(Nettle Cheese)
Taste on Two at Harvey Nichols combined my two most favourite things; passionate people creating things they truly love and believe in, and free samples. From the word go, everyone that we spoke to was enthusiastic about not only their products but Taste on Two itself. Held every autumn, it gives you a chance to meet the chefs and suppliers behind the Second Floor’s food in an evening of tastings, shopping and demos.
The evening was scheduled to consist of time to peruse each stall, do a bit of cheeky shopping and watch demonstrations hosted by Harvey Nichols’ own cooks and chefs. The first demonstration was to be at 7:00 pm which gave us an hour to have a nosey around and try some of the samples on the stalls.
(Lemonaid lemonade)
Being the logical sort, we decided to don our aprons and work our way around the fascinating stalls one by one. We started off with Lemonaid, whose rainbow array of bottled drinks caught our eyes. As we sipped a pleasing blood orange lemonade, the chap manning the stall told us all about the charitable work the brand is involved in. Lemonaid is proud to be ‘beyond Fairtrade’ with every bottle sold not only supporting the local farmers who grow the ingredients but supports social projects in the farmer’s communities. Through Lemonaid more than £1 million has been raised to support various projects.
We quickly discovered an abundance of Gin makers, all of whom had something that made them stand out, be it peppermint rock to drop into your cup or a method to make the gin smokier. Manchester Gin found themselves particularly beloved; it took us a good five minutes to get close enough to take a picture! Needless to say, the Gin stalls were hands down the most popular attractions of the night with their mixers counterparts playing a close second.
(Peppermint Rock Gin)
We sidestepped a stall selling olives in favour of the most peculiar popcorn I had ever tasted. Hands up if you have ever had Bellini cocktail flavoured popcorn? On the first bite, I thought ‘blimey that’s sharp’ but before the thought was complete the surprisingly citrusy flavour had dissolved into a sugary sweetness. I tried another piece to be sure, followed by another and another. “Good, isn’t it?” the lady said with a knowing grin.
The first demonstration of the night revolved around oysters. The chef deftly shucked an oyster for us before asking the apprehensive audience for a volunteer to try it raw. He was met with silence until one lady strode up and knocked the mollusc back like a slippery shot. After that, it was like an Oyster spell had been cast and people queued up around the room to see if Oysters were to their tastes. Naturally, there were a few grimaces, however, some had truly been bitten by the Oyster bug and returned several times until they possessed a leaning tower of shells.
Needless to say, the Oyster quiz afterwards became very competitive as we guessed true or false on a series of Oyster-related ‘facts’ to win a bottle of prosecco. It was neck and neck until the tiebreaker but thankfully in good spirits.
After Oysters came Rum. An experienced bartender (who was also very popular with the ladies) talked us through the history of rum and the processes taken to make it, all whilst shaking and blending a signature cocktail.
And finally was the Patisserie demonstration. The bubbly, pink-haired chef was a burst of energy as the night drew to a close. She had brought a selection of completed products you can make with the notoriously difficult Choux pastry whilst assuring us that it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, her demonstration made it look easy enough to try at home. She made everything from little, round, sugared doughnut-like balls to churros and eclairs. Typically her tasters went down well; who doesn’t like a bit of freshly made dessert? My favourite were the eclairs; nothing can compare to the crisp pastry with the thick, creamy filling and chocolate toppings.
It was a great round up to the night. We were reluctant to leave, there were still stalls we wanted to return to but we trickled out of the Brassiere with the rest of the guests and our little bags with our indulgent purchases.