Edible gets fired up

I have a lot of male friends and we all know men like to out do each other with 'manly things'. So of all the events of the Brighton & Hove Food Festival, I knew I had more chance of getting them down to this. I was right. 


So, on Sat 11th and Sun 12th Sept following a Facebook status stating where I was off to, I met up with a group of friends and checked out what delights the Fiery Food Festival had to offer. As a photographer, I love this kind of event - it poses a wide range of things to capture and you often get a lot of banter with the stall holders. The event itself offers lots of things for everyone to do though. Littleuns were well catered for, with lots of activities for them to get involved in/be entertained with while Dad outdoes his mate Dave with the Satan's Shit. The bar kept my rabble of friends happy, as did the array of hot food (particularly the jalapeno sausages with bum burner sauce), though I did feel some of it was slightly overpriced for what you got. The range of foods was pretty broad - Thai, BBQ food, indian cuisine and some impressive pans full of tagine. Personally, I was blown away by BBQ Shack's ribs - marinated in a whole host of sugars and spices and slow cooked over many hours - delicious.  


There was an array of stalls, offering tasters of their wares and we all know how the general public love free things. Particularly good was the Chilli Pepper Pete (having a cheerful man behind the stall means everything) stall. Also I was really impressed with the range of cheeses on offer from Simply Gorgeous Cheeses Ltd and a snip at 3 huge blocks for a fiver - though I wasn't as taken with the belgium chocolate Wensleydale as I had thought I'd be (why I thought it was a good idea in the first place is beyond me).


At the end of both days comedy acts entertained in a big white tent, which was a bit hit and miss but nowt you could grumble at for a 3 quid entry fee. Following this were the chilli eating competitions, which was enough to make your toes curl - the horrified audience watched while some very red faced men and women ate some of the hottest chillies in the world, so hot that I thought one of Sundays' winners (it was a draw) was going to turn into a mythical serpent with some of the moves he was busting.


All in all, a really enjoyable two days (night time drinks in the nearby Fitzherberts may have contributed to this though) - the sun was out, friends came and went and  there were lots of things to try and buy.


I've posted a selection of photos here but you can a larger selection on my photography Facebook page or the whole set of almost 200 here.