Ham and Friends and other delicacies

You’ve heard of the land of milk and honey but let me tell you about  the delicious new foodie find right in the heart of Leeds. Ham and Friends is the third addition to the Friends of Ham empire and brings a fantastic selection of charcuterie, wines, beers and cheese to its food hall and kitchen. 

Ham and friends is also home to the Yorkshire Wine School, where as well taking part in wine tasting events you can also gain qualifications.  

George and Joseph, the first cheesemongers to Leeds City centre were most certainly worth waiting for! The cheese room offers a delectable selection of hard and soft cheeses made from cows, goats and sheep’s milk. Keep an eye out for my cheese tasting blog to follow!

The team from Ham and Friends and Friends of Ham host a selection of workshops and events including “Meet The Maker’ evenings where you can meet the suppliers and really sink your teeth into knowing where their food comes from. As part of the Leeds Independent Food festival Ham and Friends hosted a food photography course with photographer and stylist Victoria Harley (channel 4) 

A clear favourite of the morning that I spent at Ham and Friends was the coffee. The Darkwood coffee is roasted in the West Yorkshire Pennines and was ground for us on site for a beautifully fresh cup. 

The restaurant at Ham and Friends is to open at the end of May/ beginning of June and will incorporate seasonal produce from top quality suppliers who are specially chosen by owner Claire. 

From cured Italian meats to Spanish Chorizo Claire knows all of her suppliers personally and this translates in the way that Ham and Friends is not just about the delicious food but it is about the people too.  

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Live At Leeds and that time I was on Radio One

Earlier this week I received a call from my mother saying that a guy called Steve from Radio 1's Newsbeat was on his way to talk to me.

Me: ok, why?

Ella Eyre LAL2014

The reason; to talk about Live At Leeds and in particular the rise of the citywide music festival. Live At Leeds which has been around since 2007 and is now in it's eleventh year (this will be my fourth year at the festival) is the biggest metropolitan new music festival in the north and has the perfect blend of up and coming names as well as big headliners.

Rupert Stroud LAL 2015

If you were at the 2010 LAL fest you may have been able to see some guy called Ed Sheeran and more recently you couldn't even get through the doors to see George Ezra in 2014 just before he made it big.

Lauren Aquilina LAL 2015

The Live At Leeds festival format is quite simple; there are 200 artists playing at 20 venues (its actually 22 this year) around the city and you have 12 hours to go and see as many (or as little) as you can. LAL is the perfect place to discover new music!

Here are my top tips if you are heading to Live At Leeds: https://www.accentclothing.com/blog/accent-reviews-top-tips-live-leeds/

Clean Bandit LAL 2014

Yet if you haven't already got a ticket fear not as the free Brigatte stage (which was introduced last year) is back on a mission to completely submerge the city with sweet sweet music.


You can read the Newsbeat article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39736651/no-mud-no-camping-no-portable-toilets-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-city-festival

Coffee Workshops at Casa Colombiana

Coffee workshops are a new thing at Casa Colombiana, indeed the workshop that I attended last night was the first of its kind and what a fascinating insight it was as we learned all about the history of and how coffee is made.

Coffee in its many forms; may it be latte, cappuccino, flat white or otherwise is the staple starter to many people's day but how much do we actually know about the good stuff? Did you know for example that coffee is a fruit; a berry to be precise.

Marta and David (King and Queen of coffee) both grew up on coffee farms so it would be fair to say that that they live and breathe coffee.

Indeed as David shared his knowledge of the coffee plant and the process that the berries go through to get the beans that are so familiar to us all it is evident that coffee is in his blood. 

I won't go into too much depth about what the workshop entails but expect exceptional quality coffee cocktails made at the newly renovated bar, a wonderful insight into the world of coffee production and meet Conchita; the in house roasting machine. You even get a bag of coffee to take home.

Casa Colombiana can be found in the Grand Arcade Leeds and once you stumble across it you won't ever want to leave. With an exceptionally fresh Colombian menu, a seating capacity of 115 people  and of course amazing coffee Casa Col is a home from home with a party atmosphere.

Welcome Home

Bubbleology- The science of bubble tea

Trends in food and drink are fast paced and ever changing for example the cupcake craze or the time when everybody went sushi mad. The latest wave to hit British shores is bubble tea.

The blogger event tonight (14th July) was held at Cafe 164 and in addition to the tea there was a delicious array of breads and cakes on offer that are all made in the cafe itself. Some of our favourites included the mozzarella and sun blush tomato loaf, the olive, asparagus, sun blush tomato and parmesan loaf, toffee apple cake and the lemon drizzle. Who am I kidding, all of the food was divine! If you find yourself down by Munro House on Duke Street in Leeds you should definitely check it out. :)

Bubble tea was first invented in Taiwan in the 1980s and refers to a refreshing tea based drink with chewy tapioca balls  that you suck up through a large straw. The balls are sometimes referred to as 'pearls' or 'boba' and over time 'boba' became 'bubble' hence the name.

However a very westernised addition to the traditional bubble tea is what is known as popping boba. These multicoloured bubbles composed of fruit syrup enrobed in a seaweed case burst in your mouth. It's a very weird (in a good way) sensation.

Bubbleology are based in London and have only recently opened a new store in the Trinity centre, where I am told they are making quite the impression as bubble tea not only looks great but also tastes fantastic.  The vast variety of fruit syrups allows you to make your own custom drink and is a fun brew and snack in one!

The art of making bubble tea is a precise science that involves adding hot tea (Bubbleology used Jasmine Green tea in our drinks) to cold fruit syrups (of your choice) and shaking vigourously to cool the tea down before adding the boba and/or tapioca and finally sealing the cup. Our bubble tea was served cold (somewhat like ice tea) and is therefore a perfect summer drink, yet you can also get milk based bubble teas that are similar to milkshakes and even hot bubble teas that are highly in demand during the winter months.

Preview night at Roast and Conch

My sister and I were invited to an exclusive preview evening at Roast and Conch last night to launch the new menu and the delectable new range of cocktails.  After recommendations from many of the staff including the General Manager I went for the Salted Caramel Soother- and let me tell you -this was definitely worth the hype. The silky smooth and creamy cocktail is almost milkshake like in texture yet has quite the substantial kick!

Canapés were served throughout the evening including sausages in a chocolate glaze (divine) spiced aubergine (exquisite) and smoked  salmon with gin and tonic jelly to name but a few.

However my favourite would have to be the banana cake served with chocolate mouse. The moist, nutty cake was perfectly complimented by the light and fluffy mousse and I would have happily have munched on these all night.

Upon going upstairs to the main restaurant more canapés were to be had whilst we chatted to the chefs and despite our best efforts the recipe for white chocolate mash remains a secret.

I couldn't leave Roast and Conch before visiting the shop that is situated on the ground floor. Hotel Chocolat has always proved to me at least to be second to none in customer service and Shelley, who was working there that evening, was exceedingly helpful and informative when I was trying to choose what to buy. A very hard task as everything looked so good.

Having previously purchased the Cocoa beer and the gin ( not for myself btw) I was keen to get the Chocolate Port for my dad yet as I had two varieties to choose from I was faced with quite the dilemma.

I was advised that the Ruby Port goes best with dark chocolates as it very rich in flavour and full-bodied whereas the Tawny which is medium-bodied is much better suited for when eating milk chocolate. Nevertheless I bought both varieties :)

The new menu at Roast and Conch, like the chocolates sold by Hotel Chocolat offers a fantastic variety of dishes that are suitable for a variety of dietary requirements.  Including vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free options.