Emma Diary date for Edinburgh Foodies
Edinburgh Food Festival, a free-to-enter event, delivers a full menu of activities, with food and drink to enjoy on the day from the Global Kitchen, produce to take home from the expanded Producers Market, and a programme of interesting and informative live events in the Treehouse Kitchen.
Visitors will be able to sample dishes from three British Street Food Award 2023 finalists: Okanda, the new venture from the award-winning team behind Kochchi bring their mouth-watering spicy chicken wings in mixed berry sambal glazed with coconut sugar to the table; The Falafel Stop will offer up the tastiest Lebanese falafel made to an authentic family recipe; and newcomer The Funnel Cake Co. bring the popular North American desert to the Edinburgh, with options including churro funnel cake dusted with cinnamon sugar and homemade chocolate sauce, with vegan options available too.
There are more vegan delights on the menu with plant-based feel-good food from The Caravan of Courage, and gluten-free options will be available across the festival. Fried chicken lovers are in for a treat from Chix, offering gourmet halal chicken fillet tenders with their range of mouthwatering homemade sauces – get saucy with a lemon, confit garlic and black pepper mayo, or spice things up with jalapeno, lime and green pepper. Chix is the new venture from Chef Ed Cresswell, previously chef de partie at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin starred The Fat Duck.
Keeping visitors refreshed will be Bellfield Brewery, with their range of gluten free and vegan beers; original Spanish sangria and Agua de Valencia from the Bacchus Sangria Bar; and refreshing gin cocktails from Isle of Mull based Stranger’s Point Gin, delicious small batch spirits using coastal botanicals such as sea holly and lavender. Panther M*lk, the ‘world’s first’ purveyors of oat milk cocktails make their festival debut, serving their full range of fruity vegan cocktails, sustainably made with Minor Figures oat milk.
Alongside the Global Kitchen, Edinburgh Food Festival will also host a daily Producers Market, with a changing line-up of interesting and artisan produce. Visitors will be able to take home their own piece of Scotland’s larder with a wide range of fresh produce, baked goods, fine cheeses, specialty drinks and more from Scotland’s most innovative artisan producers.
Complementing the food and drink, visitors will be able to enjoy a daily programme of live events in the festival’s Treehouse Kitchen, with workshops, talks, masterclasses, producer–led tastings and pairings, and children’s activities. The full programme is still to be announced, but this year’s events will explore themes around Ethical Eating, Seasonality, Mood Impacting Foods, Plant Based Living, Technological Trends, and the Zero Waste Kitchen. In keeping with these themes and the festival’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Edinburgh Food Festival will pilot a reusable cup scheme with Stack–Cup UK for the ten-day event.
Edinburgh Food Festival 2023 will run Friday 21 July through to Sunday 30 July at Assembly George Square Gardens. For more information and to sign up to receive updates visit www.edfoodfest.com.
