Over the weekend The Great Wight Bite at Northwood House was subject to the vagaries of British weather patterns, although the sunshine did put in an appearance or two.
Sponsored by Red Funnel Ferries the event featured a number of food and drink stands,which for some could be enjoyed while listening and watching the musical acts perform on the music stage.
On the Chefs Stage, sponsored by Spence Willard, celebrity chef Valentine Warner was joined by local chefs with Chris Bavin and Helena Nicklin sharing the commentaries. Following each demonstration there was the chance to try, with a long queue forming to sample the “Royal’s” dishes including the well recommended souffle.
Sunday saw Isle of Wight West MP Richard Quigley’s stint gatecrashed by Red Funnel’s Captain Ted.
Meanwhile, young budding chefs were showing their prowess in the Little Chefs Den.
On the Masterclass Stage, sponsored by Mermaid, the public were able to learn from various food and drink experts.
Xav Baker, co-founder of the Isle of Wight Distillery, described the distilling process in making their range of gin, vodka and rum spirits.
Mermaid’s Sales Director Malcolm McClellan, outlined the journey the company had taken with their range of spirits. He maintained that presentation was key, citing the impact of their distinctive and iconic bottles made from genuine Venetian glass. For those listening there were samples of all the Mermaid spirits.
In fact, the Mermaid range started with whisky, not Gin, but they soon realised producing whisky was not without its problems. Ten years on, Wight Whisky have taken on the challenge in conjunction with Goddard’s Brewery and on the Wight Whisky stand there was the chance to taste before a purchase.
Nunwell Home Farm was offering their ” Braai” range of food- A South African BBQ concept. Currently Nunwell have a herd of 100 cows and the same number of home reared pigs. Barley is produced and sourced by Wight Whisky and Wight Knuckle Brewery, for their products. The food proved very popular and the Nunwell team were kept busy serving the selection of home produced food.
Event photos :
