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When in England, dessert would mean, cakes and smoothies and not my good old Ladoo or Jalebi. That's perfectly alright and I love them too. The difficult part is getting something vegetarian. I don't eat meat or egg and most desserts here, have egg!!! However there's also a huge awareness and trend on food that's vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, sugar free etc. Recently at a Christmas Food Fest, I had my tummy full gluttony!!!
When in England, dessert would mean, cakes and smoothies and not my good old Ladoo or Jalebi. That's perfectly alright and I love them too. The difficult part is getting something vegetarian. I don't eat meat or egg and most desserts here, have egg!!! However there's also a huge awareness and trend on food that's vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, sugar free etc. Recently at a Christmas Food Fest, I had my tummy full gluttony!!!
Anything incl bread or roti, with chocolate spread is yummy. Here was a brand called JimJam which produces Hazelnut spread from Belgium. It is so much more softer than regular spreads and less sugary, but more chocolaty. Best part - gluten free, no added sugar!
The only type of cereals that I've had and can tolerate is Chocos that I have with raisins & dry fruits! Here I found this brand called Alara which has several varieties of breakfast cereals, some that are organic, some gluten free, some nut free, some vegan and a lot more! One that caught my attention was Fruit, Seed & Spice version that has Oats, Sultanas, Sunflower seeds, linseeds, dates, dried bananas, dried apricots, dried apples and more. That's kinda my favourite combo with raisins & dry fruits. However personally I might have to add sugar or chocolate syrup in it, coz I find it a bit bland for my taste inspite of the mild sweetness of the dried fruits & sultanas.
Another super cool idea was this breakfast on the go called Nosh Super Brekkie. Its Yoghurt and a grain, either oats or quinoa with an assortment of fruits, honey etc. The one I tried had both Quinoa and Oats with Passionfruit & Mango in Greek Yoghurt. Its really really yum!!! And its really really filling too. Definitely a drink by around 8am keeps me from cravings upto 12:00noon. That's not bad for a drink!!!
The event had quite a few soft drinks & fruit juices too. One was of Jools. The concept of Jools is interesting. Its a mix of 2 flavours in a bottle. That's not new. What's new is they've found a way to keep both the flavours separate in the bottle and you mix it in you mouth when you drink it! One flavour is in liquid form. The other is made into pearls - a jelly like solid form. As you drink, you also bite into the pearls! Its 2 distinct flavours as you gulp it down, that's just awesome. Again, no added sugar, no gluten and no preservatives. This comes in 3 different flavours and my fav was Acai & Cranberry.
Another was of Wow Chia. This is a range of cold pressed fruit juices that have Chia seeds from Bolivia! Chia seeds are believed to have more protein than egg, more Omega 3 than salmon fish, and also has magnesium, calcium & iron with loads of fiber. They are vegan, without added sugar, artifical colors, preservatives or flavours. This comes in 4 flavours and my fav was Pinapple & Lemon.
Frill Smoothie, is a smoothie/icecream brand that I've fallen in love with. Its diary free, gluten free, sugar free with no artificial flavours or colors!!! They have 5 flavours and 1 sounded very unique to me called Refreshing Green which was a combo of spinach, celery, avacado and basil. That's like salad but in an icecream form was very intriguing and guess what I loved it!!! It also has a bit of mango, dates, apple, pineapple and macadamia nuts!
Cocoa by L was a brand of homemade chocolates again that are again completely Vegan. Most of their ingredients are organic and do not contain white sugar. The cocoa is ethically sourced from Peru. Also there was Berrywhite drinks which is into organic fruit juices that are still or fizzy! There were super snacks called Roasters by Dilly & Wolf. This is perfect for those late evening hunger pangs before dinner! During those pangs we end up eating some chips or biscuits. The idea here is to replace that with healthy snacks which are roasted peas & beans & seeds etc that are flavoured with salt & wasabi & coconut & soy & ginger & on & on & on. Each & every box was incredibly yummy!!!
Finally on the booze side, was Crafty Nectar. The beer comes in 500ml bottles. They are organic cidar and are made of Devon apples. I tasted the Mendip Hills Cider. The best part was inspite of the 6.8% alcohol content, the aroma was very lightly giving it away and the taste did not give it away at all!!! The taste was almost like a apple softdrink with a bit of fizz, reminding me much of Appy Fizz! Only after gulping it down, the alcohol's warmth shows up. It's dry and the after taste doesn't hurt the throad.
Finally on the booze side, was Crafty Nectar. The beer comes in 500ml bottles. They are organic cidar and are made of Devon apples. I tasted the Mendip Hills Cider. The best part was inspite of the 6.8% alcohol content, the aroma was very lightly giving it away and the taste did not give it away at all!!! The taste was almost like a apple softdrink with a bit of fizz, reminding me much of Appy Fizz! Only after gulping it down, the alcohol's warmth shows up. It's dry and the after taste doesn't hurt the throad.
P.S: Big thanks to Bloggers Hangout for this fabulous evening filled with fun & food!