Taste of London 2011

Photo credit: Taste of London

Taste of London is currently on here in London town, giving foodies an opportunity to come out and experience haute cuisine at its best. The festival, which started on Thursday, is being held in the ever beautiful Regent's Park, which was fabulous, except for one small problem.

The weather. I had been hoping all week that the rains would cease and not derail my foodie hopes and excitement. But alas, the rains still came. However, despite the rain and the extremely muddy conditions, we had a blast.

I was fortunate enough to snag freebies for this event, and my fellow foodie, Nic and I were off - boots on feet, brollies in hand. One was definitely spoilt for choice, with a wide array of Michelin-starred restaurants on site preparing and serving fantastic samples of their award winning menus. Student life of course, does not afford me these luxuries so this was a real treat! With festival currency (crowns) in hand, I was off - hungry and excited.

Clear winners included the Churrasco de Lomo and corn temoles from Gaucho, the erotic decadence of Malaysia Kitchen's Chicken Curry, as well as the fried dim sum platter from Yauatacha. I also tried the Chicken Tikka pie from Benares, after reading great tweet reviews, but sadly my crust was a bit burnt.

Chicken Curry from Malaysia Kitchen at Taste of London 2011

Chicken Tikka Pie with Berry Compote from Benares at Taste of London 2011

I cannot even remember some of the other things I had and from where, though truffle risotto comes to mind, not to mention the wide assortment of wines, cocktails and desserts - including gelato, sinful tarts and cakes and an assortment of cheeses.

Yummy desserts at Taste of London 2011

Nic's Espresso Martini and my Mai Tai at Taste of London 2011

I tried to get into the masterclasses to actually get my apron on and work in the kitchen alongside master chefs but this proved to be the expectation of hundreds of other people as well, so I could only look on as some of the patrons joined the cooking classes, learning from the best. I did, however, manage to pick up a tip or two from the sidelines.

I also had to support the island crew, and kudos to the Barbados booth for the amazing seared tuna and great hospitality. Barbados went full hundred with their presentation, as they should have. And this leads me to...

Of course, this blog entry would be incomplete if I did not mention the Trinidad and Tobago booth. I was expecting the premium chocolate from the Tobago Cocoa Estate but instead got Angostura, with their rum punch and assortment of rums, and... cassava pone. That was it. While the team explained that this was the first year and they were "testing the waters", I still felt a bit let down by the offerings. In terms of culinary wonders, we have soooo much to offer, with some amazing culinary talent, and the best we could do was a bite-sized piece of pone? I think if one cannot do something well, one should not do it at all.

The rain, mud and the thick throng of people trying to get to and from the booths were the only issues I had today. There were so many people, even with the threat and eventually, the heavy showers of rain. As a result, I could not fully enjoy a lot of the taste experiences as the crowds were a turn off and a real physical obstacle to getting close to a lot of the food. Oversubscribed?

The weather, in general, held up better than I expected, especially after the forecast mentioned hail. I kid you not - summer HAIL. We did have some brief moments of heavy showers and blustery winds which made the uncovered areas a virtual mudpit, but still, everyone was enjoying the day. And as my girlfriend said, if Londoners still cannot come to terms that their summer lasts a week and still insist on going out to areas prone to muddiness in flip flops and heels, then they deserve all the mud caked on their toes and feet at the end. I mean, wow - I saw one lady in a maxi dress that was way past floor length and the hem was a brown muddy nightmare. Really?

My own shoes - well, I will be cleaning them out in the backyard, that's for sure.

Ugh. Muddy boots are not cute.

But my first Taste of London was splendid. I had an amazing time, got to taste some truly fantastic food (and drinks...lots of drinks!!) and got to meet some great people, have some laughs and shake off the funk that had been following me all week. Good times, friends. Good times! Thank you, British Airways for an amazing time!

