Highlights: BBC Good Food Show 2013

I had a brilliant time at the BBC Good Food Show (at the Olympia London) today, all thanks to the lovely people at Duke of Delhi who sent me tickets after I won their Facebook competition. It was a very pleasant surprise to be able to attend this event - a huge celebration of all things culinary and foodie. I took about a million photos so here are a few of my highlights.

I have to start with the gorgeous new chocolate bars from Duke of Delhi. I previously reviewed their Delhi Mix snacks (in the very early days of my blog so excuse the photos!) and thoroughly enjoyed them. This time instead of adding chocolate to a savoury mix, the delhi mix has been added into variously flavoured chocolate bars; Indian Cinnamon, Toasted Coconut, Orange, Vanilla & Cardamom, and my favourite Lime. I'll have a full review of these soon.

Green & Black's were showcasing their new Lemon and Orange chocolates (reviewed here).

I was pleased to see a stand for Chocmotif featuring their innovative printed chocolate greetings cards (review here).

I've read plenty of glowing reviews for Gower Cottage Brownies, and I finally got to try some for myself. They're simply divine - squidgey, brownie perfection!

I'm already addicted to the Lotus Speculoos biscuit spread so I couldn't resist getting this Biscuit Butter version to try.

I also sampled some Garrett popcorn, with their unusual Chicago Mix being an absolute favourite. It's a combination of cheesy popcorn pieces and caramel popcorn - it shouldn't work but it does. They're launching in London very soon.

And when it comes to popcorn, there was plenty on offer at the BBC Good Food Show, including these popcorn filled Christmas stockings from Popcorn Kitchen.

Jelly Belly heaven - I literally had to stop myself from buying...

a Hello Kitty Cookie Jar. Yes, I really am that immature.

I did however get a delightful jar from the award winning Pelagonia range of traditional meze from Macedonia - perfect for my Around the World challenge.

They also sell a fabulous Pumpkin Jam! I must buy a jar of this next time.

There was certainly a vast array of pickles and preserves on offer at the show. I also loved the range from Mr. Todiwala's - the only one to feature meaty pickles.

Vegan churros from Churros Amigos with a milk chocolate dipping sauce. Apart from this sugary treat we didn't actually eat any other cooked food at the show.

There were plenty of famous faces to spot during the day. We watched Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite on the Interview Stage.

Then caught the Saturday Kitchen Live demonstration in the Supertheatre. This one featured Les Dennis who chose mint as his Food Heaven and melted cheese as his Food Hell. They cooked up an amazing (and huge) sirloin of kobe beef - a recipe I doubt I will ever be able to make at home, but fun to watch nonetheless. James Martin had also opened the whole BBC Good Food Show earlier in the day, by cutting a ribbon and joking that Paul Hollywood was too short to be able to see over the crowds.

Somehow we also managed to squeeze in watching another demonstration at the Supertheatre, this time with the aforementioned Paul Hollywood showing us how to make a sausage puff pastry plait, followed by an orange marmalade cake made with polenta and ground almonds. It was an enjoyable live demo, accompanied with lots of well received anecdotes about "Bezza" aka Mary Berry and GBBO in general.

This was the last day for the BBC Good Food Show at the Olympia, London, but it will be heading to Birmingham soon. Check out all the latest news on the website:
http://www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com/

Review: Nespresso Cioccorosso - Limited Edition Variation (UK)

In previous years, Nespresso Variations (flavoured coffees) were released before Christmas as limited editions. This year Nespresso decided to do things a little differently, undoubtedly because they had already released three Variations  into their permanent Grand Cru range during the summer (see my reviews HERE). Instead, for the festive limited edition, Nespresso Club Members around the world were given a choice of three Variations and asked to vote for their chosen winner. The winning Variations Club Favourites were launched in each market, resulting in different winners in the various countries. 

The choices in the vote were; Cioccorosso - a dark chocolate and red fruit combination, Masala Chai - an aromatic mix of cinnamon, star aniseed and clove, and Liminto - a mix of lime and mint notes. In the UK the winner was the Cioccorosso, by a fairly small margin over Masala Chai (42% and 39% of the vote respectively). I was slightly disappointed by the winner, my vote had gone to Masala Chai, by far the more interesting prospect in my opinion. However, I hope the close nature of the vote means that Nespresso will see there is a market for the Masala Chai to be released in the UK at a later date. You can see a full list of all the winners by region HERE.

I love the design of the Cioccorosso capsules, it's great to see some bright colours injected into the usually formal palate of the Nespresso range. The coffee itself is described as marrying tantalizing dark chocolate and refreshing red fruit notes with the fragrant roasted notes of the Livanto Grand Cru. Once brewed, the aroma was immediately of the dark chocolate, which is very reminiscent of the Ciocattino Variation. However on tasting, it's not the chocolate which comes to the fore but rather the delicate raspberry flavour. It's not too sweet (these coffees do not contain sugar or added sweetneners) or overpowering, but sits deep within the base notes of the coffee itself, adding a fruity edge to the experience. 

