Skip to main content

Day: 16 September 2012

Manchester Food and Drink Festival

Written by Emily Clark on . Posted in News.

One day in my first year as a higher education slave, I was sitting eagerly on the X50 express bus on my way to the library to do some extra work. Or so I thought. I was expressly (and rudely) carted off into the town centre whereupon I noticed a stream of people filtering into Albert Square. I followed the crowd, seeking to discover its purpose. I delightedly found myself in the throng of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, and on the best possible day – the one devoted to chocolate. Clearly dreams do come true! All thought of extra library study had long since fled my mind.

Manchester Food and Drink Festival (September 21st–October 7th) is a wonderful, long-winded celebration of eating and drinking. The festival sprawls across Manchester, but at the heart of it all is the Festival Hub in Albert Square, which combines bars and stalls with live cookery demonstrations, eating competitions, beer testing and much more.

Check out the street food at the Hub; this year it sounds better than ever. Catalan noodle paella or doughnut mash, Spanish churros, French smoked duck and spicy pulled pork burritos – just some of the things that make me pre-emptively drool.

The event I most keenly await is Oktoberfest, at the Hub from October 5th-7th. Litre steins of malty, hoppy pilsner are provided by Veltins, one of Germany’s most established brauereien. Bavarian brass bands will accompany the event throughout.

Beer Fest (September 21st-26th) at the Hub will feature a 20 metre-long bar with over 100 craft beers and plenty of food to choose from. It’s open from noon until 11pm. I’d recommend Robinson’s Old Tom, a thick black ale whose alcoholic content is hideously high. Cider Fest will run concurrently with Beer Fest, featuring over 60 types of cider and perry. And that isn’t all; Hawaiian-themed bar The Liars Club is setting up a cocktail shack to display a bit of theatrical mixology and offer some exotic cocktails.

I am also greatly looking forward to the cake day on October 7th. It seems to have replaced the chocolate day, so I hope I’ll accidentally end up on the X50 again. For more information on the delights of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, visit http://foodanddrinkfestival.com/ 

My mother’s carrot & thyme soup

Written by Jessica Hardiman on . Posted in Food & Drink.

(Serves 4)

When my body is suffering from one inebriated night too many (as many people may be experiencing after Welcome Week), it craves some nourishing home cooking and a good, old-fashioned dose of vegetables. This soup was my all-time favourite meal when I was little, and I would eat it with one of those starchy white bread rolls that serve no nutritional purpose whatsoever, but are surprisingly comforting when slathered in butter. It takes me back to a simpler time when life wasn’t riddled with hangovers or deadlines, and bread snobbery wasn’t running amok. This is my remedy, which I impart to you.

This is also as cheap as it comes. With a 1.5kg bag of Sainsbury’s Basics carrots at 70p (of which you will use about a third), you can’t go wrong. Depending on what you already have in your cupboard, this dish could cost as little as 6p a portion – I kid you not.

Ingredients:

2 onions (chopped)

1 lb carrots (grated or very finely chopped – they cook much quicker if cut as small as possible)

1 ½ tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp thyme

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper

1 pint vegetable stock

1 pint milk

Fry the onions in a knob of butter over a gentle heat. Once soft, add the carrots and cook for 10-15 minutes with the lid on. Be sure to heat the mix until the carrots are completely cooked – if underdone the soup won’t be sweet enough. Once the carrot is cooked, stir in the flour thoroughly. Add the stock, thyme, bay leaf and seasonings and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, take the pan off the heat and liquidise using a hand blender. Add the milk, stir and then bring to the boil.

The Great Noodle Poll

Written by Emily Clark on . Posted in Food & Drink.

The noodle world has never seen a poll so thorough. I invited a horde of nine people to my house to blindly rate and comment on ten brands of noodle; chicken flavour if available. Results were enthralling. Pot Noodle fared an unimpressive seventh whilst Morrison’s soared to the top with an underwhelming 64%. Personally, I would choose a Curry Mile offering as the spiciness masks the inadequacies of monosodium glutamate-based flavourings. It’s worth noting the net weight before you buy – the price doesn’t always indicate maximum value for money.

Poll positionBrandPriceNet weight before cookingOverall percentageComments
1Morrison’s own BBQ beef flavour29p85g64Bland but reasonably inoffensive.
2Vitasia from Lidl18p108g60A nice taste but a bit slimy and sticky.
3Sainsbury’s own28p85g57Carrot a bit stiff. Flavour not detestable; hints of popcorn.
4Super Noodles68p100g52Homogenous gloop.
5Sanwa Cup Noodle from Worldwide69p70g47Alright.
6Knorr Micro Noodles79p100g39Unidentifiable flavour.
7Pot Noodle£190g35Another assault on the senses. Very salty.
8Tesco’s own curry flavour11p65g25Poor imitation of curry.
9Indo Mie from Worldwide35p70g21Strong taste of plastic, burning sensation.
10Pot Shots76p46g11Contains alkaline cleaner. Minging.