Fresher's Fun

A big thank you to everyone who came along and took part in our Fresher's week activities!

On Tuesday we started the week off in style with a social at Oddfellow's pub. We were so pleased to see so many people turn up to come hear, see and most importantly taste what Slow Food is all about. Our event was so popular that we filled up the entire conservatory and the courtyard!

Oddfellow's out did themselves, yet again, serving up two tables worth of gorgeous food - from olives to pizza, BBQ chicken, and roast potatoes we were really spoilt for choice!

Then on Wednesday we stepped out on our Food Trail of Exeter. We explored all of Exeter's need-to-know Foodie hotspots. Starting out in Princesshay we visited Chandos Deli, who as well as serving scrumptious sandwiches also stock local brands - their motto is something we should all live by "great food, pure and simple." After exploring Chandos we then headed via the cathedral to the capital of all thing's sweet and cake-y: Cake-a-doodle-doo. Tearing ourselves away from the beautiful counter of cakes, we cut across town to Gandy Street to check out one of Exeter's newer foodie venues called Chococo. If you haven't already guessed Chococo is a Chocolate House (yes those exist!), all the chocolate is locally produced in Dorset and there's a super intriguing cafe lurking upstairs that the Slow Food committee are very excited to try out!    

After introducing the Freshers to the joys of Gandy Street, we then headed off to explore Exeter's Farmers Market. A haven filled to the brim with interesting local producers. As well as your usual assortment of fruit, vegetables, meat and fish there were many more intriguing offerings including beer from Exeter Brewery, coffee from Crankhouse coffee, a smoothie stall, assorted cheeses and an Indian chutney stall. The market can be found on the corner of South and Fore Street every Thursday between 9.00am and 2.00pm - so be sure to stop by!  

To round off our food tour we headed down to Exploding Bakery to grab a mid-day snack and a cup of seriously good coffee. The Bakery's recent expansion means it's sure to become a hotspot for student's searching for the perfect flat white to drink while they work. As well as the cake, which is made fresh on site, they serve Monmouth Coffee - meaning as well as being beyond tasty everything you can order is also locally sourced. 

We've all had so much fun meeting you all this Fresher's and we're excited to see you all again this Saturday in the Great Hall for the Fresher's Fair!  

A Very Foodie Christmas

Here at Slow Food on Campus we decided to kick the festive season off with a bang and how better to do so than with a buffet from the indomitable Oddfellows?

As everyone knows all (good) Christmas meals should begin with cocktails. 

Not ones to interfere with tradition we headed up to the 1920s speakeasy themed upstairs bar - which I wasn’t aware existed (could this be a Christmas miracle!?) - we happily picked our way through Cocktail menu. I personally chose a “Clover Field” (pictured above). This drink included: Beefeater gin, Martini Bianco, Lemon and Homemade Raspberry & Mint Syrup. It was really delicious - none of the flavours overpowered each other, there was just a pleasant light aniseed-y after taste. 

Also pictured is the impressive looking “Zombie!” I’m so sad that I didn’t try this, I was torn between it and the Clover Club but I was intimidated by the sheer number of ingredients - to be fair there were 17! The drink I had was great but this one came with fire. Next time I go I will definitely be trying this out. 

We all sat around and got to know each other. One of the best things about Slow Food get-togethers is the mix of old faces and new and the guarantee that they're all going to be just as obsessed with food as you are!

After finishing the cocktails we took our seats downstairs and dived straight into the buffet. Yet again Oddfellows out did themselves as we were treated to platter after platter of delicious morsels.

I (Lucy) hadn't really known what to expect from a buffet - as a vegetarian of more than a decade, my experience of Christmas buffets is standing over a sad-looking table, elbows out ready to defend the lone margherita pizza in a crowd of pepperonis to the death. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. This wasn't so much a buffet - more of an all-you-can-eat extravaganza but with really good, local food! 

There was traditional fare, a personal favourite were the slices of bacon wrapped around turkey and stuffing which came with a pot of beautiful gravy to dip them in. There were also mounds of roast potatoes for us to dive into - these were also dipped into the gravy!

The food just kept on coming. There were terrine-laden crostini, homecured salmon, piles of fresh bread with a huge dish of melting butter and a rather random salad that didn't seem to fit with the Christmas dinner theme but there you go! 

(I was very happy to be surrounded by all the food!)

I'd like to say that it was a rather civilised affair with everyone taking delicate morsels from the platters and slowly sampling all there was to offer.

Instead, we positively dived in, with plates and platters being passed around constantly and piles of food being shovelled onto plates (guilty!) We ate rather late and were all absolutely ravenous, especially after the cocktails! 

