Abergavenny Food Festival 2018

I've said it before, but the Abergavenny Food Festival has got to be up there as one of my favourite weekends of the year. On par with Christmas (I know), it's a special weekend I have loved ever since my family moved to Abergavenny in 2004. Last year I wrote about how the festival is a watershed of sorts, marking the end of one season and the start of another, and I suppose this year has been the same in a way that is more symbolic than literal.

I mentioned in my recent post, The Second Time, that I recently quit my job as a copywriter in Bristol to move back in with my parents in my hometown, Abergavenny. This has been a huge change and one I have found relatively easy, all things considered. I used to think working office hours was a sure sign I'd made it in the real world (whatever that is), but having recently started working shifts again my mind is changing.

Working the weekend of the Abergavenny Food Festival, when a 10-hour day felt like 10 minutes and was spent from start to finish on a high, I realised that being out there and involved is what makes life so enjoyable. So, even though I missed a lot of the events and food stalls on offer on the Saturday, what I gained was an unforgettably rich experience serving great food and coffee, meeting hundreds of people and gaining a new perspective. I even got to create and showcase my own dish for the festival – a vegan pesto and tomatoes on toast (absolutely divine, by the way). Maybe it's just me, but isn't it the experiences we don't try and orchestrate that end up being the really good, memorable ones?

Saturday evening was spent celebrating a successful day with my boss and coworker at a Grace Dent event at the Borough Theatre, which was very interesting! I don't read many restaurant reviews (lol, this is namely a food blog) but hearing her speak inspired me to get clued up and make a reservation at a swanky restaurant next time I have a spare £300.

One of my best friends, Emily, came to stay and we spent Sunday eating eating eating – our favourite thing to do. We had coffee at Bean & Bread, almond croissants from the Angel Bakery, mini patisserie treats from Cocorico, including these delightful lemon meringue tarts, samosa chaat, a halloumi pitta and vanilla sprinkles cake for my nephew's 1st birthday, not to mention all the cheese we sampled in the markets 🌝

The end of the food festival weekend always brings with it a heavy dose of the back-to-school blues I used to get as a teenager on a Sunday afternoon. I never want it to end, I always feel like it's not enough time, I want just one more day! But this year was different because this year I don't have to leave. This year I get to stay and enjoy this town some more after the city dwellers leave, and that might just be the best part of this change of season.

Parisian Patisseries

In the spirit of this week's Bake Off (don't pretend you're not into it) here's a belated post dedicated to the myriad of pastries and patisserie delights I consumed while in Paris in July. Hint: there were a lot of them.

First up were these macarons from a chocolate shop in Montmartre. I have completely forgotten the name of it but it was quite the hot spot for tourists. However, the quality of these macarons were good and I hand-picked a box to take home as a present to my mum and dad for just €16. The rose flavour caught my eye but the real winner was the passion fruit.

On my parents' recommendation I headed to Fauchon – famous for its beautifully decorated eclairs.  But these weren't just pleasing to the eye. I picked a chocolate eclair and it was the most decadent, delicious eclair I have ever eaten. Although smaller and skinnier than the ones you find in Greggs, this was filled with a rich, buttery, chocolate custard and topped with the shiniest glaze, with a sprinkling of gold because, well, it's Fauchon. Size did not matter and this was a rich little treat worth its hefty €6 price tag.

 

Jess had one of Fauchon's macarons – the strawberry flavour – and it was jammy, almondy deliciousness in the crispest shell. Emily from Emily's Recipes and Reviews is always making macarons – my favourite is the crunchie variety.

And as if we hadn't eaten enough, later that day we stopped at Pléiade de Saveurs in Montmartre, a beautiful little boulangerie. I chose the apple tart and it was wrapped for me in their paper in a pyramid to take away.

Have you ever eaten those biscuits that are like palmier? This pastry was as crisp, sweet and buttery as those, but topped with custard, cinnamon and sliced apples – it really doesn't get any better.

So, in case you hadn't already gathered, Paris is the place to go for pastries. On the recommendation of Poppy I also went into Paul's and got a giant chocolate macaron – which, as she said, did taste just like a brownie (but better). 

Do you have a favourite Parisian patisserie? I adored the luxuriousness of Fauchon, but nothing beats discovering an independent shop where everything is hand made with love.