National Baking Week

Every week seems to be a national week for this and that. Most go by with a side ways glance - maybe a laugh or two. But National Baking Week - now that speaks volumes to me. And it is no accident that it's taking place in the week of all weeks - the final of the Great British Bake Off. I had Brendan down to be the winner. He was more technically consistent throughout the show, but the judges decision is final and who can argue with Mary and Paul.

So, National Baking Week - it runs 15th - 21st October and was established to encourage Britain to get baking. Now I don't think there is much trouble with that. Every where you look there's a new baking book, baking class or recipe in a magazine. But is it simply a case of food porn - you look but don't touch? What you really need to do is don the apron and get your hands in. I was working in an office the other day and most people claimed they were no good at baking. I was taken aback. Isn't everyone good at it? Perhaps they haven't tried lately. Or perhaps they haven't followed the recipe. That's all there is to it. It ain't hard - it just requires a little discipline. So in the spirit of National Baking Week. Get to it.

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival

There are two things I love (well when it comes to food there are lots of things I love), but food and wine festivals really strike a chord with me. You often get to meet the producers face to face and they possess a passion for quality, traceability and delivering great food. I normally can't make the Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival due to work commitments. This year, I'm free!

The 15th and 16th September sees the return of this popular, annual event. Hastings is on the up and I've mentioned some of the local food places to visit in previous posts. Set on the Stade, there are a range of stands and stalls offering delicious local seafood and an array of local and other British wines. The Stade is the perfect setting as its right by the historic Net Huts.

It's not just food, there's live music and street entertainment and I'm told, a lively festival atmosphere, making this an event not to be missed. The festival is centered around The Stade and Rock-a-Nore Road in the heart of the Old Town, although businesses across the whole of Hastings join in with special menus and entertainment.

Hoping for good weather, I'll be there for all the fun of the festival and looking forward to reporting back on what I find. 

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival
15th and 16th September
11am-6pm
Stade Open Space
Hastings Old Town
Hastings
East Sussex
TN34 3AR

Too many tomatoes?

No, there's no such thing as TOO many tomatoes. The trick is to be clever with what you do with them. Yes there's Greek Salad, tomato salad, bruschetta and a basic tomato sauce to use with pasta. But what about a hot and spicy salsa to top some corn fritters? Now there's a summer treat if you ever had one. Tomato relish? You keep the love for longer. And that tomato sauce - make a big batch and freeze it. Faced with a glut of tomatoes and being a touch greedy, I didn't really want to give any away I headed to my trusty tome, Nigel Slater: Tender Volume 1.

Home grown garlic

It's one of my favourite books for finding new and innovative ways to prepare vegetables from the kitchen garden. He treats each vegetable to it's own chapter, with an introduction detailing his love and experience of the veg, then talks about how it grows it, perfect flavour pairings and then he shares some of his recipes. With said glut of tomatoes I wanted to do more than make a salad, so to the book I went. He offers up a very simple dish of Baked Tomatoes with Chilli and Coconut. Well the tomatoes aren't baked in the oven, they are cooked on the hob but it does pack a punch with chilli and it contains coconut for a fabulous creaminess. Tomato Curry would be a much more appropriate name for it - as that's basically what it is - a delicious bowl of lycopene (which is really good for you) chilli and coconut.  It is packed with a heady mix of garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander, turmeric, cumin and cardamon seeds, lots of tomatoes and creamed coconut and that's it. For the full recipes you will need to click here: Baked Tomatoes with chilli and conconut and scroll down a bit. It is seriously good. Served topped with chopped coriander, some rice and perhaps a warmed roti - there's dinner.

Tomato Curry: baked tomatoes with chilli and coconut

It's back and it's great

You've gotta love the Great British Bake Off. Drama, suspense, great personalities and the will they, won't they rise? I was particularly impressed with last night's episode as they had to tackle bread and quite tough ones too. Plaiting bread with 8 strands - now there's a challenge. But it sorts out the winners and losers and sadly one had to go. It's given me a renewed enthusiasm for trying my hand at bagels. Not sure about plaiting bread yet - maybe a three stand loaf.

Keep watching as the competition hots up, as Paul keeps his keen eye on the bakers and Mary - well you can't but love Mary. And of course Mel and Sue - they can divide opinion, but I think that this vehicle suits them perfectly. What with the Great British Bake Off and The Accused - Tuesday night is now officially telly night.

There's something about caffeine

Britain's love for coffee is growing year by year. We are more likely to grab a coffee on the way to work than a takeaway cup of tea. That's not to say our love affair with tea is over. We still consumer far more tea than coffee every day. According to the UK Tea Council us Brits knock back 165 million cups daily or 60.2 billion per year. Seriously! Whereas for coffee, it's estimated to be about 70 million cups per day. That's still quite a hefty amount of caffeine, but it's worth noting that tea contains about half the amount of caffeine of coffee.

I was reading an article in The Guardian last week (The Guardian, Saturday 23 June 2012) and it really opened my eyes to the growth of the coffee industry. Most of these facts are taken from that article and I found then eye popping and had to share some. The number of branded coffee shops in the UK exceeds 5,000, add in the independent sector - add another 5,000 and on top of that there's more - little local places and pubs that serve coffee which takes it all to around 15,000. That's big bucks when it comes to serving coffee. I'm not saying they all do it well. I have never been a huge fan of branded chains. The big American one - which will remain nameless - I avoid like the plague. Even my favourite - Cafe Nero, has lost my patronage lately due to poor customer service, slap dash delivery and a very average cup of coffee. The last straw was an ice coffee that tasted simply of milk and ice - not coffee. Sorry Nero but I won't be coming back.

Costa Coffee is the largest chain in the UK and from humble beginnings in 1978 has risen to 1,400 outlets serving 450,000 coffees per day. I will occasionally visit Costa - but only if pushed. Again sadly, I have never had great service. Profits are up all-round and despite the recession we are seemingly happy to part with £2.50 for a cup of the black stuff. There's room for growth in the market too. The Guardian article reports that we are likely to see up to 7,000 branded coffee shops in the next few years, with a total of around 18,000 including the independents and non-specialist shops.

What I like most is that it refers to the growing trend for a more discerning customer who now knows their beans and blends. It's not snobbery, but a discerning palette for a quality cup and good service. Today people are after more than a pint of scalding milk with a poor quality blend of beans and poorly executed shot of espresso. Monmouth Coffee is touted as leading this revolution and yes, they have been serving great coffee since the late 70's in Covent Garden. The recent influx of Antipodean coffee entrepreneurs are really raising the bar and (I hope) will be where the growth in the market comes from. If you haven't visited the likes of Federation Coffee (Brixton Village), Lantana Cafe (Fitzrovia), Kaffeine (Great Titchfield Street), Flat White (Berwick Street), Caravan Coffee (Exmouth Market), Nude Espresso (Soho Square) then it's time you did. You will never look back.

For more information on great coffee in London read my post:: http://marksmithskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/stylist-magazine-top-10-coffee-shops-in.html