival is open from 10am to 11pm on day one, and from 10am to 6pm on day two on the banks of the river Avon, opposite the newly-refurbished Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and throughout the town.
www.alancoxon.com
www.stratfordfoodfestival.co.uk

Free Avocado recipe book

We are offering a free 24 page Summer Avocado recipe booklet. Recipes include various guacamoles, perfect picnic recipes, simple salads and even beauty treatments.

Readers of That's Food and Drink can email: summeravocados@rt-com.com or send a postcard to:

Summer Avocado Recipe Booklet
26 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6BT
UK

The Stone Bake Oven Company Dish Up FREE Wood Fired Food Recipes

As the wood fired cooking trend gathers momentum in the UK, some wonder if it’s a trend that is set to stay. The growing interest in wood fired cooking has seen The Stone Bake Oven Company, manufacturers of wood fired pizza ovens, dish out all the guidance you could need to make an informed decision when deciding whether or not to purchase your own wood fired oven.

Once being a ‘specialist’ method of cooking, reserved for Italian families and pizzeria restaurants, the wood fired oven industry experienced the ‘celeb effect’, with many celebrities purchasing wood fired ovens for themselves. This was mostly due to the authentic cooking flavours only a wood fired oven could achieve, and partially related to the excessive price-tag and prestige associated with such ovens, making them a ‘must have’ in the celebrity realms.

What subsequently followed was a new found interest in these wood burning products by the public, and so as the demand grew, the Stone Bake Oven Company catered to it with a range of high quality yet affordable wood fired ovens for the home and garden.

So is this new market trend a fad on its way through the market? Or is it set to stay?

Unlike other craze products to have come to market, which seem like a great idea at the time (cue yogurt makers, for example?) and ends up gathering dust in your home or kitchen, or cobwebs in the garden, a wood fired oven revives the oldest and most traditional method of cooking there could ever be, cooking on an open fire.

After all, cooking in this way dates right back to beginning of civilisation! So I suppose wood fired cooking isn’t a fad at all, it just seems to have been revitalised with some good TV promotion and some guidance and re-invention by companies such as the Stone Bake Oven Company.

If you’ve ever tried authentic wood fired food yourself, it seems you’ll know what the fuss is about, with the ability to roast, grill, bake and sear a wood fired oven can cook virtually anything, as well as original Neapolitan pizza in less than 90 seconds.

For everything you need to know about wood fired cooking, including some tasty FREE recipes, The Stone Bake oven Company have taken wood fired ovens from a ‘must have’ to a CAN have, with a range of affordable indoor and outdoor pizza ovens.

For more details visit www.thestonebakeovencompany.co.uk

BBC Food Show Winter NEC, Birmingham, 23 – 27 November

The biggest foodie event of the year is back and after the success of the BBC Good Food Show Summer, seeing a sell out Saturday, organisers are urging visitors to book in advance to avoid disappointment on the door.

Rachel Poletti-Gadd – Divisional Director, BBC Haymarket Exhibitions says: “With some of the country’s top chefs on the Supertheare sponsored by Sainsburys, the nation’s favourite TV programmes bought to life in the MasterChef Experience and Saturday Kitchen Live stage this is the date in the foodie calendar. After the huge success of the Summer Show we want to make visitors aware that tickets may not always be available on the day plus your tickets are cheaper if you book in advance.”

The NEC is once again set to play host to some of the leading names in the foodie world, including John Torode, Gregg Wallace, Rick Stein, James Martin, Glynn Purnell and Michael Caines in a 2000-seater Supertheatre.

They are expecting over 400 exhibitors and some highlights confirmed so far are:

Foxes Spices

Flavours of Spain – importing a fantastic range of artisan Spanish produce

Demijohn – The Liquid Deli

Stewed

Luponde Tea

Eat Paella

American Food Direct – importers of American food

Marks and Spencer

English Provender – purveyors of some of the countries finest condiments, chutneys and dressings

Nairns Oatcakes

Burts Chips

Curry Sauce Company

Plus a whole range of professional chefs knives – including Kin, Global and I.O.SHEN

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Drop Peardrop Flavour Pop. Even better than it says!

Everyone loves peardrops, those iconic and quintessentially British sweets. They have been a firm favourite with generations of adults and children, too.

But now someone has gone one better. Mount Valley, under the direction of founder Mohammed Ali, has developed and launched a sure-fire winner, Drop Peardrops flavour pop!

But this is where it gets interesting. Forget the mealy-mouthed 'health' drinks of late! With their: “water with a hint of carbonation”! Because Mount Valley Drop Peardrops flavour pop is bursting with bubbly goodness, just like the pops you remember as a child!

Then we come to the fascinating thing about Mount Valley Drop Peardrop flavour pop. Make certain it is well chilled, because this drink needs to be treated with the ultimate respect! Then, either pour it into a glass (over ice, if you like) or sip it from the can and the first thing you notice is that there's a wonderful summery taste of very sweet and very juicy ripe English pears.

