Fiesta! Fiesta!

...today's the day of fiesta! As Joyce Grenfell once sang. It wasn't so much a fiesta as a food festival on the South Bank, and it was on Saturday 20th September rather than today, but what is such poetic liberty between friends?

HG drew this one to my attention and endured the Saturday crowds with me, despite food not being her number one entertainment. A good friend indeed. We began by ogling the cake stalls, then moved round the back of the Hayward, following round curry stalls, a kids fun! tent, rustic-looking fruit and veggies, coffee, ice cream, oyster mushroom sandwiches, cooking demonstrations, chorizo hot dogs and much more.

'Mushroom Table' had the smart idea to write 'Vegetarian friendly' on a blackboard, the advertising proved itself by the queue that ran away from the stall. Unhappily, the queue didn't move for five or ten minutes, so I left HG in the unexpectedly hot sunshine and foraged for something to complement a cold. I had had the remainder of a potato and onion curry for breakfast, so erred on the side of protein and delighted in 'butter chicken and rice' from a nice curry man whose company name I forget. I blame the cold.

The nice curry man only had four dishes on the menu, which was perfect: two starter-type dishes (one chana chat, another pancake-like which I vaguely recall utilised sweet potato) for around £3-4, a vegetarian green curry with coconut sauce (£5) and the butter chicken at £6. Yes Mother, it was extravagant to chose the most expensive. Happily, the very beautiful, pale sauce was spicier than I anticipated, which was very welcome: about six choice pieces of chicken in the mouth-tingling sauce, with a small cup (timbale?) of rice moulded next to it, was the perfect amount. I even loved the plate, which looked eco-happy and made of cardboard or somesuch. I don't like photographs of myself, especially when ill, but these show how happy the food was so I make an exception!

Back at the mushroom stall, run by two super-laid back dudes, the queue had progressed a little, thanks to one of the dudes returning with 'refreshments' (ale) for the two of them. With two people on board, the cleaning, chopping and frying of some frankly amazing-looking fungi continued and a few more people were fed. It must be good food to keep the punters there, despite the wait. HG finally joined me with her mushroom 'burger' and despite not being a fan of mushrooms 'if they taste too much like mushrooms' she was pretty enthusiastic about her lunch. It consisted of a chewy, crusty, white baguette filled with fried oyster mushrooms, into which a generous amount of green herb mix had been added, with parmesan shaved freeform over the top. It didn't taste at all of garlic and was in lots of oil or butter. My verdict: 'bluddy yums'. HG commented approvingly that it was 'not slimy', from which I understand that she meant the mushrooms weren't overcooked - indeed, had quite a nice bite to them.

Purchases of cooking apples (HG, for a crumble) and a pumpkin (me, for goodness knows what) made, we headed back to the cakes. HG and I bought matching chocolate cupcakes with a blackberry decoration from an utterly charming stall - The Cupcake Boutique - with a sweet lady who let me take this photo. HG and I agreed that we have made better cakes ourselves, these being unfortunately dry (perhaps being out on a hot day?), but ate every last bit appreciatively and, perhaps, with a slight smug superiority.

No doubt the pumpkin will taste all the better for having been carried round all day, and on to the theatre in the evening! Note to self: I have never had churros and chocolate... do this at the next opportunity!