hotevents


ATaste of Christmas


From the people who bring the city Taste Of London comes the most fabtastic excuse for pre xmas gluttony!!


The Taste Of Christmas held at London’s Excel Centre on the weekend of Dec 2nd- 4th, had halls stuffed with xmas sweets, meats, treats just all kinds of eats. With no bar humbuggery in sight the Hotminute team munched their way through the expanse of stands to bring you this report.


Foodies swarmed the Excel Centre to stock up on gastronomic goodies, quirky xmas gifts, top chef tips or to just chow down at one of the many pop up restaurants. Shaka Zulu, Asia De Cuba, Gary Rhodes’ Rhodes W1, Roast, Benares, The Cinnamon Club and big draw Jamie Oliver’s The Big Feastival Pop Up Restaurant all pitched their tents to feed the masses. Their mouth-watering dishes were up for grabs for a crown or two or three.


Of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without a glass of the strong stuff…. or soft. Well whatever your poison Taste had it covered with everything from a steaming cup of Bondi Chai Tea Latte or a glass of Lovely Bubbly to a slurp of some Pussy (I am not being vulgar Pussy is actually an energy drink!). You know we had more than a quick tipple, and with the guys at Amarula treating us to a shot of festive lushness the hm team got more than a little merry.


To be fair it wasn’t all indulgence, budding chefs were spoilt for choice with the variety of chef theatres giving hot tips to spice up any Christmas menu be you on a budget or not. Sunday’s roster included celeb chefs Gary Rhodes, Anthony Worrall - Thompson and Eric Lanlard with Michelin star chefs like Jun Tanaka also divulging their culinary wisdom. With Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall opening the show on its first day, Taste was a veritable who’s who of the celeb chef world.


While the Taste menu had pretty much everything a Christmas foodies wish list could ask for; meats, wine, cheese,


chocolate, gourmet dips, sauces et cetera, there seemed to be a major lack of Christmas pudding and cake. Is there a raisin shortage we’re not aware of?? Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the traditional pud or cake and we expected huge doses of crumbly, raisiny morsels layered with sticky syrup. Salivating yet??


“Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the traditional pud or cake and we expected huge doses of crumbly, raisiny morsels layered with sticky syrup. Salivating yet??”


Besides our lack of pud/cake woes, Taste of Christmas was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and got us in a really festive mood. Proof in the pud (or lack thereof – that was my last whine I promise!) was in the 30,000 strong visitors they had over the weekend. No surprise, with purse strings tightening in this economy Taste provided great ways to have a cracking Christmas spread and still put food on the table come the New Year!


Plans are already underway to make next year’s event bigger and better so bookmark their site and countdown the days http://tasteofchristmas.com/


Have A Merry and Tasteful Christmas Everyone!


Words: Enam G


Photography: Courtesy of Taste Of Christmas (2010 event).


12 hotminute mag


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28