The Sheffield Food Festival 4th-10th July was all about celebrating food, particularly produce that is made by local producers, cafes and restaurants. There were lots of events and activities taking place across the city, more than I was ever going to be able to get to.

There was plenty that I did do though and so here is – My Sheffield Food Festival Week.

Day 1- Monday

The first day of the festival was breakfast with some Our Cow Molly milk in my tea and on my cereal.

At lunchtime I took a walk down to Fargate to check out the ‘Wig & Pen‘ pop-up restaurant. It looked pretty impressive with its outside terrace seating area and more formal dining option inside the marquee.

Various events were planned for the formal ‘pop-up restaurant’ including a pop-up cinema showing the film ‘Sideways’, wine tasting, as well as ‘Milestone’ and ‘Wig & Pen’ Taster nights, a BBQ and canteen food with a twist in conjunction with South Indian Restaurant ‘East & West’.

Later that day…..

My Sheffield Food Festival Day 1 was rounded off with some Our Cow Molly’s Lemon and ginger ice-cream for dessert. The ice cream was rich and creamy with a good punchy lemon flavour and subtle ginger kick. I served it with a scattering of finely sliced fresh ginger, crushed pistachios and a few slices of strawberries. Yum.

Day 2 – Tuesday

On Tuesday, an outside adventure was on the agenda with PJ Taste and the Sheffield Wildlife Trust on their Forage and Feast event. We met at 6pm at Wyming Brook, Redmires – along with about 30 other keen ‘foragers’.

On arrival, we were greeted by PJ Taste’s John Fitzpatrick who served us drinks and canapes. We tried one of the spiced apple ciders which was very drinkable. The ice cubes in it had blue Borage flowers in them which was a lovely colourful touch that I’m going to try at home.

The canapes included mini yorkshire puddings with beef in a sorrel horseradish cream. This was followed by a summery looking slice of toasted sourdough topped with herby cream cheese, sliced courgette and green beans. They were very tasty morsels to be get us ready for some foraging.

We split into groups each doing a different activity with a couple of experts from the Sheffield Wildlife Trust. First up was Bilberry picking. When we were shown the bushes where these purple berries grow, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have noticed them. They are quite unassuming and the berries are hidden in part by the bushiness of the plant. In about 10 minutes we managed to pick about a cup each which we got to take home.

Up next was a quick cooking demonstration. We were shown by the PJ Taste chefs Ian and Mat how to prepare a chicken fillet for stuffing. A neat pocket was cut into the fillet and the foraged stuffing of nettle and fat hen was added. This was definitely a different set of ingredients from your conventional sage and onion. The chicken was then pan-fried skin side down, so it would be nice and crispy.

We left the PJ Taste chefs to cook the rest of the chicken and we headed off down the woodland tracks with our guides to find out more about the local flora and fauna. We were told a few interesting facts along the way. For example, don’t eat foxgloves as they are poisonous, the Sweet Chesnut was brought over by the Romans and the nuts from it are very tasty. You can’t eat bracken as it will give you an upset stomach.

We then had another quick food break and we were served a mushroom starter. The open field mushroom was succulent and flavoursome with chilli and garlic. Re-fuelled, we then headed off for the final foraging session down by the river bank.

We were shown a wood mould known as ‘dog snot’ and Himalayian balsam – a troublesome invasive weed. We tried some wood sorrel which looks very much like clover and tastes a bit sour. Then as the tempting smell of chicken began to waft over our guides led us back to the BBQ area.

For the main ‘feast’ we had a Wortley chicken fillet stuffed with nettle and fat-hen stuffing, homemade bread, foraged salad leaves and potato salad. The chicken was tender and well seasoned. The highlight was the nettle and fat hen stuffing, it had an earthy flavour which complimented the sweetness of the chicken and our surroundings.

We also had some slow roasted beef ribs which had been marinated in honey and mustard. They were delicious – sweet and meltingly tender.

Whilst tucking into the food I got to meet Missie Cindz who has been immersed in her ‘Eating Sheffield Food’ challenge this week.

Dessert was a tangy gooseberry fool with redcurrants and moist cocoa rich chocolate brownies. By this time the midges had come out to annoy and bite us. This was a bit of downer as people started to head home a little early to escape being eaten. A fun evening was had for the most part and I learnt more about the potential feast on our doorstep.

Day 3 – Wednesday

On this day I met Claire ‘Love to Live to Eat‘ and Exposed magazine food blogger. It was the first time we had met properly and it was great to chat about our shared passion for food. We decided on Dosa for lunch from East & West at the Wig & Pen pop-up.

East & West is South Indian & Sri-Lankan restaurant based on Abbeydale Road, and they are adding to their eateries as they are soon to open another restaurant in Broomhill.

I’d never had a Dosa before and I am now definately a convert. The savory pancake was light and crispy and inside it there was a subtly spiced vegetable curry. There was also dhal, raita and chilli sauce served as sides. The dish looked fantastic and my soon to be empty plate showed that it tasted good to. Thanks to Claire for a lovely lunch.

In the evening I attended a session called ‘Feeling Great, Tasting Good’ held at PJ Taste on Glossop Road. It was hosted by Claire Gillis of Integrate Nutrition and Peter Moulam from PJ Taste. The focus of the event was on how to eat a nutritionally balanced diet based on low-GI to help you feel better mentally and physically, as well as reducing the risk of illness in the future.

