Fife Food Festival Returns with Another Delicious Year
Kathryn Nielsen reviews the Fife Food Festival 2017.
In a town full of international students who pine after foods from our home countries (especially while living in a place known for its controversial meat flavoured crisps), we can easily forget the numerous options for fine foods that lie at our doorsteps. We fall into the trap of buying the same ingredients at Tesco and visiting the same restaurants. The Fife Food Festival is here to remind us of the diversity of locally available foods and show us what we might be overlooking.
Younger Hall was filled with stands. The ever-present favourites – Janettas, Rocca Deli, Eden Mill, and StaBCo – were there, of course, but the true stars of the Fair were the less conventional stalls, featuring spicy Tanzanian sauces, loaves of bread with pulled pork cooked inside, and flavoured lemonades. In addition to the well-loved St Andrews staples, Ma Roberts, Flavour Magic, Barnacles & Bones, and Kwan’s Kitchen brought new, unexpected flavours to the forefront and were a welcome surprise. The Sassy Coconut, a bit of a St Andrews healthy-food celeb, also made an appearance with fully prepared meals alongside the famous sweet treats. (The Sassy Coconut went on to win the festival’s Entrepreneurship Competition.)
Samples were everywhere, and because I have no self-control I tasted pretty much everything. I can now say I’ve tasted all of the Thistly Cross flavours that exist. I snuck seconds of the Dunkeld Smoked Salmon. I had some strawberry fudge from Kilted Fudge Company (fudge that I’m still thinking about). Not sure if I’m remembering wrong, but I’m pretty sure I saw a loaf of bread with some sort of meat baked onto the top.
Edinburgers (cutest name ever), Love2Waffle, and Wild Fire Pizza (among others) were also running food trucks outside the venue. Although they each looked and smelled amazing, the weather was rubbish and made standing outside a bit of a chore. Regardless, I left Fife Food Fest full and happy, with an armful of goodies and a warm box of dumplings from Harajuku Kitchen.