We had a great time blogging live from the BBC Good Food Show last year and it looks like the team have really upped their game with this year’s three-day food fest. The London show will be held at Olympia from 13th-15th November and has been renamed MasterChef Live as it will feature the best bits from the ever-popular TV show. The judges, including Michelin starred chef Michel Roux Jnr, will be in attendance and past winners like Thomasina Miers, Matt Follas and Wendi Peters will be competing in head-to-head cook-offs in the Cookery Experience.
Aspiring MasterChefs can take part in a live Invention Test where they will be given 30 minutes to prepare a dish using a selection of mystery ingredients. Celebrity Masterchef finalist Andi Peters will be hosting the sessions and the finished dishes will be tasted by fearsome judging duo, John Torode and Gregg Wallace, who will pick the winner. If you don’t fancy joining in, you can drop in and watch the action for a fiver.
In the Masterchef Theatre, there will be free live demos from celeb chefs like Stuart Gillies (Boxwood Café), Helen Puolakka (Skylon), Theo Randall and Lawrence Keogh (Roast), as well as Celebrity Masterchef contestants like Nadia Sawalha and Liz McClarnon. Steve Groves, who was recently crowned the winner of Masterchef: The Professionals, will be taking part in Q&A sessions on Saturday 14th. Check out the full schedule here.
New to the show this year is ‘Flavours of Japan’ – a celebration of all things Japanese with demos from Harumi Kurihara and Ichiro Kubota (Umu), sushi masterclasses, sake tastings, tea ceremonies and much more. On Saturday night, the Oishii Pavillion will host the Eat-Japan Sushi Awards where visitors can sample incredible sushi creations from seven of the world’s top sushi chefs.
If you’re willing to elbow your way to the front of the crowds, you can usually feast for free on demo leftovers and samples-on-sticks but we prefer the more civilised Restaurant Experience. Stock up on dining currency when you arrive (£1 = 1 dining currency) and then use the tokens to pay for tapas-sized signature dishes from some of London’s finest restaurants. This year, you can expect a queue at the MasterChef restaurant where fans of the show can tuck into dishes like Steven Wallis’ lemon sole with chanterelles and James Nathan’s chocolate and orange sponge pudding.
The restaurants cooking up a storm this year include Skylon, the Boxwood Café, Blue Elephant, Theo Randall, Café Spice Namaste and Roast. Caprice Holdings will be offering a signature dish from four of their high-profile eateries, including Daphne's squash risotto and The Ivy’s Hereford beef and bashed neeps. The team from Launceston Place are serving indulgent treats like lobster soup and venison burgers, while food show newcomer Min Jiang is dishing up dim sum and Beijing duck pancakes.
If you’re still hungry for more, you can sign up for Slow Food tastings, brush up your culinary knowledge in the Hot Tip Pods and do a bit of shopping in the Producers Village. Look out for great home-grown goodies from Chilli Pepper Pete, the Devon Cream Company, Rococo Chocolates, teapigs, Well Hung Meat and many more.
Tickets are cheaper when booked in advance so book online now and save your pennies for the show!
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