So the food festival season is over and Phipps Chairman Miranda Page Wood tells us what makes the Aldeburgh Festival special for her.
‘It was a beautiful weekend bathed in sunshine for the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival, celebrating ten years of bringing together all the magical foody produce there is in Suffolk. I can’t believe it’s ten whole years since we first set up our stand of organic local farm produce expecting to sell a few eggs and some flour and sold out the first morning.
The Festival is no longer just a weekend, but two full weeks of Fringe Festival events throughout the region covering farm tours to safari suppers, field foraging to seafood Sundays. But the weekend, with ten thousand visitors, brings out the stars. Definitely one of the stars of the future, based on audience response to her mesmerising demonstrations over the weekend, has got to be Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules. Standing in line to buy her book, Mamushka, seasoned cooks praised her style and authenticity. As Olia explained to us, recipes are about so much more than food, handed down from generation to generation to reflect not just tradition but a whole culture and national history. There were more queues for Spanish super-star Jose Pizarro, who could charm the birds off the trees and did. Tommi Miers pulled in the crowds for her Wahaca fame and flair and her amazing recipes. Diana Henry hosted a sensational lunch, and MasterChef winner 2010 Dhruv Baker showed us what’s what in the kitchen. Liz Lock brought baby Emme for her first ever food festival outing and we stood in the sun and talked sourdough tips. Happy days.’