Ravioli, White Truffle Shavings and Spicy Thai Salads at the Taste of London Food Festival in London - Part Two

Let’s jump right back into it, shall we? Taste of London, Part Two. Where were we?

After sipping on our lovely cocktails from Mahiki we were ready to try a few other stands, and started of with Propercorn‘s stand. Propercorn pride themselves for making healthy guilt-free and deliciously flavored popcorn.For those of you who know me, you know how much I love popcorn. I pop it in the microwave and then I pop it in my mouth. Repeatedly, over and over again. 

So when I saw the Propercorn stand, I dragged Julie by the arm and we headed over. I wanted to be polite so I only took a handful of popcorn and popped it in my mouth, but when I tasted how delicious they taste, I went in for seconds, apologetically explaining the two ladies behind the stand how much I love popcorn (as if it made it okay to grab seconds, tsk tsk).

While I was munching away, Julie explained to the ladies that it was our first time at Taste, how much we loved it, and how we just started a blog. The lovely ladies were super interested and asked us for our business cards to see if we can further discuss this, which (obviously) we did not have, so we said we’d find them somehow.

Anywho, so back to their popcorn.Propercorn was offering popcorn with flavours such as lightly sea salted popcorn, sour cream & chive, fiery Worcester sauce & sun-dried tomatoes, sweet & salty, and sweet coconut & vanilla. All of their popcorn servings are under 150 kcals, they’re gluten & wheat free and suitable for vegetarians! Win-win! It was very difficult for me to decide which I liked the most, so I kept testing them more and more. After all, I did want to give you guys a honest verdict on my favourites, and so here goes: I was torn between the salty sour cream & chive and the sweetness of the sweet coconut & vanilla.If you’re tempted to try Propercorn’s treats, look no further and clickidy click here. I know I am going to be ordering up a storm soon enough!

So after that delicious snack, we licked our lips of the last bit of the flavours and continued our journey of food heaven.

We trekked in the direction of the Taste of Thailand area of the event, but Julie got distracted byGiovanni Rana’s ‘Ravioli Di Verona’ stand.

Look at that euphoric face!
The raviolis were deliciously creamy and cooked to al dente perfection. Check out the other products that Giovanni Rana offers. They have other ravioli flavoured with prosciutto, mushrooms, artichokes and lots and lots of cheese. Mhmmmm.Okay, onwards with the trek!We finally got to the Taste of Thailand area and boy, were we excited! Growing up in Thailand, Julie and I have been exposed to some of the best and most flavourful dishes and it has not been easy to find the dishes or the similar flavours of these traditional foods abroad.But we were yet to be impressed!

I had a quick look at the menu and we knew what we wanted.Psst, for you fashion oriented folks, you may or may not have noticed that I changed my shoes halfway through this journey. Unfortunately my heels were not pairing well with the park floor, so thankfully I had some sandals in my bag. Here I am wearing River Island’s pink gem stone sandals.

Julie rushed over to her Rosa’s stand and the lovely Thai lady behind the stand whipped up her spicy som tum papaya salad in no time.

We asked for extra spicy, as that is what we are used to, but we may have asked for too much!

Just look at those vibrant delicious ingredients. Som tum is a traditional Thai dish made with green papayas (sometimes with green mango) carrots,  green beans, tomatoes, sometimes dried shrimp, and chilli. Lots and lots of it. With a dash of fish sauce, handful of peanuts and a hint of sugar. It is pure deliciousness. 

In Thailand we used to have som tum with sticky rice and fried chicken and would munch away happily by the beach with sand in our toes and the sun in our hair…Okay, I am getting sidetracked! Back to food.As Julie was cooling off her spicey burn with some coconut water, I went for the spicy minced chicken patties with Thai herbs, which were fresh out of the fryer, so super duper hot. Still, I could not resist and below you can see some of the facial expressions I may or may not have made while trying to eat these delicious babies.

The beginning.

The first bite: (it’s hot hot hot!).

And last and not least: the keeper.

We walked around the Taste of Thailand a bit more, taking in the smells, the dishes, the people, the language and we felt a bit homesick.But! We would not spend our time moping around feeling nostalgic and so we went onwards to discover more, and Julie soon perked up when she smelled truffles.That gal is nuts for a good truffle! So she went nuts for Tartufo stand’s  Super Light Truffle Tortellini – liquid Parmesan, mascarpone cream, fresh walnut topped with summer truffles.

Look at those truffle shavings.

While Julie was munching on the truffles, I went to Gaucho’s stand and went for the good stuff: churrasco de chorizo, spiral cut, marinated for 48 hours in garlic, parsley, aji molido and olive oil and served with humita stuffed baby red pepper.

Which I quickly devoured, graciously. Oh well! We’re far from perfect and we’re only human  right?
Of course after all this eating, we were very, very thirsty. And tired. We needed to rest our legs. We plotted over to the Duck &Waffle and SushiSamba bar and ordered up our drinks and sat our bums down.

Julie went with the Kaffirinha, cahaca churned with lime & sugar, infused with fresh kaffir lime leaves, and I went for the Lychee Cooler, vodka, lychee juice and elderflower.I dug around in my drink first thing and fished out my lychee.

Just as I was about to enjoy the sweetness of it, I look to my right and see Julie looking at me. 

Her look says it all. “What are you doing?!”So I decided to give her a little tickle with my bamboo leaf that was decorating my drink.

Giggles and tickles aside, we happily sipped away and people watched and listened to the latino music that was playing.

Part Three of Taste of London will come soon! I hope you enjoyed the food experiences so far.

Love,

Rosalina