Yemi’s Food Stories: Exploring Harrogate with Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

I’ve lived in Harrogate for over 10 years, so when I got the invite to join the Yorkshire Appetite Food Tour team on a tour of Harrogate, I was certain we would visit some familiar places – but I was wrong.

There is something to be said about being a tourist in your own town, as you get to see it through a fresh pair of eyes — especially when it’s through the eyes of someone who knows and appreciates the history.

I learnt about Harrogate and enjoyed many stories that Jill, our guide, told us about William Slingsby, the soldier who discovered Harrogate, and why we see street names like ‘Montpellier’ and ‘Parliament’.

The tour started at Starling Beer & Coffee House on Oxford Street. I have walked past this road before but never noticed the venue. It is a popular brunch spot in town that serves pizza throughout the evening, as well as unique dishes like poutine – a Canadian reputed hangover-cure!

Our first dish was eggs florentine. It included locally sourced poached eggs with spinach and mushrooms, served with a hollandaise sauce and micro herbs.

We then had another history lesson on the town centre, including the significance of the war memorial, how the town got its name and even some background into the Harrogate institution that is Bettys.

After this, the tour took us to Yorkshire Tapas. Chef Dane champions local produce and creates tapas-style dishes from Yorkshire staples, such as fish and chips, Yorkshire puddings and roast dinners.

Here we enjoyed a generous portion of Yorkshire pudding with pulled pork, shoestring fries, and crackling powder.

Yemi and her fellow food tour members at Vanilli’s and Yorkshire Tapas (R)

The next stop was Cold Bath Deli where we enjoyed a delicious sausage roll served with a leafy salad and French dressing. The mixed beans and roasted cauliflower were both delicious, and I never thought I’d see the day I would be like Oliver Twist asking for more broccoli!

There were lots of other things to try here, so I must visit again to sample other menu items.

Chocolate ice cream at Vanilli’s

Next up was Vanilli’s – an ice cream parlour on Cold Bath Road that has been running for 12 years.

We tasted a variety of lovely ice creams, including some gluten free ones.

Alex, the owner, is passionate about making great ice cream with no artificial flavourings, and I could certainly taste the difference. I have never ordered a chocolate ice cream but was an instant convert when I tasted Alex’s.

I am heading back for his Christmas flavours, so look out for my post on that – I might even save you a job of looking for a quality dessert.

Before heading to Hales Bar – the final leg of the tour – we ventured through Valley Gardens to learn about the town’s rich spa history. We finished the tour with a drink, a slice of parkin and Farrah’s sweets.

The tour is designed to give insight into Harrogate and its history, as well as enjoying a four-course meal from local businesses. I found it eye-opening and discovered lots of new places I’d like to try.

If you’re like me, you can lose sight of what is around you because you are a creature of habit. It’s time to see our gorgeous town through a fresh pair of eyes and to look at both sides of the road.

We need to walk through doors to see the foodie jewels that are lurking behind them.

I am certainly going to be more present as I continue to explore the vibrant food scene across Harrogate and the rest of Yorkshire.

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Yemi’s Food Stories: Let’s ‘mise en place’ this Christmas

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

This summer, I did many demos at food festivals across Yorkshire and Manchester. At every food festival, there is a scramble for ingredients because a chef has left a key item at home or forgotten a gadget; this happens to everyone which means we sometimes have to improvise or hope that another chef or food vendor can bail us out.

For one cook, I forgot my oil by the door as I packed all the ingredients and equipment into the car and this happened on the day when what I was cooking needed to be fried. Thankfully a food vendor came to my rescue.

If you’ve ever watched a cookery show, you will be familiar with the term ‘mise en place’, which is a French term for getting things ready or putting things in place before you start cooking to make it a speedy and stress-free experience.

The concept helps you to organise and prepare the ingredients and all the other components needed before cooking, but ultimately it helps you to also get your space ready to support you.

You will need to anticipate what is needed for all your dishes and get them ready, which will save time and ensure that no ingredient or seasoning is forgotten when cooking. As part of mise en place, you must consider kitchen utensils, cookware, tools for plating, and ingredients.

As home cooks, we don’t always think of mise en place because most things are within reach. However, there are some dishes that can be easily destroyed if we overlook the prep – like an omelette, soufflé and desserts.

Pancakes can get cold while we are faffing about sorting out the toppings, and a self saucing chocolate pudding will keep cooking and turn into a cake if we forget to take the ice cream out at the right time. Sticky toffee pudding batter will have to wait until we have soaked the dates, so knowing the order to prep our ingredients and cook our dishes matters.

I do my food prep in two stages: firstly I get out all the ingredients I need and set them out, then I move onto the ones that need to be prepped, like peeling or chopping onions for example, or grating the garlic and ginger, or whipping the cream. This improves my chance of cooking the dish I set out to make.

Christmas is a time when there is a lot going on in the kitchen with Christmas dinner having many components. There is a reason some shops open on Christmas day for the last minute dash for cream, butter, milk and spices. The season is already stressful enough for most people – we need to find ways to make it less so.

Also, good planning helps us to reduce overspending and food wastes during the season.

We need to ‘mise en place’ our Christmas by putting things in place to ensure we have a stressless celebration with family and friends.

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing ideas for Christmas hampers, cheese boards, gadgets I can’t do without and tips that get me through the Christmas season when I am mostly confined to the kitchen.

There will be restaurant recommendations if you prefer to dine out for Christmas and, if like me you are not super keen on sprouts, Christmas pudding or mince pies, I will recommend alternatives for you.

And what about those leftovers? They either get used or buried in the freezer until they get freezer burn. So, in the lead up to Christmas, I will share some recipes that might even prove to be more popular than the dinner itself.

Look out for tips from the region’s chefs about how to make your celebration a tad more special.

This Saturday, I will be joining  Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours for a Harrogate Food tour. You can also join me at the Afghan Kitchen Pop up in Harrogate on Saturday 21 October. I will be at Fodder on Friday 27 at 3pm; come say hi if you’re in the area.

More importantly please share your own tips, wine and cheeses that you want me to consider for my recommended lists, hamper ideas, alternative roast ideas and venues you want me to check out.

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