Foraging at Foodies Festival? Paul Wedgwood Would

Paul Wedgwood tells me he occasionally gets into a spot of bother with people at Food Festivals who give him a hard time. "I've been verbally abused by people screaming 'why can't I get a table at your restaurant?' at me." He seems such an easy-going chap too. Fanny Cradock had similar issues when she appeared at her sell-out performances in Edinburgh at the Usher Hall. Mounted police were called in to calm the disgruntled crowds who couldn't squeeze in to see her. I think that 'Wedgie' will be more than able to handle his own security at this weekends Foodies Festival, in it's 10th year in Edinburgh, but keep an eye out for the horses just incase.

Fanny was known for her 'will they/won't they' drama-laden soufflés at demonstrations, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, and ultimately never failing, naturally. Paul will be capturing some of Fanny's spirit on Sunday with his unplanned demo style. "I'll be doing something new, something I haven't done before using just whatever is in the fridge, whatever I have to hand and maybe some plants picked in Inverleith Park on my way!" Washed, of course, he assures me.

Paul is clearly a fan of wild food, and madcap times. His assistant James is called over to confirm to me his demo style, "Aye, he sometimes prepares a wee bit, he just goes on stage and does what he does. It's like 'oh look what I've got today, what can I make?' kind of thing." Expect to see the ever enthusiastic Paul with a supportive, friendly arm around James' shoulder at the demo though. "My team are the backbone of my business" he tells me, "everyone is as important as each other, if they are happy I am happy." Don't tell Fanny.

Like Fanny, Paul isn't classically trained, finding his way into many prestigious kitchens while doing a Hotel Management Degree, and staying put. Like Fanny he likes to take old school recipes and adapts them, inspired by the likes of American Chef Charlie Trotter, Danish maverick René Redzepi from Noma and Brazilian Alex Atala. Unlike Fanny, his creations are clean, fresh and modern with that wild signature twist. What we will see at Foodies all depends what's growing nearby on the day. Keep an eye out for Paul if you have one of the allotments next door.

Paul has been on a Chef Swap to Fanny's beloved Florence recently, and is hosting his part of the swap in Edinburgh in October. He took his Sweet, Sweet Potato Gnocchi to them, what will they give back in return? For Foodies, Paul is aiming to open a few Edinburgh eyes to his restaurant. "When we opened we thought we would be really tourist driven being on the Royal Mile, but it's so foodie round here now with fantastic shops like Cranachan & Crowdie, locals are flocking in." When they can get a reservation of course. Form orderly queues at Foodies this weekend, who knows you may be part of the show. "I like to react to the audience so I may pull someone who looks enthusiastic on stage to help!" Let's hope it's not someone who couldn't get a table at Wedgwoods, or a local allotment owner, it could get nasty. Mounted Police are on standby.

I am delighted to be an Official Foodies Festival Blogger. See you at the Festival!

Tickets:

Tickets are on sale now at www.foodiesfestival.com or by calling 0844 995 1111

Friday adult day ticket £10.00 (£8.00 concession)

Saturday or Sunday adult day ticket £13.00 (£11.00 concession)

3-day adult ticket £20.00 (£16.00 concession)

Friday VIP ticket £35.00

Saturday or Sunday VIP ticket £38.00

VIP tickets include a welcome glass of bubbly, access to the VIP tent with private bar and refreshments throughout the day, priority entry to food and drink masterclasses, a goody bag and a showguide.

All children aged 12 and under go free to all Foodies Festivals when accompanied by an adult.

Open times:

Friday 7^th August: 11am – 7pm

Saturday 8^th August: 10am – 8pm

Sunday 9^th August: 10am – 7pm

Fannys Firenze Frenzy

Fanny was a very well respected (at least that's what she said) travel correspondent before she transformed herself into a cookery writer and TV Chef. She'd scribble about anything if she got paid in reality, but she loved gadding about, dashing off columns and banging out books mainly about aspirational but perhaps achievable European travel from 1950's onwards. With Johnnie by her side, she selfishly packed up her trunk and toured round for the Bon Viveur Guide to Holidays in Europe. It was the TripAdvisor of its time. She invented it - they were the original Judith Chalmers and Michael Palin. Fanny just loved to get away, especially to Italy and in particular to Florence.

Notwithstanding, Fanny warned that Florence, despite it's 'gay friendliness', explosion of floral displays and people who were 'incredibly interested in your well-being' (did she mean overly nosey?), had 'climatic conditions' which produced heat that even the Romans considered intense. Well-to-do Italians flocked there for the winter. The travel guide, like many today, gives average temperatures year round, but Fanny introduces a new comparison to give her untravelled readers an idea of what these temperatures would be like. She compares and contrasts the average temperature in Eastbourne. So in July while it would be an imaginable 60F on Englands' coastline, in Florence it would be tropical at 81F. Strange how the Eastbourne Scale didn't catch on...

If you can bear the heat, Fanny recommends lots to do while in Florence. The most important of which is to shop for straw goods in the aptly named Straw Market. She couldn't get enough straw. In addition to shopping Fanny recounts the delights of the Firenze Golf Club, the Winter Opera Season (December and January), a wealth of Art and Architecture and in summertime you can watch the locals play football in funny costumes. What more could you want from a forgiven jaunt? It all sounds so perfectly civilised.

Except the food, which Fanny describes as 'running the gamut from A to B' using the adjective 'limited' as a harsh warning. She then, of course, goes on to list a huge variety of food that you can get, and better still that you should bring home with you. Exotic items like Aubergines and her beloved Pimentos. She lets readers and possible travellers know to expect an excessive use of cheese, far too much frying, out of proportion tomato sauces, inordinate amounts of pastas and for everything to be served with an abundance of oil, which Fanny notes is disastrous for the 'untrained stomachs.' Don't ask how she knows, but Johnnie looks sheepish.

Fanny does recommend Florence for sweet little biscuits however, and recreates her version of a Florentine in the partwork. She melts butter with sugar, adding in chopped almonds, flaked almonds, chopped glacé cherries (Il Tricolore if you please) and a little cream. Fanny leaves this mixture to cool before blobbing teaspoons-full onto trays and baking them for 12 minutes. They spread a lot (did she miss out the flour?), and emerge like super thin shards of brown glass, ready for their characteristic chocolate bases, swirled with forks into wavy patterns. They sum up Fannys review of Florence - gay and colourful, baked in heat unknown in Eastbourne, cultured and exotic, crisp and sweet, although a little greasy with copious amounts of butter. Presumably by the time you return from Florence your stomach has been trained to cope.