The Big Feastival 2013 - The Electrolux Chef's Table

Peter and Jonray Sanchez-Iglesias
with the Electrolux Chef's Academy winners

One of the most exciting emails sent to me this year - 'you are invited to be a guest at the Chef's Table at The Big Feastival' which is to be held on the farm of Alex James in the Cotswolds.

Michelin Star chefs Peter and Jonray Sanchez-Iglesias from Casamia in Bristol cooked and plated up in front of us and introduced each of the courses. The sommelier from Casamia explained the matching wines which were superb.

Beautifully presented Chef's Table 

The diners seated around the table were fellow bloggers and journalists and we were all treated to a stunning four course tasting menu - silence fell when we were presented with our food, I think we were all speechless with delight.

Quiche Lorraine, Tomatoes and Mozzarella, Duck with Carrot and Fennel, Peaches and Cream

The food was exquisite, and not only did it look amazing, the food was a taste sensation too.

Peter and Jonray explaining the types of tomatoes used
 in their Tomato and Mozzarella dish

After the Chef's Table experience, we were feeling very happy and we had an enjoyable look round The Big Feastival, we were really lucky with the weather especially as it was the last weekend in August. As usual we headed for coffee and a look round the many stalls selling local produce, ice cream, brownies and more.We then made our way to The Electrolux Big Kitchen.

 Rachel Khoo was a joy to watch and she demonstrates how to make Paris Brest
with a surprise filling of brie, spinach, apple and a mustard mousse

We were all booked in for a cook-a-long at Electrolux Chef's Secrets with Nigel Haworth, head chef of Michelin Star restaurant Northcote,  he made this such fun and my jaw ached from laughing. Nigel wasn't very impressed with hubbies knife skills dicing a shallot but it all added to the fun.

We all made Pea and Broad Bean Risotto with baby leeks
using the latest induction hobs

I had been looking forward to the event for a few weeks and it exceeded my expectations. It's a great family festival and it was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves.

A huge thank you to Electrolux for a fabulous day and being such amazing hosts.

Coming up:  More from The Big Feastival a foodie and music lovers festival.

Heidi Laughton | Spirit Hawk Eye

Photo © Heidi Laughton-All Rights Reserved

Just a few days after returning to New York from Los Angeles, I got an email from Heidi Laughton announcing the opening of her "Spirit Hawk Eye" exhibition at the Talisman gallery...in Los Angeles! I had originally met Heidi a few years ago in London where we attended a travel photography show in Earl's Court.

So it's with pleasure that I feature Heidi's Ways of the World photographic galleries, which include images from her “Spirit Hawk Eye: A Tribute to American Native Culture” photographs. These celebrate American Indian culture andreveal aspects of present-day cultural practices and lifestyles, remarkable individual stories and colorful, spiritual and artistic elements of Native American communities.

For this particular series of photographs, Heidi embedded herself within the Native American culture, and photographed a "mix of modern and traditional regalia, with the traditional regalia not necessarily being a true representation of the wearer’s tribe, but often an amalgamation of different tribal influences as is often the case today".

Originally from London, Heidi is now a Los Angeles-based fine art, portrait photographer who always had a fascination for world cultures and has worked on projects that took her as far as Kenya and China.

The photographs now exhibited at the Talisman Gallery were made usingmedium and large format film and are available as archival pigment prints on fine art paper. Alongside each portrait, a text panel further explains facets of Native life and anecdotal information relating to the portrait.

I missed it by a few days, but my readers who are in Los Angeles can view the exhibition at Talisman Fine Art Gallery, Bergamot Arts Center, Unit A6, 2535 Michigan Avenue in Santa Monica.

My Minimalist Cook Kit

Alright, so the title is not exactly correct. There are much more minimalistic cook kits than the one I am going to show here. However, it is as minimal as I would want to go.

The reason I am writing this post is that when I discussed the weight reductions I had made to my cook kit earlier, people asked me why I didn’t just switch to an alcohol stove set up to save more weight. The answer is that I like to use the same set up year round, and an alcohol stove and cup just wouldn’t cut it when I had to melt snow for water during winter trips. That being said, I did actually make a kit based on an alcohol stove. It is something I would carry if I am traveling with very minimal gear. So, here it is:

The kit has a number of components, which all nest inside the cup.

