Easter Monday was a Bank Holiday here in England, and most people had the day off. Planning for a lazy day, I got a reminder of the Maldon Food and Drink Festival and we decided to give it a chance. We’ve been to lots of these sort of festivals in London and Essex, and this one was fairly decent, if a bit small. We were meeting our friends, and we were all up for a bit of adventure as long as it was tasty.
There was lots to do if you had older kids as there were multiple bouncy castles and slides - even giant bubble balls you could run around in. There was a beer tent with some tables, and a dj that was playing decent music, though it was a bit loud and screechy if you were too close.
As a visitor, I have to say that all of the vendors were incredibly generous with their samples, and had we wished to, we probably could have gotten away with not buying much food…but where’s the fun in that? However, for the £8 per person entry fee, I was glad the samples were plentiful.
After doing a lap to make sure we had seen all of our options, we started making decisions. First, we tried a Pumpkin and Cheese Byrek from Alban Home Food and Catering. As they were the first stall upon entry, and we were hungry, it was hard not to just completely indulge in all of the choices they had to offer. We tasted the leek as a sample but ultimately , and everything looked amazing, but chose the pumpkin bread. It was a great start. It was a soft and delicate filled bread - it came cold or hot and we chose to have it heated. The flavour was tasty, and the food was warming. It definitely made one want more, and we promised to return.
Next we found a lovely stall called Heart of Africa with all sorts of delights - including Ma Donuts from Ghana. Upon trying a sample, we had to buy a batch, two actually. Despite it being a sweet before the lunch savoury main, it was absolutely the right decision. These donuts were soft and bready, slightly spiced, and not too sweet. These were donuts that weren’t going to ruin your day with a sugar crash, these were a breakfast bread that was ripe for a pairing with a nice cup of coffee.
The next booth we stopped at was called Chilli Ginger - and was in my opinion the best thing being offered at the festival. A booth serving Indian snacks we were offered samples of almost everything, but the item that set them apart was their Onion Bhajis. These bhajis were crispy and well seasoned and tasted different to any I had had before. Accompanied by a chilli mint yogurt, these bhajis were insanely delicious, and if I were to go back again, I would have probably stayed at this booth and just ordered them over and over. My son Fox couldn’t get enough of them either.
There were three Caribbean booths - and the lure was strong, so my husband Phil was off to get Jerk Oxtail with rice and peas from the first one - Hut Negril. While oxtail isn’t usually my favourite, their oxtail just might have turned me; and the flavours in the rice and peas were so nice, it whet my own appetite for Caribbean food, despite being completely enamoured with the bhajis just moments ago. Their booth was primarily chicken and oxtail - so not for me, as I would have liked it but not loved it… but a different booth had advertised Jerk Pork, and that was definitely worth a try as usually Jerk Chicken is the only choice. (For those just joining our program, I have an allergy to chicken - which has expanded into all poultry, that unfortunately keeps some dishes out of reach. Food festivals and street food fairs in particular can be tricky for me, as chicken is the usually easy answer for most menus.)
While Phil was waiting, my friend and I were distracted by the liqueurs of the English Spirit Distillery- and enjoyed trying all the options. I think we had enough samples to add up to a couple of shots each. Made in Essex, the booze was warming on the chilly day, and the flavours were good - not all too sweet as I would have expected. I ended up buying a bottle of the Coffee Liqueur - sort of a base for an espresso martini, while she bought a nice rum.
Once we got to the second Caribbean booth, the Yard Style Jerk Hub, our friend, who is a vegetarian, saw they had Curried Chickpeas and was given a sample. Other than the bhajis this was the second best thing I tasted all day. My son was all about it, and I SHOULD have ordered some for myself and him. Still, the allure of the jerk pork won out, especially once I learned it came with Mac and Cheese and Fried Plantains. I asked it be bathed in hot sauce, but for me, it wasn’t that hot. The flavour of the jerk pork was nice - everything I wanted it to be, but nowhere near as tasty as the chickpeas had been. This is a recurring problem with me when I encounter an especially tasty vegetarian dish - I start worrying I am missing out on the meat option I have not tried. I second guess. I change my order. I don’t lean in. And I love vegetables, so I have no idea where this nonsense comes from. I need to remember to check my inner caveman at the door.
As a note, I think I also struggle when I encounter pork cut in certain ways or styles, as I find it hard to eat. Again, this is no fault of any chef, and is 100% a me problem. This was no exception. I love pork. Whenever I think about reducing my meat intake, the topic of bacon inevitably brings me back from the vegetarian edge. In this case, the Jerk Pork was pork belly. And while pork belly is delicious, luxurious, and is a fabulous cut of meat, when it is cut in a thick and chunky manner, to me, it can feel like you get giant mouthfuls of chewiness that just don’t do it for me. So while the spiced taste was great, and it had been barbecued perfectly, the texture was all wrong for me, especially without a knife to cut the pieces into smaller bites. The Mac and cheese was good, and the plantains were really sweet and tasty. No shade to the pork - it really was cooked well - and 100% as it should have been…but once I started chasing that Chickpea Curry dragon, it was no contest. Really…I should have just ordered both.
As often happens, when at a food festival, we don’t listen to our instincts, and are instead drawn to some greener pasture. Just like how it had been for me with the jerk pork, our friend skipped the chickpeas in favour of Caribbean booth number 3 - Vibe Your Tastebuds, where they were advertising (jerk) halloumi. What she received was Grilled Halloumi with Sweet Chilli sauce. While not un-tasty, it was not jerk. I didn’t try it, as I had already drowning in food, but they her gave a lot of food, and in that way it seemed value for money. Our other friend had also ordered their Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas from this vendor, and seemed happy with his dish.
While our friends were in line, I kept seeing the Feta Fries at the greek food truck Alla Greek, and I couldn’t resist. While I expected them to come in a sauce (as most things in this country seem to), I was pleasantly surprised to encounter crispy fries - not chips - dusted with salt, paprika, and parsley - and bathed in crumbled feta. As the fries were fresh out of the frier, the cheese became slightly melted and warm, and just everything I wanted Feta Fries to be really.
So, in order to eat, we had sat down at the picnic tables near the beer tent, which unfortunately was also near the speakers. It was so loud you couldn’t really talk to one another. I considered getting the ear defenders out for the baby, but I didn’t think we would be very long. I couldn’t decide if the noise level was high deliberately to keep the tables turning over, or if it was a mistake. But, I feel like either way, they were in error by having the ONLY place to sit to eat be against an ear shattering backdrop, even if the songs playing were good. I considered asking them to turn it down slightly, but I couldn’t imagine that going well, and as the music was the soundtrack for all the fairground games and rides, I didn’t think they would anyway, so I left it.
The noise made us move along sooner than we would have, and decline to get drinks. We did however want to return to the Alban Food and Catering booth where they had Turkish Coffee cooked in sand. It was absolutely the right decision. They also had small pastries with different breads and fillings, almost like cannolis, but also nothing like them at all. We shared a chocolate, a pistachio, and a hazelnut, and they were all sweet, but tasty. The coffees were spectacular, but molten (as was the melted/hot chocolate Phil had) so we sat down on a blanket to savour the coffees and enjoy being outside.
The skies were slowly darkening, so we decided to head out, but not before grabbing a few bits of Temprd chocolate, which was satisfying and a lovely end to the day.
All in all, it was a good festival. The food we had was tasty, the environment was lively, and with a few more tables, a few more booths, and just a few more choices - it would have been an excellent food festival. Looking forward to next year and seeing how it grows…but more than anything - I’m looking forward to stalking Chilli Ginger and getting more onion bhajis wherever they may be.