This October, 20 cities around Britain, more than ever before, will be going head to head to win the title of ’10th Curry Capital of Britain’ as part of National Curry Week 2012 8-14th October. National Curry Week is now Read moreCurry Fans Get Chance is a post from: Food-e-Matters UK


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Simon King, chef/proprietor at restaurant 1861 near Abergavenny, will be judging home-made cakes at The Great Abergavenny Bake Off on Saturday, April 21.

The event, which will be held in Orchard St, will raise money for Relay for Life, in aid of cancer research.

The entry fee for bakers is £5, maximum two cakes.

“I enjoy baking, and have fun teaching my two young children how to bake,” says Simon, who trained with the Roux Brothers and Martin Blunos.. “Judging this event will be a delight, especially as it is raising funds for such a deserving cause.”

African Volcano launches in the UK. Inspired by Africa, produced in Great Britain Award-winning Master Chef of Great Britain, Grant Hawthorne, has launched his own-label African Volcano Peri Peri sauces and marinades here in the United Kingdom. At present there are two lines: the Peri Peri marinade and the Peri Peri sauce. Cape Town-born Mr... Read MoreAfrican Volcano launches in the UK is a post from: Grant Hawthorne


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Masterchef of Great Britain, Brian Mellor, has recently opened his culinary abode in an Old Victorian School that was previously abandoned. Harthill Cookery School unlocked its doors for the first time in eight years as part of a rural regeneration project to bring this 150 year old English village and school back to life.

'It is a shame that so many old buildings are not being used these days that were once the hub of village life. At Harthill it's like living with history, this building holds many memories for so many people. I wanted to retain the school's character and keep its place at the heart of the community. It's a place where people, both professionals and public with a passion for food can come to explore and learn.'- says Brian.

These days Brian Mellor is best known for his many appearances at food festivals, hosting chefs' theatres around the country and contributing to many International Salons Culinaires. His career has seen him in roles such as Personal Chef for the board at Granada TV and BBC, cooking for celebrities and royalty and managing a team of 70 chefs.

'I built my career around developing and passing on skills. It's great to see the smile on people faces when they are making a pie, baking their first loaf or rolling out their own pasta. This is what we do at Harthill whether it's traditional British dishes or modern European ones, we make people feel at ease with what they want to do in the kitchen. And if a hands-on course is not exactly their thing, our once a month Dine'n'Dem evenings allows them not only to eat but watch how the dish is made'

RAW, the artisan wine fair, is a two-day celebration of some of the best natural wine talent in the world taking place in London on May 20th & 21st. Featuring around 150 growers, RAW promises to be one of the most exciting collections of fine, organic and biodynamic wine artisans ever to come together in the capital. Their wines are pure, kind to the planet and very possibly better for your health.

RAW offers a unique opportunity to taste and buy a variety of fine wines from around the world, including classic regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux and Piedmont, as well as exciting wine scene newcomers of the likes of Georgia and Serbia. There will be cult producers, classic household names as well as future stars, and even some who will be showing their wines in the UK for the first time ever.

Organised by Isabelle Legeron MW - the first French female Master of Wine, presenter of Travel Channel wine shows, co-founder of last year's Natural Wine Fair at Borough Market, and the first MW to focus on natural wine - RAW aims to build on the success of last year's show by acting as a truly independent wine event open to all producers, importers and official bodies. World renowned, international grower associations - La Renaissance des Appellations and VinNatur - are taking part and bringing with them growers from the four corners of the globe.

Despite being a traditional concept, due to modern farming techniques and technologies, the production of natural wine has become relatively rare, with the majority of wine now mass-produced. The show will feature organic and biodynamic wines, made with minimal intervention in the winery, without the use of selected yeasts, additives or heavy processing. Isabelle says that "My aim is to promote transparency in the wine world in order to support the art of authentic wine production. I want to help people think about what they drink'. RAW is leading the charge for transparency including a charter of quality that exhibitors must adhere to. The charter includes requests that all grapes must be farmed organically or biodynamically, only indigenous yeasts used and clear labeling with the levels of sulphur.

