The final weekend of the Edinburgh Food Festival is heating up at Assembly George Square Gardens till Sunday.
EdFoodFest becomes a star-studded affair as MasterChef 2022 Finalist, Sarah Rankin brings a face-stuffing, belly-filling, gloriously gluttonous chef demo in the Tree House Kitchen on Sat 30 July. Passionate about real food cooked simply, Sarah celebrates Scotland’s Larder and the farmers, producers, and artisans who dedicate their lives to bringing it to us.
Sarah Rankin said: “I’m thrilled to be cooking at Edinburgh Food Fest this year. It’s a great celebration of taste and flavour and I’m looking forward to meeting some fellow foodies!”
Other demonstrations across the final weekend of the Festival include, EdFoodFest favourite Chef Barry Bryson (29 July); pitmaster Cameron Bell from Smiddy BBQ (28 July), Scotland’s first craft barbecue joint; Chef Gordon Craig from Taisteal (31 July) cooking up their Thai Tartare starter; private chef Steve Brown (28 July), a member of the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance, Steve was the recipient of the 2021 Andrew Fairlie Award for Excellence.
On Saturday, Carolyn McGill, Head of Forth Valley Food & Drink, launches the national Gluten Free Fortnight campaign, which is due to take place in October. Carolyn will host a gluten free cookery demonstration, tasting, and Q&A with Regional Food Tourism Ambassador for Stirling & Forth Valley, and Founder & Director of The Real Food Café in Tyndrum, Sarah Heward. Plus, Edinburgh’s own low tech/low waste cold gourmet mushroom farm, Some Funguys presents a workshop on how to grow your own mushrooms at home on Sunday.
Local food champions, Edinburgh Food Social make a welcome return to the Festival, with two days of Kid’s Cookery Classes on Thursday and Friday suitable for children aged 5+. Workshops will include Vietnamese-inspired summer rolls, and Healthy Bircher porridge pots, to fill little tums and teach children to think about seasonal ingredients and where their food came from. Places for the Kid’s Cookery Classes are limited, so early booking is advised.
Away from the heat of the kitchen, Edinburgh-based coffee roastery Williams & Johnson Coffee Co. will share the secret to the perfect brew (29 Jul); and Edinburgh-based beer experts Jump Shil Brewing and Bellfield Brewery cool things down with tastings on Sat 30 July.
Finally, the Festival will close on Sunday 31 July with a Boozy Bagel closing party. Edinburgh Food Festival has teamed up with Bross Bagels and the queen of Montreal Bagels herself, Mama Bross, and Seven Crofts Gin for the ultimate kitchen workshop – the all-day breakfast hangover cure bagel, The Goy, and three lip-smacking cocktails from the bartenders at House of Gods Cocktail Bar. This event will be first come, first served – so arrive early to avoid missing out!
Plus, a garden packed with sweet treats and savoury delights from Scotland’s best street food vendors including Jarvis Pickle, Chick + Pea, Alandas Gelato and Fish & Chips, Moskito Spanish Bites, The Fat Flamingo, The Peruvian, and Scottish Street Food Award Champion 2022 Junk.
The Edinburgh Food Festival opens daily at 12:00pm at Assembly George Square Gardens until Sunday 31 July. To see the line-up of street food and market stalls appearing, and to view the full programme of events visit edfoodfest.com
All photos below were taken by John L Preece on the press preview night when a lot of the food on offer in the garden was produced for tasting.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