The components and their weights are as follows:

Item	Weight
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Cup	3.1 oz
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Lid	0.6 oz
Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle Stuff Sack	0.4 oz
Modified Brasslite Turbo I-D	1.4 oz
Pot Stand	0.7 oz
3 oz Fuel Bottle	0.5 oz
Aluminum Foil Windscreen	0.0 oz (does not register on scale)
Mountain House Empty Bag	0.4 oz
Total Weight	7.5 oz

The first item of my kit is the cup-the Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle. The Stoic Kettle is a 700 ml titanium cup. In the above table I have divided the weights of the different components, but they come together as a set-cup, lid, and stuff sack. I have been using the cup for a year now, by nesting my Nalgene bottle in it. I have been very happy with it, so when I was making the kit, there was no question in my mind that this is the cup I would use.

The next component is the stove. There are many design out there, and many of them are lighter than the one I use here. The reason I settled on this modified version of the Brasslite Turbo I-D is that I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what stove I want to make. I decided that I would just make a miniature version of the Tuna Can Stove which has been my favorite alcohol stove. As I was shopping for parts however, I realized that the current Brasslite Turbo stoves use the exact same design. I decided to save myself the work and just get one. The reason I chose the I-D instead of the larger II-D is that I don’t expect to do any serious cooking with this set up. It is going to be a boil and mix affair. This model does the job well.

However, I never liked the integrated pot stand used by the Brasslite Turbo stoves. I removed it from mine, and I also removed the simmer ring. Like I mentioned above, I will be using it just to boil water, so a simmering function is not needed. I ended up making my own pot stand. I used three jumbo paperclips, which I bent into shape and held two of the ends with wire. That way the design can fold, but offers very good support.

The remaining components are an aluminum foil windscreen, a 3 oz fuel bottle, which gives me sufficient fuel for a weekend trip, and a Mountain House meal empty bag. The last item might seem strange, but I have found it very useful. A big part of boil and mix foods is that you need something in which to mix them. The Stoic cup is a bit too small for the task. What I do is boil the water in the cup, and then pour it into the Mountain House bag along with the food (mashed potatoes, instant rice, etc). The bag also serves as a cozy for the rehydration process. The bags are designed to retain enough heat to rehydrate the Mountain House meals. I find that to be more than enough to rehydrate the foods that I ordinarily cook.

This cook kit makes for a very compact, and relatively lightweight package. It is entirely self contained, and stores enough fuel for a weekend trip. I have contemplated switching to it a number of times, but the cold weather performance issues have kept me from doing so.

The Nihon-Jin of Rodeo Drive

Having some time off on Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive, I decided to test whether the city of angels's legendary shopping mecca was as conducive to street photography as is New York City. I only had a brief window of opportunity and it opened between 2-3 pm; a period of time not surprisingly accompanied by a dazzling sunshine...but with hordes of Japanese tourists.
Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills, California is a 4 block stretch of road north of Wilshire Boulevard and south of S. Santa Monica Boulevard, known for its luxury-goods stores. The street is home to some of the most sought-after stores including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Burberry, and Coach....and others that I don't know. These stores must spend serious money for rent, and their air conditioning bills must be astronomical.

The Nihon-Jin of Rodeo Drive is a gallery of photographs all made with the Fuji X Pro-1 and a Fujinon 18mm, and all were shot from the hip (except one). I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible, and shooting from the hip allowed me to capture candid expressions I may not have been able to otherwise. As women engaged in shopping for luxury goods are normally extraordinarily focused, I could've photographed them at point-blank range, and they wouldn't have noticed me. 

However, as I learned many years ago not to interfere with, or distract, a woman on a shopping spree, I thought the shooting from the hip option to be the safest for my well-being.

A Japanese guide told me that these buses carrying these shoppers are a daily occurrence, who are greeted by the Rodeo Drive merchants with open arms. I was also told that 92% of the shoppers on these buses were women, and the rest were men...presumably the very patient kind.

The photographs are not listed in any particular order, but most of them show the intensity of this activity reflected in the expressions of these women. The Japanese shoppers must've a specific window of time to do their shopping and to enter as many luxury stores as possible...and it's serious business.

Blackberry Buttermilk Sponge

The sponge has a lovely crunchy demerara sugar topping

This easy to make blackberry buttermilk sponge has a lovely tender crumb and if you can get hedgerow blackberries the cake will taste even better. My blackberries came from the supermarket, they were absolutely fine (but make sure they aren't dessert blackberries) or raspberries would be good to use too. The sponge is best served warm and can be reheated gently in the microwave.

I know sometimes it's not convenient to buy buttermilk and a buttermilk substitute can be made by taking 250ml milk (not semi-skimmed) and pouring onto 1 tablespoon of either white wine vinegar or lemon juice and leave to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Recipe is from The Great British Bake Off Everyday cookbook and they recommend serving the sponge with Hot Berry Sauce (recipe in the book). The cake is quite sweet and I think the berry sauce would counteract the sweetness. I served my cake with a dollop of cream.