A question for all you food, and drink, lovers out there. Who amongst us doesn’t love a good food festival? Glancing around the virtual room, I see all of you have your hands up. Excellent. Yet sometimes I wonder if, like me, fellow foodies can find the scale of some of the big food festivals a wee bit overwhelming, and their offerings slightly unfocused. Well, a new Edinburgh food festival might be about to change all that.
Taking place at Edinburgh’s splendid Summerhall on Sunday 15 June, Savour is billed as a laid-back and convivial event, where visitors “can taste, explore, enjoy and journey around a carefully curated selection of food and drink from some of Edinburgh’s finest local wine merchants, chefs, mixologists and artisan food and drink producers.” Sounds marvellous. So what exactly does Savour offer?
Well, the inviting culinary attractions of Savour are set to include:
The Beer Lab – curated by students from Queen Margaret University’s pioneering MSc in Gastronomy, this promises to be a multi-sensory journey through the history, culture and making of a range of different beers, culminating in a blind taste test. Maybe I need to do some revision in advance…
The Main Course – Fancy dipping into the world of the savoury flavours that Edinburgh has to offer? Well this feast of delicious small dishes – composed from produce on offer from Edinburgh’s chefs, producers and retailers – allows punters to do just that. Yet it isn’t merely about food, as it will be possible to pair your scran with some smashing wine, beer, cocktails and soft drinks that will also be readily available.
The Wine List – is a strand that will bring together some of Edinburgh’s finest merchants – including Callistoga and Sideways Wines, Vino Wines, Bacco Wines, and Appellation Wines – to serve a fantastic range of vino from around the world. And if you sometimes struggle to decide what wine to pair with a particular food, you can experience a glass that perfectly complements some of the dishes available in The Main Course.
As if the above attractions were not enough to have foodies flocking to Savour, the festival will also feature: a soft drinks bar, for those not partaking of the beer and wine on offer; a celebration of desserts and pastries; a cheese lounge and larder, dedicated not only to cheese but also offering chutneys, pickles and cordials; and a cider shed offering a range of mouth-watering apple-based alcoholic beverages.
I am very much looking forward to savouring Savour this coming Sunday, so watch out for a detailed review of the event appearing on Scrumptious Scran in the near future.
Tickets for Savour are available online from www.bite-magazine.com or from www.summerhall.co.uk or in person from the Summerhall box office (advance purchase only).