A Speciality and Fine Food Fair Special 2016 (part 1)

The team hit Speciality and Fine Food Fair 2016 at Olympia in London for a FoodTalk special featuring 7 different guest producers.

Sue Nelson and Paul Andrews catch up by sharing their gluttonous food show behaviour and take a look at the huge variety of weird combinations they indulged in over the 3 days. Sue's adamant that it's not as glamorous as people may think.

Firstly we hear Christie and Lucy Ellis interview Cecily from Coconuts Naturally, who is a big believer in harnessing the energy from food and chooses the most natural ingredients to make feel good, vegan ice cream. Christie loves the little coconut man picture on the branding and is surprised to find that Coconut Naturally is more decadent tasting than she expected and Lucy loves the smoothness. The pair love the texture and think it sets Coconuts Naturally apart from other vegan ice creams.

Next Sue and Christie meet Mark from Mr Filberts and try his really interesting snacking olives and nuts. Mark tells us about the health benefits of snacking Mediterranean style and Sue is loving that the olives come in an oil-free packet and not a greasy pot. Sue tries to wangle some trade secrets out of Mark, but he's staying tight lipped! 

Next we have Hilary from Botanique who's non-alcoholic, posh fizz which may well have been created just to save Sue when she's got to drive. Hilary loves and knows her wine, so has created a guilt free way of feeling like you've indulged without getting carried away. Christie is loving the dry, refreshing taste and both her and Sue are having fun speculating about what flavours may actually be in it - just like wine tasting.

Completing the first half of our interviews this week is Tom Barnes from Biddenden Vineyards which has been in his family since his grandparents. Sue's keen to find out what this new and interesting cider they've recently brought out is, and how it is naturally red.

Punishing Sue for not letting him taste the chocolates, Paul admits that he played the wrong segment of the show first and Sue resolves to check his work before letting him loose on the controls. Sue admits to sneaking Biddenden cider as a teenager and Paul carefully selects the next segment of the show.

We start the second half of today's show with Russell Pullen of 5th Dimension Chocolates, which are possibly the most beautiful, handmade chocolates in the world. Sue likens Russell's craftsmanship to that of a sculptor and Christie dribbles with chocolatey anticipation as the team try the unusual sounding miso and mint flavour, which everyone is surprised works so well and compare it to salted caramel, except Russell has his own version of that already - soy caramel. Sue is loving the hidden surprise element of the experience whilst letting Christie try the curry and raisin one first, and then getting carried away and continuing to try almost all of the flavours 5d has to offer.

Next up we meet Britain's first ever producer of cold pressed rapeseed oil, Duncan Farrington of Farrington's Mellow Yellow. Sue and Duncan educate Christie on the benefits of using rapeseed oil and discuss the subtle nutty flavour and the rare few who pick up hints of butter. Christie's palette is apparently close to Jamie Oliver's as she notices that it's clean tasting and doesn't hang around on the tongue. Duncan lets us in on a few cold pressing secrets and how they keep all of the goodness in without diluting it with nasty processes.

Finally Paul and Sue meet Frankie Fox of Foraging Fox with their shared nemesis beetroot, but in a ketchup form. We find out that Frankie's dad Roland was a forager and that's where the idea for Foraging Fox was born. Paul is surprised to find that he would actually use a beetroot ketchup on a burger whilst Sue's lack of chilli tolerance betrays her with the spicy version. Frankie gives some brilliant serving suggestions and makes us all rethink the use of ketchup, and Sue finds that the smoked ketchup is her favourite.