Serious collectors, wine newcomers, professionals and amateurs alike are all invited to attend. RAW will feature talks from some big industry names. Confirmed to date are biodynamic ambassador Nicolas Joly of La Coulée de Serrant, and José Vouillamoz, Jancis Robinson MW's co-author of her forthcoming book 'The Grape'. There will also be food stands and a pop-up shop, allowing visitors to purchase the wines they sample - either to take home on the day or be delivered after the show.

RAW is unprocessed. It is about truth, authenticity and frank wine talking, but most of all it's about showcasing good wine.

Say “Cheese” to Oregon and sample cow, sheep, and goat cheese at the Oregon Cheese Festival in Central Point, Southern Oregon on March 17. Work off and wash down all that decadent cheese with a run or two down Mt. Hood and an Oregon microbrew atÂ* Suds on the Slope Beer & Spirits on March [...]Tasty Spring Events is a post from: USA in One


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Divine Chocolate, the chocolate company owned by cocoa farmers, is once again putting together an exciting programme for Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year runs from Monday 27th February to Sunday 11th March. Two cocoa farmers from Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana will be joining Divine Chocolate on their tour which will take them to London, Manchester, Bradford and Glasgow.

Divine's theme for this year's tour is NNOBOA - the word Kuapa Kokoo farmers use meaning 'working together'. 2012 is also the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) so the farmers are also here to celebrate what it is to be a co-operative and to profit from their own chocolate company. The Kuapa Kokoo co-operative is made up of 45,000 farmer members in over 1200 villages across the cocoa growing region of Ghana. To celebrate IYC and Fairtrade Fortnight Elias Mohammed and Agnes Armah will be travelling to the UK to meet with consumers and some of Divine's key customers. They will be sharing their views on Fairtrade and what it's like to belong to a co-operative, as well as talking on life as a cocoa farmer and what owning a chocolate company actually means to them and their community.

Elias, Agnes and Divine staff members will be attending events at two of Divine's wholesale customers - Suma Wholefoods in Halifax on Thursday 8th March and Green City Wholefoods in Glasgow on Monday 5th March. Events open to the public include the famers talking at an event in Reading organised by Reading Fairtrade Group on Friday 2nd March and event at The People's Supermarket in London on Saturday 10th March. Divine's resident chocolatier David Greenwood-Haigh will be hosting a chocolate workshop at St Mary-Le-Bow Church in London on Monday 5th March in honour of Fairtrade Fortnight.

To celebrate International Year of Co-operatives the two farmers will be attending the Co-operative Women's Day on Saturday 3rd March in London, and Divine's MD Sophi Tranchell will be speaking at the Co-operatives Conference on Wednesday 7th March. The farmers also hope to meet a British co-op farmer while they are here to exchange experiences.

Elias Mohammed and Agnes Armah are visiting the UK as ambassadors of the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative. 43 year old Agnes is a cocoa farmer and owns a 10 acre farm in the Western region of Ghana. She is also the elected recorder* of her society and Treasurer of her district. 55 year old Elias is also a cocoa farmer as well as a recorder and has been voted on to the National Executive Committee. Elias and Agnes will be sharing their personal stories about improvements to their villages brought about through Fairtrade and belonging to a co-operative. These include the provision of a borehole to provide clean water, workshops on child labour, and the construction of a toilet block at the local school. Audiences will also hear how Divine's pioneering business model of farmer ownership means an even better deal for farmers and their families.

As a leading Fairtrade brand, Fairtrade Fortnight is a key period during Divine's annual calendar. For the past nine years Divine has arranged for two prominent members of Kuapa Kokoo (the Ghanaian farmers' co-operative which co-owns the company) to visit consumers and decision-makers here in the UK. Each year these tours prove a hugely popular opportunity for people from all walks of life to hear firsthand about farmers' lives. In turn it gives the farmers an insight into our love of chocolate here in Britain and of how many people want to make trade fair.

lunch! - the UK's premier trade event for the out of home food and drink industry - is hoping its winning streak continues into 2012 after picking up a prestigious Best Trade Show nomination for this year's annual Exhibition News awards.

Since its launch in 2008, lunch!, which is organised by Brighton-based Diversified Business Communications UK, has enjoyed growing industry prominence and support. 2011 was a record-breaking year for the event, culminating in a 41% increase in total attendance, an 87% rise in international visitors, 42% more exhibitors, plus a best UK trade show award from the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) for the second consecutive time. Whilst 2012 has already heralded the prospective announcement of a sold out 5th anniversary show, with just a handful of stands still remaining seven months out from opening day.

