I left off last week on the stand of
a Finnish manufacturer on the top floor of the exhibition in Düsseldorf. I
thought his contraption fabulous and bought one for myself (and it has indeed
turned out to be a great system), but also realized it was just too ‘rural’ for
most people in UK. So he sent me downstairs to another company’s stand, which
is where I found what I was looking for: a unique-patterned enamelled gas
burner, and cast iron griddles of all
shapes and sizes, from Spain. So these were what we started with, before
graduating to our own designs. The BBC Good Food Show was the first smart
(& of course frighteningly expensive) venue, before starting the camping
shows and rallies. The goods were ordered well in time, and delivered to NEC
the day prior to opening - and to my horror the griddles were the next
size down, too small! 2 pallets of them! We survived. Of course the most
popular event on the stand was a demonstration by a dark-eyed Spanish lass
cooking a ‘genuine’ paella and handing it out to taste. (Health ‘n Safety
weren’t too concerned in those days). And here’s a little secret: this
‘dark-eyed Spanish lass’ was actually the daughter of the owner of the factory
making the gas burners, her daytime job being Commercial Director, and she
revealed to me afterwards that she had never cooked a paella in her life! She
could have fooled me (& did).
Next week I’ll bring Lisa back on
stage!
Product news this week is very
simple: when the sun comes out this week end, as forecast, make sure you’re not
left stranded without a Beauclaire. We’ve made buying extremely flexible by
offering not only the four options of sets (click on ‘sets’) but also every
product
separately so you can buy the basics
on a low budget, then build at a later date.
For
Cooking on the Move it’s got to be a Beauclaire
See you next week. Robin
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