Holmfirth food and drink festival.

Holmfirth is a little town in the Pennines just south of Huddersfield.  In previous posts I mentioned the town's vineyard and icecream. Today I visited its food festival.  Holmfirth hosts a lot of festivals through the year. A folk festival and film festival in May. An arts festival in June and lots of other quirky events like a duck race and a torchlight procession.

Probably Holmfirth is best known as the scene of the long running TV sitcom "Last of the Simmer Wine". The series is about three senile delinquents who meet at an establishment (which really exists) known as Sid's Cafe.Today the car park opposite Sid's Cafe hosted an open air food court. A tempting aroma wafted from the Pan House with Wurst, goulash and other goodies.  Not being a great meat eater I ordered a veggie hot dog. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE MISTAKE. Really really yucky. My friend who is a carnivore fared better with a Stilton and apple pork pie.  For dessert I had a sticky toffee cup cake from Racheys and my friend a slice of lemon cake which were scrumptious. That made up for the hot dog.Fortified with lunch I toured the stalls. Those that caught my eye were the Autumn Harvest Mushrooms

(luscious mushrooms - yellow oyster, eryingi, pink oyster, shimeji, girolle, shitake as well as truffle and porcinin butter), the Old Bridge Bakery (the Handmade Bread Company having sold out its stock as per usual).A Spanish tortilla which  I served it with a fresh salad tossed in fruity olive oil and a pomegranate balsamic vinegar dressing. Refreshing.

An olive stall, a venison and red wine pie stall and heard great things from the lads that were tucking into them who were   encouraging me to buy one... and the usual cheese affair.                      Now who's for some bajias? Mushroom of course, try my delightful Dana Jeera mushroom bajia recipe  A good tip: let the bajia batter rest before dipping yr mushrooms in the batter and frying.
                                                                                                                                      

                                      Dana jeera mushrooms bajias
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

14 tbsp gram flour
3 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp green rocket chilli
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp cumin
1⁄4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
A pinch chilli powder
2 tsp ground nut oil
150ml luke warm water
750g whole medium sized chestnut or button mushrooms
Ground nut for oil for deep frying

Preparation

Grate the ginger and finely chop the green chilli. Prepare the mushrooms by cutting the larger ones in half and keeping the smaller ones whole. Wipe them clean and avoid soaking them in water as this will make the mushrooms limp.

Method

1. In a bowl, sieve the gram flour and add the ginger and green chilli. Add a little water and using your hand beat the mixture to form a paste, making sure to avoid lumps. Mix in some more water and continue to beat.
2. Once you have a smooth thick paste consistency, add the dry spices, 2 tsp oil and salt, and beat. Cover and leave the batter somewhere warm for 1 hour.
3. Approximately half-fill a heavy bottom Lowu or a heavy bottom wok with groundnut oil, and heat.
4. Take the batter and add a little more water to loosen the mixture to form a batter consistency. Mix in the fresh coriander leaves.
5. (Test the oil by dropping a little batter into the oil if it rises to the top within a few seconds and becomes crispy then its ready.) Dunk the mushrooms into the batter and then place them in the hot oil. Give them a few seconds then frequently turn them until crispy and golden brown, drain off the excess oil and eat whilst hot and crunchy. Enjoy!                                            

Preston Guild...well worth the wait.

Being a patron of Yorkshire I try to sure support and promote activities in my county rather than those next door. I have probably made more trips to the Punjab than I have to Preston. But this year I ventured twice across the Pennines to that exotic city because 2012 is the year of the Preston Guild. The last Preston Guild took place in 1992 when John Major was PM and the next one will take place in 2033 when goodness knows who (if anyone) will be in charge.

Preston Guild takes place once every 20 years - or 30 when there is a war on as happened in 1942.  It celebrates the granting of a charter by Henry II to hold a guild merchant in 1179.  Guilds were associations of craftsmen and merchants in medieval Europe and they existed in every city to regulate trade. Their importance diminished with industrialisation but there are still plenty of guildhalls around the country most notably in London. In Preston the guilds are remembered with a festival that takes place every 20 years.  There are ceremonies, concerts, dance, exhibitions, parties, processions and even dresses made from wallpaper.  It is the only festival of its kind anywhere in the world.   Traditionally the Guild festival takes place at the end of August and beginning of September of the Guild year.
I made two visits this Guild: the Vintage Weekend on the 2 September and the Finale on the 9.   Though I saw a lot of the Guild I missed a great deal more including all the processions, the Guild Court and a concert by Jose Carreras and Katherine Jenkins at which I am told that Jenkins changed her dress no less than 5 times. Great Girl!  (see Jane Lambert "Once in Preston Guild" IP Northwest 8 Sept 2012).

Arriving in Preston for the Guild I thought I had gone back in time.   Part of that impression was formed by the Vintage weekend in Avenham Park where there were old newsreels, vintage films an old Cadillac and plenty of stalls selling clothing from previous guild decades.             My impression was reinforced by the orange curry, orange tandoori prawns and orange bhaji  that were served up with 1950s Bollywood music and flock wallpaper at the Dilshad Tandoori  when it was time to say goodbye.  You don't see many of those places nowadays - at least not where I come from.

There was more history in Winckley Square which had been set up for the Square Food Festival.  There were stalls selling cheese, honey, sausages and goodies from Nimes Preston's twin city. I bought some lovely Lancashire creamy, cheese and would have bought some French onions had they not run out of stock but I was most impressed by musicians dressed as chefs.

a story teller who told some tall tales about the history of Winckley Square and "cake city" the principal buildings of Preston reproduced in cake.I ate my cheese melted on some toasted wholemeal bread from   

          Thehandmade bakery simple but truely yummy.

On my next visit Avenham Park was transformed into a theatre for "Les Commandos Percu", a dazzling display of dance, drumming and pyrotechnics.  The sky was ablaze as was the stage at times.
This was the finale attended by 14,000 thousands and more tuned away not only of the Guild festival but also of the finale of the North West celebrations for the London Olympic and Paralympic games.  Though it was the finale it was by no means the only or even the last show. There were concerts, exhibitions, plays and what can only be described as the transformation of ordinary human beings into celebrities.  The hair of a Marks & Spencer's employee, for example, was transformed into a sea of blue on which the artists planted a ship

What was my abiding impression of the festival? In a word "friendliness". Everyone was joyful, helpful and above all friendly.   A few miles from my home there is a neighbourhood near Halifax which is actually called Friendly (I kid you not). As I drove through Friendly I was reminded of Preston.