Another day, another foodie fest at Taste of London - and what a busy day it was. After a light drizzle of rain around midday, the weather settled down and it was the crowd making the commotion as Jamie Oliver and Blur-bassist turned cheesemaker Alex James arrived on site for a few happy snaps followed by Jamie demoing some of his British classics in the AEG Taste Theatre. Away from Jamie Mania, there was plenty going on.  An impressive show from Angela in the Angela Malik Cook School showed how surprisingly simple it can be to make the likes of hanoi noodles with wok tossed chilli beef; whilst Michel Roux Jr, Jacob Kenedy, Angela Hartnett, Vivek Singh, Theo Randall and Gary Rhodes were just a few of the chefs who took to the stage to show us their stuff. Pollen Street Social's Jason Atherton was spotted sampling some other stalls' wares, the guys on the Cotidie stand were feeling fairly confident about Sunday's football match (we'll show 'em…) and The Cocktail Lovers ...

Day 1 at Taste of London 2012 had it all. A glimpse of beautiful sunshine, lots of less beautiful rain, a good smattering of mud, an opening by Wolfgang Puck and all the foodie fun that's come to be expected plus some. Taste is now legendary for its resilience against this most British of summer weather, and so it seems are the visitors. Mingling, munching and being merry in defiance of the downpour, could this event be any more English? And what's a little rain when Hardeep Singh Kholi has been causing an absolute storm on stage at the AEG theatre, which chefs such as Raymond Blanc and the Ivy's Gary Lee performing to a packed house. Also spotted about on site yesterday were Michel Roux Jr, Pascal Aussignac and  I'm still working my way around the dishes and the features - follow the @TasteofLondon twitter feed for the action as it happens - but here are a few highlights so far: Goat's caramel with shiso and blueberries, Corner Room A heady combination of silky dulce de lec...

We’re in! After much anticipation, the gates to Taste of London 2012 have been inched open - for a select few at least. Ahead of today’s launch, last night saw the Secret Garden play host to the show’s now legendary preview night.  The great and the good of the food world gathered over heady cocktails from Shaker & Company, sumptuous canapés from the Taste of Thailand feature and a constantly flowing stream of Champagne to hear the winners of the Best in Taste Awards and Best in Taste Wine awards, celebrating the finest of the finest at Taste of London. There was also, of course, some networking, back patting and double-kissing to be done, but with guests such as Alex James, Tom Aikens, Hardeep Singh-Kohli, Jason Atherton, Wolfgang Puck, David Chang, Jun Tanaka, Vanessa Feltz, Simon Rogan and more, who could blame them. The wine awards were in first, selected by a team headed up by Neil Phillips aka The Wine Tipster. And where better to start than ...

Innis&Gunn, brewed in Edinburgh is a beer with a difference. Here we talk to the team behind it, and learn how accidental it was. Read their story below, watch the video and then come to Taste to try the beer for yourself... The Innis & Gunn Story... It all began in 2002 when a famous Scotch Whisky Distillery called us. They wanted to make a whisky with a “beer finish”. They had tried dozens of beers but none of them had worked. Could we help? We were intrigued by this. So we set to work and created a special beer that we believed would season their barrels with a sweet, malty character. The distillery filled their casks with this beer and left them to mature in their granite warehouses. After thirty days our beer was poured away and the barrels were re-filled with whisky. The flavour of the whisky turned out to be very good and so the distiller ordered thousands of gallons of our beer to season their barrels. We thought no more about it until we rec...

There's little to say about Dinner that hasn't already been said. Anything remaining from its launch last year has been well and truly covered in the stories surrounding its placing at number 9 in the recent World's 50 Best Awards - making it the UK's top restaurants by this measure. We spoke to journalist, blogger and trainee chef Qin Xie, who has something new to add. She hasn't just eaten at Dinner, but actually worked in the kitchen for a week. In her words... After working 9am to 11pm for seven consecutive days, you get a pretty good idea of the whole operation as a stagiaire. Certainly by the end of the week, I was more than impressed. It wasn't everything that I expected. Like the kitchen; you'd expect it to be noisy but one comment from Head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts and the noise is reduced to a bare minimum. The entire operation runs so smoothly that it's not just the show kitchen that makes an entertaining viewing, rather, the whole thing is theat...

Taste of London brings out the city and nation’s best chefs, all vying to show off their most popular dishes as well as creating exclusive plates for the show. With their menus now confirmed, we can all take a look at what will be being served up in Regent’s Park in just over two weeks’ time. As well as making everyone salivate, this exercise is a good opportunity to see a snapshot of what’s going down in the culinary world, what ingredients are bang on-trend, and what we’re likely to be seeing more of in London restaurants in the coming months. Here’s a few trends which I’ve spotted from perusing the menus... Ceviche Is Cool South American food has had a buzz around it for a while in London, with the opening of a few dedicated restaurants and the arrival of Pisco Sours in bars around the city. Ceviche has spread, though. At this year’s show Asia de Cuba will serve a Scottish salmon ceviche, whilst both Corner Room and Gaucho opt for s...

As we inch into summer, the weather begins to perk up and the countdown to Taste of London begins, there's only one thing that we can think of other than summer food: summer drink. Here journalist, trainee chef and stagiaire at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal enthuses over a drink first enjoyed at one of Heston's other venues, The Hinds Head. There's nothing more refreshing than a cool glass of G&T at the height of summer, but the simple drink is not always treated with the respect it deserves. A G&T is not just a G&T. Each gin has different characteristics, as does each tonic. Then there's the garnishes to contend with. Preferences will vary from person to person, but finding a harmonious blend is like striking gold.  To my taste, The Hinds Head has one of the best combinations sorted. They do a fabulous G&T with my favourite gin – Gin Mare (pronounced mar-ray) - and perk it up with a floral tonic and some unusual garnishes. Even on gloomy rain...

Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.  Italian is Britain’s favourite cuisine. At least it’s the food we eat the most of. It’s not surprising when you think of all the big high street pizza and pasta chains which line the city. Spaghetti Bolognaise has become one of our best loved national dishes, and pasta is the country’s default ‘quick supper’. If you consider takeaway pizza to be at all Italian, then the deal is sealed.   The first record of an Italian restaurant in London comes as far back as 1803 in the form of The Italian Eating House just off Leicester Square, run by Joseph Moretti. Since then there hasn’t been any let up. From the 1820s to 50s there are 4000 recorded Italian immigrants into the UK, and half of these chose to settle in London. With these numbers came deman...

Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London. This strand of blog posts has seen me get all excited about the world of international cuisines available in London. I’ve already raved and drooled over Thai, Indian and French offerings. Before I continue my travels, it seems only right to take a moment in appreciation of our own culinary talents. The best of British. Not so long ago food in Britain wasn’t anything to brag about. Countries such as France would mock our paltry offerings. And probably our poultry, too. But this has well and truly changed. London is now amongst the greatest cities in the world for eating out. And what’s more, it’s no longer the case that it has to be French or Italian or Asian to make a fuss. In the foodie world right now there’s nothing cooler than being British. One of the ...

Ahead of Taste of London's summertime extravaganza of feasting, we've got a guest blog post from those regular figures on London's drinks scene, The Cocktail Lovers. For summer eating, they say forget wine (don't tell Neil Phillips), if you really want to bring out the flavour of your dish, try pairing it up with a cocktail... Think of cocktails with food and aperitifs spring immediately to mind. Little wonder really, nothing gets the appetite primed for a full blown meal quite like a cheeky Aperol Spritz or nifty Negroni. Then there’s the digestif. Ah, the digestif… Even the word makes you want to loosen the top button of your waistband, settle yourself into a comfy chair and sip on something warm, dark and comforting. What’s not to like about those full-on, big boy drinks? We’re talking expertly mixed Manhattans and Sazeracs, as well as slowly and carefully stirred Old-Fashioneds – all perfect ways to roun...

Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London. France has been at the centre of the restaurant industry since just about forever. It’s the French who have coined the term Haute Cuisine, and who run the esteemed Michelin guide. French food is, in many ways, the benchmark of good cooking. It’s commis chefs or a chef de partie that will blanch vegetables and julienne carrots. French is the language of our kitchens. But French restaurants have taken something of a backseat of late. A cultural shift away from heavy butter and cream based dishes in favour of lighter, healthier versions has driven a shift to Italian, whilst familiar French food lacks the exoticism of Asian flavours and isn’t particularly compatible with our seemingly insatiable appetite for “small plates”. But French food certainly hasn&rsquo...

In need of a Tuesday evening pick-me-up? Thought so... Why not try whipping up this treat from the Club Gascon kitchens. Don't tell Pascal Aussignac, but you could even use shop bought meringues if you're feeling lazy... Gascon Mess Our tribute to the great classic English summer dessert, Eton Mess – marinated prunes stirred with crushed meringue in a creme Chantilly. A great party dish. Serves 8-10 Ingredients 4 egg whites 240g caster sugar 1 litre double cream 25g icing sugar 100ml Armagnac Marinated Prunes Ingredients 300g Agen prunes, soaked if not semi-soft or ready-to-eat 50g sugar 1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise 5 cardamom pods grated zest 1 orange 1. If the prunes are not semi-soft, then they should be blanched first in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute, then drained. If they are semi-soft there is no need to blanch them. Make a syrup with the 50g sugar and 150 ml boiling water in a saucepan, adding the cin...

Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London. Few cuisines catch on as quickly as Thai food has. It now sits behind only our anglicised stalwarts of Indian and Chinese in terms of representing the flavours of Asia, but it’s not many years ago that a green curry would have sounded truly exotic. We now see green, red and yellow varieties on the aisles of every supermarket and as a nation we’re becoming as familiar with pad thai as we are with pizza. Even non-asian restaurants are catching on, with the likes of lemongrass and galangal fast becoming staple ingredients. With any widespread cuisine, some versions are bound to be better than others, and London certainly has its fair share of greasy noodle joints. But you needn’t look far at all to find Thai food worth shouting about. Be it refined for fine-dining or rough, ready...

Ben Norum takes a look at Indian food in London in the first part of a blog series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London. No cuisine is as embedded in the British psyche as Indian, and no high street is complete without a curry house. Therefore it’s no surprise that statistics show Indian to be our most popular alternative to traditional British dishes, way ahead of next runners Chinese and Italian. Recent years have seen a tide of change for Indian cuisine. Whilst ubiquitous anglo-indian curries and ready-meal chicken tikka masala will always have their place, us Brits are starting - slowly - to take into account the style of cooking which actually goes on in India, and the vast regional differentiations within it. There is not really any such thing as true ‘Indian’ food, but rather an excess of thirty different regional cuisines wh...

Firstly, hello from me - the official Taste of London blogger. I’ve interacted with Taste quite a bit over the past few years in my varying roles as a journalist, restaurant critic and just general greedy person, so it’s nice to be properly on board. This year’s show runs from 21st - 24th June, and as it starts to take shape over the coming months I’ll be on hand to share teasers, talk to chefs, introduce you to some of the small producers who’ll be getting involved, and - most importantly - have a bit of a chit chat about foodie goings-on in London. With a certain big international event going on, the world’s eyes will be on London this summer, so there’s no better excuse for Taste to celebrate the unparalleled multiculturalism of London’s dining scene. And from my point of view, that’s all the reason I need to start exploring the different worlds of cuisine which can be found in the capital.   Even since last ye...