In case you hadn’t noticed, the Kiwi and I like our food and wine so The Food Show caught our attention and was promptly added to the Calendar. Held in the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, The Food Show was certainly popular with constant pinch points giving plenty opportunity to sharpen those elbows!
Irritation
Why do people like to come to a complete stop in the middle of passageways? Why do people crowd round samples and munch away without giving any thought to anyone wanting to access the table to see and sample produce? They stand and have a full on conversation with their friend/partner whilst you wait and wait for them to get out of the way, ignoring your polite attempt to get to the samples – it seems “excuse me” is wasted on people! Grrrr 🙁 Ok, moan over 🙂
Taste
I hear from those who have attended The Food Show when it was first established that the take-home freebies have vastly reduced so you could potentially come away empty handed, but unlike “Taste of” food events in the UK there is more scope for munching and swigging away happily on generous freebies at the Show. Unlike Taste of Edinburgh Festival, the Food Show does not give the opportunity to try out top chefs food as I expected whereas at the Taste of events you will have top chefs producing a taster of their menus, which you pay a nominal amount for. But, you DO get the opportunity to watch top chefs create a dish at The Food Show.
Ray McVinnie
We watched Ray McVinnie‘s food demonstration. He cooked a Chorizo and Prawn Salad and Sweet and Sour Chicken with Beetroot, Yoghurt and Walnuts. Whilst I happily read Ray McVinnie’s recipes in Cuisine and the like, I haven’t considered myself a fan but I am now! I was taken by how personable he was. He seemed far less pretentious than he appeared on Masterchef and seems a lovely balanced person with a great sense of humour, he spoke and taught well – I came away rather impressed by Mr McVinnie! His meal looked divine and I have taken away the recipes for future reference.
The good
Overall the Show was interesting but slightly disappointing at the same time. On the good side we got to sample plenty wine, with Hawkes Bay particularly well represented. 🙂 You get to meet producers and learn about products first hand, as well as opportunities to benefit from Show deals. Cooking demonstrations were interesting and it was nice to see MasterChef NZ represented, with winner Brett and runner up Kelly there too.
The bad
On the down side, ironcially, we struggled to find something substantial to eat for lunch! Samples and tasters a meal does not make. Considering this is an established show, I felt it lacked suitable organisation – the list of producers/stalls was in alphabetical order which is a nightmare when you are trying to find out what is around where you are located! Stands which are popuplar cause chaos as they were not wide enough to sustain crowds so they blocked the passageway. Elbows to the ready!
Will I go again?… I shall reserve judgement til next year!