Nevertheless there was definitely enough to go around and we were all practically groaning in our chairs by the end of it all (oh the bread and butter...)

We finished the meal with a very moreish chocolate moose topped with a tasty raspberry coulis.

To our absolute delight, we were all presented with an individual portion (no more snatching from platters and elbowing others out of the way!) It was thick, rich and smothered in raspberries and chocolate drops (there's a joke to be made there but I just can't bring myself to do it...)

For the first time in my life, I (Lucy) couldn't finish a chocolate pudding and had to hand the honours over to my boyfriend (who is usually the dainty eater so I was more than a little surprised when he ate all of his and then polished off mine too!)

Finally completely and utterly satiated, we leant back and spent the rest of the evening chatting away around bottles of wine until the restaurant closed.

It was an absolutely brilliant evening and it was so lovely meeting more of our lovely members!

Merry Christmas to everyone and we look forward to all our new Slow Food adventures in 2016!

Dinner at Oddfellows

Last week we had our first restaurant social at an old Slow Food favourite, Oddfellows.

They pride themselves on crafting delicious meals from fresh, local ingredients and have recently started brewing their own beer too! Whilst none of us got round to trying any that night, we did conduct a rather thorough investigation of their menu; here's how we got on...

By 7:30pm, we were all sat down and ready to go! Our table was right next to the kitchen (this photo in fact was practically taken from inside the kitchen) so we could see everything that was going on. 

Sometimes open kitchens can detract from a night out; the clashing of pans and personalities can be a bit too noisy and make the evening feel stressful rather than fun. There is none of this at Oddfellows and so the open kitchen experience is quite an enjoyable one.

Most of us plumped for wine; there's a nice wide selection for those of you who know a thing or two about wine (not me...). There's even a Brut from Devon for those really looking to keep things local!

But now onto the food...

The Starters:

Top to bottom: 

Rabbit and smoked bacon bon bons, English mustard mayo and mustard cress (£6)

Pigeon breast, roasted beetroot, artichoke and red chard salad, honey & cider dressing (£5.50)

Celeriac soup, roasted garlic oil and crusty bread (£4.75)

As soon as the starters arrived, cutlery was seized in anticipation and those of us who hadn't ordered looked on in jealousy as the lucky ones tucked in.

Luckily though, it was soon our turn. The starters were polished off at an impressive speed (with many exclaims of delight in between) and soon we were getting ready for the next course...

The Mains:

From top to bottom:

Roasted cod with pommel puree, roasted tomatoes and mustard butter sauce (£15.50)

Fig, shallot and goat's cheese, rosemary polenta and Madeira dressing (£13)

Pan roasted duck breast, confit leg croquette, peach taste satin, sautéed kale and peach jus (£16)

Oven roasted venison loin, celeriac fondant, mini wild mushroom pie, heritage carrots and damson jus (£16.50)

The mains were even more delicious than the starters. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the mini wild mushroom pie that came with the venison but apart from that, the table pretty much fell silent apart from the sound of blissed-out munching.

I had the cod; the first mouthful was heavenly. It tasted like real comfort food with the roasted fish, the wonderful potato puree and the sauce adding that extra kick. However I do feel that the dish would have benefited from a little less potato and some extra vegetables in its place. There was a lot of potato to get through (don't worry, I did the job) and the flavours became a bit monotonic after a while, especially as there wasn't much sauce to go with the potato. I'd like to see a little more variety on my plate next time but I think this was just down to the dish in question as the meat dishes were much more creative.

My little niggles aside, it should probably be emphasised that as soon as the mains were over, absolutely everyone at the table who hadn't ordered a dessert then proceeded to do so.

The hero of the day was the white chocolate and vanilla panna cotta with elderflower poached raspberries and shortbread (£5.50):

Pretty much everybody had this (until the kitchen ran out! So sad!) and scraped their jars clean.

The flavours were brilliant and half of the texture was absolutely dreamy. I say half because the one I had hadn't settled too well - the top half was very luxurious and creamy whereas the bottom half was a bit gelatinous and almost grainy. Just a small thing though as I was more than satisfied by the smooth bit up top.

The other pudding chosen by our diners was the sticky toffee and ginger pudding with fudge sauce and vanilla ice-cream.

Again, Oddfellows really knows how to do comfort food - it was absolutely delicious!

In all, I think it's safe to say that Slow Food will be returning to Oddfellows. We had a brilliant night and made lots of new friends. The service was great and although we were a large table with plenty of demands throughout the night, everything was prompt and friendly.

Hope to see you next time!