I'm afraid this might turn into something of a rant. Disappointed that
Henrietta Green's Food Lovers' Fair has failed to appear in Covent Garden this year, I thought I'd track it down at its new home at the
BBC Good Food Show at Kensington Olympia. I was slightly wary of going as I knew the on-the-door ticket prices were £16.50 (they were about £15 booked in advance online) - extremely pricey for a jumped-up farmers' market, although the website was pushing the presence of celebrity chefs flogging their books and doing a few cookery demonstrations so I suppose that was the draw for the
crowds. My boyfriend dutifully accompanied me, and although I'm sure he disliked the place far more than me he didn't complain at all - that was admirable.
Well, at best Olympia lacks soul. And I associate good food and shopping - because, lets face it, these shows/fairs etc aim to get you to part with your cash as much as possible - with a certain foodie atmosphere. But a carpeted aeroplane hanger like Olympia simply cannot provide the pleasure of choosing well-hung meat (haha) in a farm shop knowing it was reared and butchered within a mile or two, or the cosy wonder of finding a delightful chorizo in a little specialist deli, the fun in sourcing the perfect chocolate brownie in an independent bakery, or cheerily bartering with a local market trader for what looks good on the day.
But somehow other places can achieve that atmostphere - and I think I know why. A few of the stalls from la
st year's Food Lovers' Fair or stalls I've seen at Borough Market in London were present at the Food Lovers' Fair section of Olympia... but it seemed to me that the Northfield Farm burger stall (see left, I had a tiny beef and 'blue-veined cheddar' cheese burger with chutney in a massive bun - it was ok, but not very exciting) loses its charm when crammed under the same roof as an N Power's sales stall (why were they there?) in a carpeted warehouse rather than nestled next to a colourful fruit and veg or bakery display in Borough Market.
And the range of produce at the Show was uninspiring to say the least. One of the things I wanted to buy there was some good quality venison to make a casserole today, but it didn't seem to me that the couple of meat stalls that were there had any interest in offering anything other than beef, goose or turkey as it's approaching christmas, or sausages. Maybe that's what sells at these fairs, but I wanted venison - not easily found in my nearest sainsbury's local - and I couldn't buy it anywhere. There were chutney and relish stalls aplenty, a big section of wine producers - but does Rosemount really need to be at a Good Food Show... surely they get enough sales through the big supermarkets? - ice-cream and Christmas cake stalls, companies
selling pots and pans and blenders, some chocolate fondue stalls, and several kitchen designers/oak kitchen furniture sellers. But most stalls were very commercial - everything was pre-packaged (or in the cases of ice-cream or burger bars, designed to be eaten there), the only places selling fresh produce like fish were a couple of oyster stalls, oysters also to be eaten there, and the only veg on offer was marinated in oil in the form of olives, peppers and sundried tomatoes (see photo to the left).
The problem is, places that offer farm produce or traditional delicatessen fare are now everywhere. If you want to buy some 'luxury' food, go to any old market and you'll find it, or even the 'luxury' produce section in your local supermarket - don't pay £16 to get into an airport hanger-style money-making scheme in West London. I thought for the £16 there might be a few people going round handing out some free produce (after the last Food Lovers' Fair I had been given enough pesto, pasta sauces, sugar and coffee to last me a year - and it was free to wander in and check it out) or you might get a free magazine or drink, but no. Some stalls had 'special show offers' but most only knocked about 50p of their usual prices - I didn't see anything that actually seemed good value. And the stalls that did offer free samples were so crowded with people standing around looking gormless, it didn't seem worth fighting through to try a shaving of cheddar or a stale and soggy biscuit with relish. One stall (Tyrell's) told me I couldn't sample the dips they were flogging as if they opened a jar for people to try they all dipped crisps into it and it looks messy and unhygenic - eh?????!
I suppose I should consider that everyone might have turned up to the Good Food Show for the 'celebrity angle', so I should mention my thoughts on that - I stood and watched a couple of the cooking demonstrations and I would have been able to understand them much better if they'd been on the small screen in my living room - admittedly it's live, but the mikes were so badly arranged that half the time I couldn't hear what the chefs were saying, and they were too high up to see what they were doing - you had to watch the screens anyway, and to get to sit on the few rows of seats you had to pay £2.50, even though you could stand behind and watch for free - you'd think they'd include seating for shows in the extortionate entry price.
There were three main problems with the London Good Food Show - it was outrageously expensive, it lacked atmosphere and any sense of excitement and it offered nothing that can't be found in your local market/deli or on the internet. At least now I know, so I won't be going next year.
This time I had a burger and chips. It was fine, but the chips weren't double-fried as I had waxed lyrical about for so long, so I did look like a bit of a fool in front of my colleagues. They were all expecting the crispiest chips in London. The pub was too busy in the kitchen so to allay our hunger pangs as we waited (not as long as I thought we would have to wait) we nibbled on spicy nuts and seeds. I felt a bit of a 'tit' (haha) as it did seem like we were pecking on bird food, and I must look up what some of the seeds were, but they did the job and were nicely spiced - a bit like a posh, Anglofied Bombay mix.
