Food News – October 2011

TV personalities, science, and Germans all feature in this month's food news round-up

Feature by Peter Simpson | 03 Oct 2011

October is another month, and it brings with it another over-sized food market-cum-exhibition in the form of the BBC's Good Food Scotland. Selling points for Good Food Scotland include a watertight indoor location, a line-up packed with people off of the telly such as Tom Kitchin and a litany of Masterchef contestants and judges, and a wide range of produce stands for you to circle like the vultures you are.

Speaking of Masterchef, John Torode (non-bald Australian judge) is hosting a science-based dinner party in Glasgow this month. You are not dreaming, this is a real event that is happening. A Taste of Science Dinner offers the chance to learn about science's role in high-falutin food, have a top-notch meal in a science museum, and ask John if he's seen that YouTube mash-up from a few months ago.

If overly-precise preparation of drinks is your thing, you're in luck. Cocktails in the City will have you making tasty cocktails under the watchful eye of Edinburgh's top mixologists. If you struggle to get mixed drinks to taste of anything other than tequila, the burning stares of grizzled bar staff should help you concentrate. All mistakes will, of course, be quaffable.

Not long ago this writer was mocked for a lack of familiarity with the wasabi pea. For the uninformed, they taste like caper-flavoured gravel but are apparently a legit pub snack. If you've ever met a similar situation, the Edinburgh New Town Cookery School's beer and food course can help avoid a repeat. Learn what beer goes with which food, appreciate the complexities of flavour and the human palate, and use this knowledge to make your friends and colleagues feel like the philistines for a change.

The timing couldn't be better as October brings with it Oktoberfest, the annual celebration of Lederhosen, oompah bands and unfeasibly large glasses. From fortnight-long beer festivals in Glencoe to cheese and beer tastings in St Andrews, Oktoberfest has a fair grip on Scotland this month. Grab some friends, some culturally-insensitive headgear and a brass instrument, and get involved. We'll see you back here next month.

BBC Good Food Scotland, 21-23 Oct, SECC, tickets from £16.50; Taste of Science Dinner, 20 Oct, Glasgow Science Centre, £60; Cocktails in The City, 26 Oct, Mansfield Traquair, Edinburgh, £15 (inc. 3 cocktails); Beer and Food Course, 11 Oct, Edinburgh New Town Cookery School, £35; Oktoberfest Cheese and Beer evening, 14 Oct, Guid Cheese Shop, St Andrews, £20; Octoberfest, 14-29 Oct, Clachaig Inn, Glencoe