That lasts for several seconds when it is sublimated by the taste of peardrops! Remarkable though this may seem, it happened with every sip of this most excellent product. And it is extremely refreshing, too!

It is called Drop (as in Peardrop, of course!) and if you want to be at the forefront of the next poptastic (sorry!) taste sensation, then you'd better look to either drinking it or stocking it in your shop, pub, or restaurant. Just visit http://dropdrinks.co.uk to find out where to buy it retail or wholesale.

Mount Valley plan to bring out 12 other different, yet equally tasty and refreshing pop drinks, with one every three months or so.

So remember where you heard about it first!

Free ice cream on Fridays from Domino's

Make Fridays a cool experience with the latest deal from Domino’s Pizza. The pizza delivery expert’s new Free Ice-cream Fridays are a real treat.

Just spend over £20 online with Domino’s on a Friday and receive a 500ml tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream for free.

With four favourite Ben & Jerry’s flavours included in the deal, they’re a perfect end to your pizza feast. Choose from Caramel Chew Chew, moreish Chocolate Fudge Brownie, delicious Cookie Dough and Phish Food.

Simon Wallis, sales and marketing director at Domino’s, said: “We’re delighted to create another reason for pizza lovers to celebrate the end of the week with Free Ice-cream Fridays. After a piping hot Pepperoni Passion, there’s nothing better than tucking into a tub of ice-cream and this great deal is guaranteed to make Fridays fantastic from now on!”

To grab a slice of the action with Domino’s and Free Ice-cream Fridays, order online at www.dominos.co.uk.

Happy 140th birthday, Ben Shaws!

Ben Shaws, the soft drinks manufacturer who brought the distinctive taste of Dandelion and Burdock – amongst others - to the people of the UK, is 140 years old this year.

To celebrate this landmark, the company has embarked on a tour of the country’s county shows where not only will visitors get a chance to sample the flavours of Cloudy Lemonade, Bitter Shandy, Cream Soda and the famous Dandelion and Burdock, but to vote on which one is their favourite. 

What’s more, back in the days when the Miss World competition was a global phenomenon, Yorkshire had its very own version – Miss Ben Shaws. Each year a girl who was seen to embody all the qualities of Ben Shaws – fun, sparkling personality, plenty of fizz! – was crowned the winner each year and given a free crate of Ben Shaws soft drinks every month for the year of her reign.  The title was much sought after and hundreds of girls entered every year.

Now, as Ben Shaws celebrates 140 years of business, the firm is to pay homage to the old days by looking to crown a number of contemporary Miss Ben Shaws. “Each and every one of our new Miss Ben Shaws will be given a year’s supply of our soft drinks each,” added Sundeep.  “We’ve had tremendous support from the fans of Ben Shaws over the years and we want them to come and celebrate this landmark birthday with us.”

The company was founded in 1871 by Ben Shaw himself, who used the family shire horses Bonny, Blossom, Cherry and Dick to deliver his soft drinks via horse and cart.  In later years the firm used what became known as the Ben Shaws “pop van” and the drinks came in glass bottles that when returned were a popular way for children to earn pocket money.  And for a shilling an hour, Ben Shaw’s grandchildren would watch the bottles coming off the production line, checking for specks of dirt, making sure very bottle was perfect.

“We’re very excited about it all,” said a spokesman.  “140 years is a long time to be in business and it’s great to see that the original four flavours are as popular as ever.  It’s a brand that has stood the test of time and is as popular now as it was all those years ago.”

As part of Ben Shaws’ birthday celebrations, they can be found at:
Eccleston County Fair 16-17July

Southport Air Show  23-24 July

For more information, visit either www.benshawsdrinks.co.uk or www.facebook.com/benshaws

FACTFILE:

Ben Shaws® was started in 1871 in Huddersfield by Ben Shaw himself, beginning by bottling and selling natural mineral water from the Pennine Hills.  Ben Shaw then expanded into making soft drinks in his own, purpose-built factory, and distributed his drinks to various shops in the Yorkshire area via horse and cart, using his family’s Shire horses Bonny, Blossom, Cherry and Dick.  In later years the firm used what became known as the Ben Shaws “pop van”. 

The drinks came in glass bottles that when returned were a popular way for children to earn pocket money.  And for a shilling an hour, Ben Shaw’s grandchildren would watch the bottles coming off the production line, checking for specks of dirt.  Every bottle had to be perfect.

Those descendents followed him into the business, and in 1959 the company became the first in Europe to invest in the can – the very latest in soft drinks technology.

The name Ben Shaws is synonymous with premium quality, and the Ben Shaws’ range of soft drinks comprises the well-loved Dandelion and Burdock, Cloudy Lemonade, Bitter Shandy and Cream Soda

Cott Beverages purchased Ben Shaws in 2005 and has upheld its pledge to maintain the company’s standards and reputation.

(EDITOR: Still tastes just as good!)

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