Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.

Yemi writes for the Stray Ferret about her love of the area’s food and shares cooking tips.

Food festival season reminds me of just how much of a foodie nation Britain is, with people out in their droves to enjoy the mostly sunny days that we have come to expect – even if it’s with bated breath and fingers crossed.

This past weekend, I was at the East Anglian Game and Country Show, where I made a dessert during my demo on Saturday, and on Sunday I was at Living North, where I made a seeded chilli oil served on cheesy flatbread, because my dish had to feature Gruyère cheese.

This is a favourite time of the year, with events up and down the country that allow me to share my love and passion for food along with developing new recipes. 

In East Anglia, I shared a simple fried dough recipe that can be served as a snack or elevated to a dessert with a few simple touches. The recipe is a variation on the popular yeasted Nigerian snack called puff-puff. This version uses self-raising flour, yoghurt, sugar, salt and spices, including nutmeg and cinnamon. 

It’s the kind of snack I would make when I have a craving for something sweet but don’t feel like baking, or when I don’t have enough time to bake.

To make it, I place a deep pan of neutral oil on the stove and before the oil comes to temperature, I mix the batter, which is about 500g of self-raising flour, 350 ml of yoghurt, enough sugar to my taste, 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of spice. The batter should be smooth, hold together and slightly soft, with a choux batter consistency that takes a few seconds to drop from a wooden spoon. More or less flour may be needed, depending on the thickness of the yoghurt.

The oil temperature needs to be around 165 to 170C; to test the oil temperature, put a small scoop of batter in the oil which should immediately float to the surface within seconds. If the batter sinks and stays down, leave the oil for another couple of minutes before frying the rest of the batter. 

Place the fried doughs on kitchen towel to remove any excess oil, dust with some icing sugar and serve with a cup of tea.

To elevate this to a desert, serve with ginger crumb, fresh macerated strawberries with finely shredded mint, a scoop of whipped citrus cream and some orange or strawberry syrup. For my demo, I created two varieties – one topped with saffron syrup and the other had a drizzle of hibiscus and blood orange syrup.

For my food demo at Living North, I made a basic pizza dough recipe and rolled it out thinly, before sprinkling grated Gruyère on it. This baked in a very hot oven for about 10 minutes.

Whilst it was baking, I toasted different types of seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, mustard, onion seeds, poppy seed - and added them to a pan with some smoked sea salt and different types of chilli flakes. I heated some oil in a small pan and fried thinly sliced garlic and ginger pieces until light golden. Once drained on a kitchen towel, they become crispy. Final step is to pour the hot oil over the chilli and seeds using a heat proof bowl; I allowed it to cool slightly before adding some honey for sweetness.

To finish the cheesy flatbread, I spread a generous amount of the seeded oil over it for a crunchy topping (see main image).

The seeded oil is perfect for adding extra flavour to rice dishes, jacket potatoes, chunky vegetable soup and for my recent chef’s table, I added it to bite-size seeded flatbread to create a canapé.

My next event this weekend is with the Great British Food Festival in Stoke-on-Trent and I have designed a dish of spiced potatoes that will be served on a bed of labneh with preserved lemon-flavoured sauce vierge and flaked salmon cooked in seaweed brown butter with Aleppo chilli.

I will also be at the Harrogate Food Festival and the Great Yorkshire Show, as well as other events in Manchester, Northampton and elsewhere.

There are a few events happening across Yorkshire and I hope you’re able to make the most of the ‘hopefully’ amazing weather by getting out to enjoy the sounds, smells and tastes of Britain’s food festivals.