Buzz Magazine Buzz Magazine - July Issue | Page 31

ETHICAL
EDIBLES

How to Throw a
Green Dinner Party
words RUTH JOSEPH
www.ruthjoseph.co.uk
www.veggischmooze.blogspot.com

pic: JULESJULESJULES

THE BIG CHEESE
Stephen Springate looks
forward to Caerphilly’s
cheesiest festival.
IN what could be the most exciting combination
of things ever promised by a festival, the local
legend that is Caerphilly’s Big Cheese Festival is
back for its 18th year this July.
Around 80,000 people are expected to attend the
extravaganza over located in the dramatic setting
of Caerphilly Castle. It has been declared one of
the ‘must see’ events of the Welsh summer, which
isn’t a surprise when you look at the amount on
offer there.
Kicking off on the Friday is the legendary
Great Cheese Race, where adult and children
contestants alike are encourage to walk, run or
jog around the obstacle course. Fancy dress is
recommended but not mandatory.
Throughout the weekend there will be an array
of entertainment on offer, which includes a
live music, comedy and street entertainers
performing both in the arenas and walking
around the site, and historical re-enactors will
take you back to Caerphilly Castle’s heyday,

when it was one of Europe’s biggest and
architecturally advanced castles.
There are craft stalls and activity marquees
which are perfect for keeping whole families
entertained. As you walk around the grounds,
you can also be guaranteed to mingle with
wandering minstrels and troubadours, folk
dancers, fire eaters, falconers and, I think,
basically any form of entertainer from the last
few hundred years.
Of course, what would an event called the Big
Cheese Festival be without its food? You can
guarantee that there will be an endless selection
of cheeses from across the globe, and no doubt
there will be examples from closer to home. After
all, where better to try authentic Caerphilly
cheese than in, well, Caerphilly?
In addition to all those cheesy delights, there are
countless other food and drink stalls gathering
at Caerphilly from around Britain, like some
big, delicious national farmers’ market. Oh, and
there’s a funfair. How can any event go wrong
with a funfair? You’d be crackers not to miss it...
sorry.
Big Cheese Festival, Caerphilly Castle,
Fri 25-Sun 27 July. Admission: free.
Info: www.caerphilly.gov.uk/bigcheese

FROM PARIS TO PASTA

WITH green issues becoming a vital part of our
lives, people are considering the need to save
the world’s resources and limit waste. So it
makes sense to extend this care to entertaining.
Firstly invite your guests by word, email or
telephone rather than the post. Then if you
live near a farmer’s market, try some of their
wonderful products, supporting local growers; in
return, the foods will taste fresher as they haven’t
travelled.
If that’s not possible, look for seasonal Britishgrown produce. Think of a fresh cauliflower soup
with a roquette pesto drizzle, or an attractive
salad starter could be podded summer broad
beans, peas, slivers of local cheese, and baby
potatoes cooked in their skins.
Despite strict legislation, ICES reports state that
EU fisheries have pushed cod, haddock, and
whiting stocks to the brink of extinction, so green
party-givers should look further afield where
there are plenty of fish varieties not in danger of
extinction.
Talk to your fishmonger or look at the Able and
Cole website for more information, and buy linecaught sustainable fish from fishmongers who
buy from small boats rather than trawlers.
If you’re buying meat or chicken, ask your
butcher for free-range, organic animals who have
lived a kinder life. While veggies can feast on a
good home-made vegetable curry, tagine with
rice, quinoa, or cous cous – less damage to the
environment and very green.
And dessert? Think Fair Trade. Make a chocolate
mousse with Fair Trade dark chocolate and local
berries. Or use up your bread by making a bread
and butter pudding – a real favourite.
Decorate the table with flowers picked from your
garden or buy British. Recycle kitchen waste.
Wash dishes with a green washing-up liquid. If
you can manage some of these ideas, then your
green dinner party could be fabulous.

“There’s nothing more romantic than Italian
food,” says the manager of the newly opened
San Martino restaurant in Mermaid Quay.
Formerly known as Entrecote Café de Paris, the
once th