Northwest Food News – May 2014

First up: Grillstock. Bu, bu, bu, but that’s not in May?! Do you guys not read your press releases?! OK, you got us – and thanks for your concern – but think of this as ample warning that ‘the UK’s hottest BBQ and music festival’ is not all that far off. For a weekend in Manchester’s Albert Square you can drink Brooklyn, eat low ‘n’ slow-cooked meat, watch Hayseed Dixie and/or Vintage Trouble, see who gets crowned ‘King of the Grill’, and generally enjoy ‘southern hospitality’ oop north. On their website you can also sign up for the chilli and hot wings eating contests, where you can (potentially) win a prize and (definitely) irritate your colon. 28-29 Jun, @Grillstock, tickets on sale at selected venues and at grillstock.co.uk/shop/

Next, an actual event in May. Stockport Beer and Cider Festival, one of CAMRA’s largest events in the North, will be providing more beers and ciders than you can shake a hydrometer at; and the excellent High Peak Beer Company are curating the bottle bar list, so expect some recherché offerings. We’re not sure if the musical line-up will be familiar to our dear readers, but if cover bands and harmonicas do it for you then, well, you’ll be done. And getting over to Stockport is a good excuse to visit Lord of The Pies (for pies, dummy) and The Magnet (for great beer at a fraction of Manchester city-centre prices).  29-31 May, Edgelay Park, @skbeerfestival, stockportfestival.org.uk

With two big events down, let’s look at two small but equally important things happening in Liverpool. First: Talking Eating Disorders (20 May, St. Georges Hall). We mostly harp on about food as if we all have a healthy relationship with it, but many of us don’t. TEDs sees doctors and experts debunking myths (there’s a talk called Men Get Eating Disorders Too), giving information about treatment, and providing solutions. Second: an Introduction to Kitchen Pharmacy (20 May, tickets on Eventbrite). Before you say anything, no, it’s not some scally teaching you how to make the best meth in the Northwest with nothing but some out-of-date cream of tartar and an apple corer; it’s a workshop about making home remedies and learning the medicinal values of food instead.

Usually we’d take a leisurely stroll through the remaining epicurean goings-on, but we’ll step it up a gear (and mix our metaphors) to get through some openings and other tidbits. Speaking of Epicurean, there’s a new beer shop on Burton Road in the well-to-do suburb of West Didsbury called just that (@EpicureanThe). Elsewhere, Season Eatings, one of the best nascent supper clubs in Manchester, are cooking at the Northern Quarter’s Fig and Sparrow on 16 May. If tickets are sold out, keep an eye on their Twitter feed (@seasoneatmcr) for cancellations and upcoming events. And, lastly, we thought we’d mention a couple of awareness days in May that people almost certainly won’t be familiar with: Eat What You Want Day (11 May), which seems a tad insensitive to us (what if you’re allergic to or unable to procure a certain foodstuff, huh?); and National Escargot Day (24 May), when you can, like any other day, choose to eat pulmonate gastropod molluscs aka ‘snails’. Bon appétit.