Curry, bhajis and dosa at Edinburgh Mela

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bhaji, Curry, dosa, edinburgh, edinburgh mela, goan curry, indian food, lamb curry, paneer

Edinburgh’s annual Mela kicked off on Friday night with a stunning fireworks display in Leith Links, along with the story of Rama and Sita told through shadow puppetry. After an enchanting evening, I had one thing on my mind – tasty Indian food. And lots of it.

Leith Links was transformed into a bustling hive of festival activity, with heavenly scents wafting from each stall where chickpeas sizzled and fresh mango lassis were dispensed. Colourful scarfs and traditional Indian dress fluttered in the light breeze, while the infectious low beat of drums topped off the festival atmosphere.

After a little African storytelling it was time for lunch. I made a beeline for the Goan curry stand and opted for a deliciously spiced lamb curry with rice, salad, yoghurt dressing and lime pickle.

My friend picked a paneer dosa – like a pancake with cheese inside – along with some dipping sauces and some veggie bhajis with a yummy mild sauce. Everyone sat around eating on the grass, and the Mela had a really relaxed feel to it, with plenty to see for everyone.

Big tip for the Mela next year? Don’t arrive too late – as we left at around 4pm the queue was enormous!

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A fine day for Foodies

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candy, churros, cider, food festival, foodies festival, jerk chicken, mark greenaway, oyster, oysters, seafood

The sun shone on Inverleith Park for this year’s Foodies Festival. After an initial wander around the labyrinth of stalls, which offered everything from Arbroath smokies to homemade lemonade, I decided to pay a visit to Mark Greenaway’s stand for a spot of lunch.

The choices were lightly smoked pan seared hake fillet, pea salad and tarragon dressing OR 11 hour slow roasted pork belly puffed crackling pomme puree and toffee apple jus. I opted for the latter and happily devoured it whilst lounging on one of the deck chairs in the sun. My friends tucked into some deep fried chocolate yumminess thanks to our old pals Churrio.

To cleanse the palate I treated myself to an award winning Black Dragon cider, courtesy of the Natural Cider Company. Although the tipple wasn’t to everyone’s taste, I enjoyed the aromatic, strong oaky flavour. With 16 different types of cider to choose from, it would have been rude not to, so I followed this up with a Pheasant Plucker, which was cloudy, bubbly and sweet.

I spotted an old chum Emma, who I used to work with at a retro sweetie shop many light years ago. Turns out Emma’s taken the helm at Love Candy, and if you fancy a Refresher Bar, Sherbet Dib Dab or some blueberry liquorice, get yourself down to her cutesy little shop on Hanover Street.

As someone who a) writes a food blog and b) loves all forms of seafood, I probably shouldn’t be admitting this. But I will – I’d never had an oyster before. So I jumped at the chance when I spotted the Caledonian Oyster Co. Farmed in Loch Creran, I don’t think I could have found a better one to lose my oyster virginity too. It tasted exactly as I’d imagined – salty – but the consistency was much softer, and the aftertaste was truly exquisite.

We finished the day with some Jerk Chicken from the Backyard Company, whose stall pumped infectious reggae beats into the late afternoon.

Compared to the Foodies I’d visited a few years ago, the festival really seems to be coming from strength to strength – with more stalls, more variety and more people visiting.

Taste cancelled…brought back down to Earthy

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cake, Cooking, Earthy, edinburgh, flat white, Home, leith, Saturday

“I don’t quite know how to tell you this, Louise…”

That was how my boyfriend Rob prefaced the news that Taste of Edinburgh food festival had been cancelled. At that point only the Saturday sessions were cancelled. My disappointed face came out and moped around a little. Then the entire Taste weekend was cancelled and my disappointed face got even more disappointed and I moped around some more.

But what was I going to EAT all weekend? Luckily Rob gathered my sorry little self up and off we went to Earthy at Canonmills for a spot of lunch.

I bloomin’ love Earthy in Portobello and the small section of shop in Earthy Canonmills has the same vibe going on – fresh, local, healthy, organic produce for the health conscious foodie.

With my stomach already set to indulge in preparation for Taste, I was ready to bury my sorrows under mountains of cake. The rain, however, had other ideas. As if drowning Taste wasn’t enough, it turned out the kitchen in Earthy had been flooded – which the furiously flowing waters of the Water of Leith outside the window further attested to – so no food was being served.

We didn’t get lunch, but there was a small selection of cakes to choose from. I went for a raspberry and white chocolate cake, while Rob had a lemon and rosemary cake.

The presentation was…interesting, although I couldn’t really fault the waitress’ cheeriness despite the downpour outside. In fact all the staff were very upbeat and lovely.

My flat white ticked all the boxes but the cake didn’t really satisfy me (possibly a lingering effect of my indulge setting), it just tasted kind of…healthy. I understand it was probably made with the most wholesome organic flour/sugar/eggs money can buy, but it just seemed to be lacking something. Cake should be moreish, rich, and you should feel a bit naughty when you’re eating it.

What Earthy does have going for it is atmosphere. From the quirky low hanging lightbulbs that pepper the ceiling, to the heavy wooden furniture, Earthy Canonmills has a charming, welcoming feel to the place.

I’m definitely going to go back to Earthy and give it a second bash because I’ve heard only good things about the place. Might just have to wait for it to stop raining…

Plan for Taste next year? Go to the Friday session 🙂