Chris Brazier, lunch!'s event manager, is delighted with the nomination: "One of lunch!'s real strengths has always been its niche, boutique appeal, so for it to be shortlisted amongst such established - and much bigger - shows really is an enormous achievement for the team at Diversified and a real recognition of the impact that lunch!'s made within the industry in just a few years."

The Exhibition News awards, which recognise talent and achievement across the exhibition industry, will take place at Olympia, London, on Thursday 29 March.

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Dumfries & Galloway in south west Scotland is set to become a popular destination for foodies during 2012 with two major food festivals bookending the summer.

Flavour Taster, 4th - 7th May, is a brand new bite sized foodie experience festival that builds on the success of Flavour Fortnight, Dumfries & Galloway's autumn celebration of local and artisan food and drink. Among the Flavour Taster events confirmed so far are Souper Sunday, Dawn Chorus Breakfast, a Brewery Tour, a Harbour Festival, wild food forages and various taster menus highlighting locally produced food. The full programme of event will be released in March.

Flavour Fortnight 25th August - 9th September returns for a third year, and moves forward a week to include the August Bank Holiday weekend. Last year saw 92 events take place across Dumfries & Galloway, from Langholm in the east to Portpatrick in the west. There was a fascinating range of unique and unusual experiences on offer including a wild food forage around an art gallery, a jazz themed celebration of jam, a Greek mezze made with local food, an opportunity to enjoy the first tilapia harvest from Scotland's first aquaponics project, a gastronomic quiz event, a menu showcasing Robert Burns' favourite meals, an opportunity to meet majestic Highland cattle and full day butchery demonstrations. Organisers say they expect over 100 foodie events to take place during Flavour Fortnight 2012.

The introduction of Flavour Taster was triggered after an independent evaluation of Flavour Fortnight stated that organisers had created a 'nationally important event and a food tourism product from the passion and enthusiasm of the artisan food and drink industry in Dumfries & Galloway.' Flavour Taster has been developed to build on the success of Flavour Fortnight and to satisfy the growing interest across the UK in local and artisan food and drink.

Liz Ramsay, Project Manager of Savour the Flavours, organisers of the festivals, said:

"These festivals give us an opportunity to put quality local food and drink right at the heart of the tourism experience in Dumfries & Galloway. We have some truly world class products in this region, as well as inspirational people in the industry who are happy to share their passion with visitors to Dumfries & Galloway. The success of Flavour Fortnight in becoming one of Scotland's biggest food festivals in just two years is a testament to the creativity and the enthusiasm of the industry here. A whole host of artisan food and drink experiences available right across this beautifully scenic region makes Dumfries & Galloway a mouth watering short break destination this year. "

Want reassurance that your cooking oil does exactly what it says on the label? Amid recent concerns that counterfeited Italian olive oil is finding its way on to British supermarket shelves, with false labelling and adulterated bottles, British rapeseed oil is emerging as the increasingly attractive, healthy - and honest option.

Somerset Farmer Andy Fussell of Fussels Fine Foods comments: "Our Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil is freshly pressed in small batches each season and you can rest assured that our labels are completely honest and that nothing at all is added to the oil. All the goodness of my oil is preserved by cold pressing the rapeseed just once to produce a fresh, golden oil with a gentle nutty taste."

Naturally loaded with golden goodness, rapeseed has natural health-giving properties. It is low in saturated fat, and high in Omega 3, making it an excellent choice for anyone trying to reduce their cholesterol levels. It is also a great source of the powerful anti-oxidant Vitamin E. Compared with olive oil, rapeseed oil has half the amount of saturated fats and has higher levels of mono-unsaturates and Omega's 3, 6 and 9. Unlike many other oils, including olive oil, its health benefits are retained even at high temperatures (240oC smoke point) so it's especially good for cooking, marinating, baking, frying and roasting.

Andy is involved with each stage of producing his Rapeseed Oil - from growing and nurturing the crops, to harvesting, drying and storing the seeds, freshly cold-pressing them and then finally bottling the oil. Everything is grown and pressed on his family's farm in Rode, Somerset, which is part of Natural England's Environmental Stewardship Scheme. This ensures that Andy's Rapeseed Oil is always of a premium quality and has traceability from crop to drop.