Food

Returning for another year, BBC Good Food Show Winter will be bringing some foodie festive cheer to Birmingham NEC over four fabulous days this month. Packed with top chefs, exclusive cooking events and hosted talks to shopping for artisan Christmas gifts, the show promises a whole load of festive fun and plenty more.

Decemberfest, a series of new Christmas parties hosted at the HMV Empire in Coventry combines Bavarian-style food and drink, party bingo, live oompah music and more.

October may be over, but a new Christmas party coming to Coventry is bringing a Bavarian-style, festive celebration to the city centre. 

British artisan Fudge makers, Fudge Kitchen, completed a rebrand earlier in the year which saw them prioritising ways in which they can minimise their (and their customers) impact on the environment.

The confectionery producers have been making fudge for nearly 40 years, and what started out as a handful of fudge shops has developed into a thriving online and wholesale business, producing confectionery for some of the UK's most prestigious hotels and department stores.

Winter Glow, a multi-attraction Christmas event based in Malvern, have told visitors to expect ‘next level indulgence’ as they confirmed the return of their popular Food Quarter, along with a new Christmas Bar to allow visitors to eat, drink and be merry in style this festive season.

The event, which takes place each year at Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, has also announced the decision to move their Food Quarter inside for 2022, allowing guests to warm up after their walk around the event’s Light Trail or after a brisk session gliding around Winter Glow’s Ice Rink.

Sandridge Barton, the home of Sharpham Wine, is toasting a bumper harvest.  With the help of paid workers and community volunteers, more than 80 tonnes of grapes – enough for approximately 80,000 bottles – have been picked over a four-week period.

It's been a momentous year for the Devon-based wine producer, its new visitor centre, winery and restaurant situated in the countryside on the east bank of the River Dart launched in June.

BBC Good Food has revealed the winners of its prestigious annual Christmas Supermarket Taste Awards, and the results show stand-out products can be found across the whole range of prices and brands.

Over 225 products in 23 categories from mince pies to Yule logs, and turkey to smoked salmon, from 13 supermarkets were blind-tasted to arrive at the winners.

This year, give the gift of new Levin Down Goodwood Gin from one of England's most historic stately homes and sporting estates.  Goodwood Gin uniquely uses English wild juniper and aromatic gorse flower which flourishes in the Levin Down nature reserve.  Levin Down, derived from 'Leave-Alone-Hill', is an ancient hill on the Goodwood Estate and is located just north of Goodwood Racecourse and Goodwood House. 

The new River Cottage Kitchen & Store has officially launched. A stone's throw from the River Cottage Farmhouse (aka River Cottage HQ) on the Devon/Dorset border, the casual eatery gives people the chance to taste the amazing food River Cottage has to offer, even if they're not taking part in a course or attending an event.

As inflation rises to 10.1% it’s also revealed that the average weekly food shop has risen by £26.50, almost three times the national living wage, and now worrying shoppers are turning to the frozen aisles to save money. The increase means that food shoppers will be spending an additional £1,378 a year on their annual food bill and according to new research, the rising price of fresh food is worrying 87% of Brits as the cost-of-living crisis starts to impact shopping habits.

Orelle, the newest restaurant to join Birmingham’s hospitality scene, has arrived with over 200 guests enjoying an exclusive launch party. Against a backdrop of unparalleled views over Birmingham and beyond, guests enjoyed a selection of canapes, Champagne and Orelle’s signature cocktails in the 24th floor restaurant and were entertained with a live string quartet and DJs. 

Birmingham has been voted as Britain’s “most exciting food destination” at a ceremony at The Groucho Club, in Soho. The Good Food Guide’s awards put the second city ahead of second-place London for best food venues.

Three restaurants in the city were ranked in its Top 20, with the highest ranked West Midlands restaurant being The Wilderness, in the Jewellery Quarter placed tenth. Michelin star, Carters of Moseley, finished 18th.

Did you know that the milk chocolate of everyone's dreams does exist? Over a million milk chocolate lovers’ most delicious desires were curated with the power of artificial intelligence to create chocolate to please all. To fulfil people’s needs and respond to growing health challenges the milk chocolate of the future was created by a unique milk powder solution. “The Bar” is a milk chocolate landscape that combines all the changing preferences of people’s cravings while having 30% less sugar.

After two years of disrupted Christmas get-togethers characterised by lockdown, enforced social distancing and isolation uncertainty, DesignMyNight saw traffic to quirky Christmas parties increase by 48.1% in September compared to the same month in 2021 and traffic to the Christmas party guide page shoot up by 62.64% compared to the same period last year. There have also been reports that some venues are already close to being fully booked 10 weeks before Christmas Day.

Bottega achieved an important result in Hong Kong, becoming the first sparkling wine in terms of sales volumes in 2021 on the basis of data released by IWSR. This is a figure of great importance and absolute prestige, as the Chinese city, which maintains its own autonomy with respect to the motherland, represents a point of reference for the whole of China, often guiding consumption trends.

Pilsner Urquell, the world’s original golden pilsner, is celebrating 180 years of putting foam smiles on people’s faces. First brewed on the 5th October 1842, through its iconic pilsner style, the brand, which is part of Asahi Europe & International, has inspired thousands of other pilsner beers around the world.

To commemorate the momentous anniversary, this year’s annual Pilsner Fest will be taking place in the city of Plzeň, Czech Republic, where Pilsner Urquell first originated, on Saturday 8th October.

Open to vegans, vegetarians, and meat reducers aged 65 and over, the club offers attendees the chance to learn new dishes, get tips from an experienced vegan chef, and meet like-minded people from across the UK. The club takes places through Zoom on the fourth Tuesday of every month.