Credit: Jeremy Keith
Despite its salty, vinegar-scented seafront and greasy, battered saveloy underbelly, Brighton’s cuisine is not all candy floss and cockles. In the manner of the great and greedy Prince Regent himself, we have a banquet of local delights available right here on our doorstep.
Over recent years, the city has become renowned for its locally-sourced produce. From weekly farmers markets flogging Brighton Blue cheese, to artisan chilli shops and organic chocolatiers, Brighton is a glutton’s glory when it comes to good food. And what better way to celebrate our fine feast than with an utterly indulgent and fabulously fun festival.
The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival is currently in its 13th year. Rated by the New York Times as “one of the world’s leading local food events”, it has proved to be a brilliant showcase for the reams of talented local producers and restaurateurs in the Brighton and Sussex area.
I spoke to Nick Mosely, the festival’s managing director about the annual event.
Credit: Brighton and Hove Food and Wine Festival
“The festival sees around 160,000 people a year and involves more than 350 businesses” he says. “I’d say its popularity is a reaction to the recession. While the recession has been quite kind to food on the whole, people are always looking for new food experiences, hunting for good ingredients and new tastes. Food is now seen as more of a lifestyle activity.”
As one of the UK’s biggest and most popular food festivals, which since 2009 has been held twice a year with spring and autumn harvests, it has proved it’s not just a two-trick pony. Nick and his team organise food and wine events throughout the year, from the Sussex wine bus tours to the International Chef Exchange, where Brighton’s leading chefs swap with others from all over the world to bring new cuisines to the city.
“We have no funding from the council, the festival is supported solely by local businesses and those who attend,” explains Nick. “Despite this, we’ve managed to keep the major outdoor events free.”
Credit: Brighton and Hove Food and Wine Festival
The festival kicks off on Thursday, 4 September on Hove Lawns, where along with the Sussex and World Food Market which boasts over 100 stalls selling local and global delights, foodie master classes are held in the AEG cookery theatre, and all manner of live cooking events take place. But it will also host lively evenings such as Bitter & Twisted, a beer and cider tasting night where eight breweries and cider-makers will go head-to-head live on a stage to have their beloved booze judged by the audience. Tickets for this start from £25 and include all beers and supper. There’s also the Taste of Sicily event (tickets are £38 including food and wine), hosted by chefs Nicola Scaccianoce from Sicily and Seb Coles from Brighton’s Boho Gelato, where you can try your hand at making granita, as well as tasting a feast of
Sicilian dishes and wines.
For hungry nippers, there’s the Children’s Food Festival (6-7 September), which has tonnes of free activities, including workshops on how to make baby panda sushi, cupcake decorating and children’s entertainment.
For grownups, there’s plenty of options for a tipple or two. Head to the Rum Shack for a perfectly mixed mojito, or take part in the Brighton Wine Festival, where for a mere £20 you can sample a cornucopia of good wines with Brighton’s most ebullient wine master, Henry Butler.
During the second weekend of the festival, the Sussex Market moves a little more central to New Road, outside the Theatre Royal in the North Laines. In addition to the main festival hub, a variety of events will run across the city including CanTina’s legendary festival supper clubs and the new London Road food trail. Held on Sunday 10 September, it celebrates the area’s burgeoning food scene with a self-guided trail of tasty treats and canapés from places like Meat Liquor, El Campo and La Choza at the Hare and Hounds. Tickets cost £10 and will no doubt have you stuffed to the gills.
After a belly-busting ten days, the festival will close on Sunday 14 September with a great, big (and free) 1950s tea dance on the beach. Held outside Azure, a brand new beachfront bar and restaurant, there’ll be cocktails, canapés and good old-fashioned dancing, which (and do excuse the pun), is my Brighton on a plate.
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