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the Cioccorosso, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how well the red fruit flavours work here, and I might be tempted to buy a few more sleeves before it disappears after Christmas. I hope that Nespresso will also release the Masala Chai and Liminto varieties in the UK at some point too - in fact I wish they had just released all three as festive variations as they had done in the past!

Update: I've now reviewed the Masala Chai here:
http://grocerygems.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/review-nespresso-masala-chai-club.html

I've yet to see a review of the Nespresso Liminto, it was by far the least successful flavour in the vote, but apparently it did win in the Turkey and Jordan regions. I would love to hear from you in the comments below if you have tried any of these new Variations!

Review: Glico Pejoy Red Wine & Chocolate

These curious sounding Pejoy Red Wine & Chocolate sticks were sent to me last month by the lovely @Banjo_Chocolate, alongside a selection of Polish chocolates (see review here). @Banjo_Chocolate is running a campaign to get Mars to re-release the much missed Banjo chocolate bar - please take a look at the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar Facebook page and sign the petition here!

Even though I'm not usually one for liquor or alcohol themed chocolates, I am still a big fan of these types of biscuit sticks, so I was keen to give this Red Wine & Chocolate flavour a try. I hadn't realised until I got these, that they're the first Glico Pejoy sticks I've had (although I've tried plenty of Glico Pocky ones!). The main difference between Pejoy and Pocky is that Pocky sticks have their flavoured cream or chocolate on the outside, whilst Pejoy contain this flavouring within the tube of the stick itself.

The Pejoy sticks look quite different to the Pocky ones, and not quite as appetising - they look a bit like dry twigs! The scent is immediately of a very strong red wine, with not much coming from the chocolate. The flavour is also of a full on red wine but with a really sweet edge from the fruity grape flavour, and an added creaminess in there too. The outer biscuits gives these a lovely crunch, and even though it's a strange sensation at first to have the flavour of red wine in a crunchy stick, the flavours do compliment each other. I couldn't eat too many of these in one go but if you're a wine lover then these are definitely an interesting snack to keep an eye out for!

Thank you again to @Banjo_Chocolate, for sending me my first Glico Pejoy! Please don't forget to like the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar Facebook page and sign the petition here!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Glico Pejoy Red Wine & Chocolate

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Maybe.
Purchased: Asiana Limited.

Round Up: New Instore

A few more new products spotted instore, starting with this fabulous looking Red Velvet Cake! (Tesco).

Followed by this awesome Mighty Cheeseburger shaped cake! (Tesco).

It looks like Tesco aren't the only ones with Christmas Tree Shaped tortillas this year (see my previous Round Up). These Lightly Salted Christmas Tree Tortillas are available at Sainsbury's...

 alongside some Cheese flavoured Mini Festive Shaped Pretzels! (Sainsbury's).

However Tesco may be the only ones with the Cool Flavour Snowman shaped Tortillas. These look fantastic! (Tesco).

New to my local store is this range of Manomasa Tortillas, in Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper or Chipotle & Lime flavours. (Sainsbury's).

A new range of hot chocolate is always good news, but this one comes with added "tasty things". Choc + Chocolate Mallow Drinking Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge Drinking Chocolate and 100% Chocolate Drinking Chocolate. (Sainsbury's)

And next to the hot chocolate is the rather delicious sounding peanut butter flavour hot drink from Peanut Hottie.(Sainsbury's).

Hate the fruit creams in a Quality Street selection? Try the new Quality Street Toffee & Fudge carton. Loathe the toffees in the Quality Street selection? Go for the new Quality Street Fruit Cremes carton!

A slightly more grown up version of the Cadbury Festive Friends range, are these Cadbury Festive Biscuit Shapes. (Sainsbury's).

I loved the McVities Mini Digestives Creepy Shapes for Halloween so I'm sure I will pick up a few boxes of their Festive Shapes. (Co-Op).

Also available are the McVities Mini Gingerbread Men in a small carton decorated with wintery scene. (Co-Op).

If you're looking for some extra energy to keep you going through the festive period, Tropicana have it covered. (Tesco).

Thinking about that post-January health kick yet? Rude Health have some Brown Rice Drink to get you in the mood. (Sainsbury's).

Review: Limited Edition Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowy Delight

This Dairy Milk Snowy Delight was released alongside the visually superior Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland, as part of Cadbury's festive offerings.

It's a fairly lacklustre and standard looking bar for a Christmas edition, but at least it's a decent size at 120g. The Dairy Milk Snowy Delight is a milk chocolate which features a "vanilla flavour filling", making this a very similar product to several others released under the Dairy Milk brand in previous years.

Even though the Dairy Milk Snowy Delight is not the most exciting chocolate bar to be released this Christmas, it's still a very tasty one. The creaminess of the vanilla filling reminds me of the the milky centre in Kinder Mini Treats, which is no bad thing in my opinion (my kids know that their favourite Kinder treats are not safe around Mum!). The milk chocolate covering is exactly what you would expect from Cadbury and tastes wonderful here with the creamy inner filling. It's a very tasty combinbation and I'm sure I will be buying the Dairy Milk Snowy Delight again closer to Christmas.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowy Delight

RATING: 8 out of 10
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition (per 3 chunks): 87 calories.
Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Purchased: Sainsbury.
Price (120g bar): £1.00.