On arrival we were offered a choice of drinks and as PJ Taste were hosting the event it was never going to be conventional. We had a fresh juice made from carrot, orange, ginger with a hint of celery. We also tried Yarrow tea which tasted similar to green tea.

We nibbled on some carrot, radish and celery crudités served with a herb yoghurt dip. The vegetables also included blanched hogweed which tasted a little like celery and asparagus.

Claire led the session which focused specifically on the amount of sugar we eat in our modern Western diet and how this impacts on our health, stress levels, energy and moods. We were taken through a typical day to see how you can reduce your intake of sugar and balance your energy. First up was dessert.

Peter made two chocolate mousses – one with avocado rather than cream and the other had nuts as they contain essential fatty oils. Agar syrup was used as a sweetener instead of sugar and this was recommended as a great sugar substitute.

Whilst dessert was setting, we moved onto Breakfast. Claire showed us some typical cereals that you might have at home and talked through labelling. Basically the message was don’t just trust the ‘healthy’ marketing and packaging, read the food labels to see how much sugar there is per 100g. Claire shared the stats and they highlighted that some ‘healthy’ muselis have as much as 40g of sugar per 100g, which would definately not help a balanced diet.

We moved onto mid-morning snacks and Claire talked about alternatives to reaching for a chocolate bar. Healthier options that give a slow release of energy included yoghurt with fruit, oat based ceareal bars and a handful of nuts.

For lunch, Claire looked at salads and we tried some of PJ Taste’s offerings, the noodles with smoked tofu was my highlight. The message was salads can be easy and don’t have to be boring. Make them colourful, add different textures with raw vegetables or seeds. If you have this type of lunch then it should help to avoid an afternoon energy slump.

For the evening meal, Peter cooked a salmon fillet seasoned with chopped fresh fennel and parsley. The fish was cooked skin side down so the skin was nice and crispy. We got to try some and it was perfectly cooked, the herbs provided plenty of flavour particularly the aniseed from the fennel.

Time for dessert as the chocolate mousses were ready. The one made with avocado and cocoa powder was creamy and sweet. I preferred the second one though which was made with melted dark chocolate and nuts, the taste was richer and it had a stronger cocoa intensity.

This nutrition session was informative and it clearly showed that eating healthily doesn’t have to mean boring food. Tasty and delicious meals can be done simply.

Day 4 – Thursday

A pre-birthday meal at Fusion Cafe was on the agenda and an opportunity to sample the Asian Festival menu. I had been looking forward to this meal as I love the ethos and the style of food that Fusion Cafe create.

It was pretty quiet when we arrived at 8.30pm and it stayed this way for the remainder of the night. It felt like we had our own restaurant for the evening, which was a treat.

For starters I chose ‘Cabbage leaves stuffed with seared fillet of beef with ginger, chilli & black bean with a peanut dressing’. The presentation was immaculate and the peanut dressing was delicious, full on nutty flavour but not overpowering. The iron tang of the cabbage was a nice contrast to the tender beef fillet.

For mains, I went for ‘Teriyaki marinated Chicken breast & seasonal vegetable stir fry with udon noodles preserved black beans and a home-made sweet chilli sauce’. The vegetables still had a crunch to them which worked well with the softness of the noodles. The chicken had a slighly salty tang from the teriyaki that combined brilliantly with the sweet chilli sauce. Again a beautifully presented plate of food.

I just had room for a dessert so I chose the ‘Hong Kong egg tart infused with lemongrass with mango ice-cream’ (not ginger as advertised). I was disappointed there was no ginger ice cream as its one of my favourite flavours. The mango ice-cream was sweet and rich tasting. The pastry of the tart was nice and crispy and the egg custard was milky sweet with a hint of lemongrass. I felt that the taste of the tart was slighly overpowered by the mango ice cream.

I met and introduced myself to Komal who is a chef at Fusion and writes a blog called Girl who ate the world. She will also be hosting Sheffield’s first supper club later in July, which is exciting stuff.

All in all it was a great and delicious pre-birthday meal.

Day 5 – Friday

I had a day off work so I took a trip to town to check out the Producers Market on Fargate and in the Peace Gardens.

First stop was John Crawshaws Butchers where the choice of meat looked excellent, I bought a delicious and rustic looking Huntsmans Pie.

Next, it was a hello and chat to Shaun of Catherines Choice where I purchased some of the Brewer’s Choice mustard with Kelham Island – Pride of Sheffield Ale. I’m looking forward to trying some on a ham sandwich or with sausages.

I introduced myself to the ladies of Teabox Online and bought some of the Sheffield Festival tea – green tea with apple, which sounds the perfect refreshment for a summers day.

Onto the deliciously smelling Cat Lane Bakery stall. The bread looked fantastic, after a quick taster I went for a multi-seeded organic loaf which has been packed for our holiday breakfast tomorrow.

Again another introduction to the friendly fellows of Moss Valley Meats. I thought I’d try some pork and apple burgers as they sounded a bit different and looked good.

I headed home with my tasty goodies and reflected on the week. What a great week it has been celebrating our local food delights. I have learnt new things, met new people and enjoyed the best of what Sheffield has to offer when it comes to food. I think we need to be proud of our food and enjoy what we have available to us on the doorstep. So it more than just this week, it is a way of life and here’s to enjoying plenty more delicious adventures.