62. Gin In Abundance At Ludlow’s 25th Food Festival.

Here we are, Lucy The Labrador and I have made ourselves very comfortable at Fishmore Hall Hotel, home to Forelles restaurant, and we are have had out first day at the Ludlow Food Festival which this year is celebrating its silver jubilee. Ludlow may have lost its reputation for being home to some of England’s most famous restaurants but it continues to celebrate those years of greatness by hosting the festival which, 25 years ago, was the very first to be held in Britain.
  Nowadays there seem to be fewer stalls than I remember there being four or so years ago and there seem to be also as many stalls selling different makes of gin than different sorts of food but who’s complaining? In fact I bought myself a gorgeous bottle of Chase Pink Grapefruit and Pomelo Gin which I sampled served with ordinary tonic and a slice of pink grapefruit yesterday evening in the bar  at Fishmore Hall and which was thoroughly delicious with its pleasing sharpness. That was my major first day discovery of the event.

  I went to some excellent cooking demonstrations one of which was given by Richard Buckley, the vegan chef of Acorn in Bath which I so enjoyed visiting last year (see Blog 29), which was centred on raising the preparation of a large ‘donkey’ carrot to a gastronomic pièce de resistance. He was a charming speaker and his food is remarkable but I couldn’t help coming away from the demonstration feeling that it had been Much Ado About A Carrot.
  He made a few quips about current chef fashions emanating out of London such as blobs of purée placed on a plate must now have a crater sunk into them so that it can be filled with some sort of oil and he explained why restaurants never put four of anything on a plate - in these present times all young ambitious chefs must have their Japanese phase and number 4 is linked with death in Japanese culture so to put four of the same thing on one plate is akin to wishing death to your customer! So, beware the Chef who places four identical items on your plate - grab your coat and run!
  Tomorrow is the highlight of Lucy’s year when we embark on our annual walking tour of Ludlow as we participate in the Sausage Trail - not to be missed - she has her own ticket which I secured amid the rumour that tickets were almost sold out.