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The Rest of the World Comes to the Sunny Caribbean

Breakfast in Bed

Breakfast of champions. Can you believe I went to Tesco on Friday - got my peanut butter, got my strawberry jam, and forgot the bread? I blame the Nigerian!!! He accosted me in the bread aisle and made my thoughts murderous as opposed to carbilicious. In any event, I had to run out the house yesterday morning (not in my pyjamas) in order to stave off hunger and sure death, to get a loaf of bread! But it is just the easiest thing to wake up, slap some PBJ on a slice of bread, chuck it in the microwave for 10 secs and voila. Breakfast. I was listening to BBC last night on my way back home and heard the presenter saying she could not understand how people could eat peanut butter and jelly together. As opposed to stuff like mushy peas? Cultural distance again - another classic example. lol.

Last night we (my classmates and I), in a dire need for rum, went down to Camden to Cotton's, which came highly recommended by a couple friends. I did not doubt their judgement, mainly cause Mr Cotton's is also Mr RumFest and you know how much of a time I had there. And it is very hard for a real Caribbean soldier to mess up rum and rum-based drinks. I knew I was in excellent hands. I was not going to be subjected to stingy bartending, where there is more of the chaser than the rum, which is what I tend to experience in the pubs and other local holes. You just cannot be stingy with rum, people.

And disappointed I was not. I was wanting a daiquiri for ages and when I walked in, ordered my strawberry daiquiri and then put my lips to the glass, I was saved. Saved I tell you. It was awesome. The rum was stinging my lips. Stinging.

As an aside, no Nigerians at the bar, but Ethiopians this time. It must be an African thing to call women "sister". It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying. Can I just say this again? And dude offered to buy me a drink and when the drink got there, guess what? I had to pay for it myself. lol. Real star, he was.

Kudos to my friends for being spot on time last evening. I am generally very punctual, despite being a Trini. My people have a terrible reputation for being late all the time. However, I loathe having to wait. It really bugs me, especially if I have had to run up the street, and bust a lung, upon seeing my train lingering at the platform just so I coud be on time to meet your ass - and then you're 25 minutes late. Pisses me off.

But we all had a really good time. It was like the United Nations up in the place. Let's see - French, Swiss, Spanish, American, Trini. Very cool. The food was spectacular. Though not Trini food - I mean, we cannot get perfection - everything was great. I had some accra or what was listed on the menu as saltfish fritters, and the mixed jerk grill - chicken, pork ribs, pork belly and lamb. Oink oink oink. All with rice and peas and fried plantains. The majority of the table tried the Beef Pepperpot which I also sampled which was pretty great. Thankfully, the Trinidadian seafood curry, which my anti-spicy Spaniard (oxymoron!!) had was not at all spicy, though how Trinidadian it was, I am not quite sure. But it looked and smelled fantastic. The braised salted beef also looked decadent. The smells from it all - to die for. And the Europeans and American all enjoyed it. I am so glad. Caribbean forever!

I would highly recommend the daiquiris and the Jamaican Mule which was like liquid orgasm and I fear I may be taking the train back to the bar this weekend just to get me one of those. I would highly recommend Cotton's. Special thanks to our waitress, Christina, who was a peach.

We followed this with a short turn at BarFly, which was bumpin' but I was too tired to enjoy it and I checked out after maybe an hour. I also am growing quite weary of this night bus nonsense. The bus ride takes decades and it's cold, and you're shivering in this bus for an hour or more, and I just did not have the stomach for it so I rushed to London Victoria to catch the last train home. I really miss private transportation. The awful weather and public transportation just do not mix.

Despite being extremely tired, I had a really nice time. It was like being back home without getting on a plane. I was happy. Very much so.

Then... I walked outside. It was bitterly cold. Where on earth is spring, London? I got home and I was layered in jumpers and in socks and shivering under my blanket, with the heater on. Buzzkill. Port of Spain, take me.

Today, I am continuing my Caribbean vacation as my very sweet Barbadian neighbour has invited my cousin and I to lunch. I hope she has fishcakes on the menu. Her fishcakes are DA BOMB!!!

If my trainer could see my fat ass now. Maybe I should just brave the chill and go jogging when I have free time. Load up my Machel tunes on the MP3 player and hope for the best.

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