Nourish Awards 2018
What girl doesn't love the chance to put on a fancy dress for the night!
If, like me, you spend a lot of time in trainers and a hoody it can make a nice change to get dressed up for a gala evening so that's exactly what I did last Friday when I attended the first Nourish Awards held at Cheltenham Racecourse.The awards were the climax of all the behind the scenes work the team at Nourish did this year to create the UKs first healthy food and drink awards where entries needed to be free from gluten, refined sugar, dairy and avoiding artificial sweeteners, flavours etc.. That is no mean feat and these type of foods are not only healthier for us and our children but they eliminate potential allergens for many people such as coeliacs who need to avoid gluten. There were also categories for vegans and some others classifications too including ethical and innovative products.
Earlier in the year I was part of the judging panel where I spent a day tasting a variety of entries in several categories. What could be nicer than getting to eat delicious paleo cakes, protein bars and shakes, gluten free breads and so much more.What a lucky girl I was!I got to eat "beauty cake" that had added collagen to keep you looking young ... I had some "crickets" in a protein bar that contained cricket flour instead of other protein powders and a whole bunch of other food and drink delights.Some entries weren't so good and it was really interesting how when you do blind tasting and know nothing about the producer, with no details of packaging etc how it can make a difference as you really have to taste the food and judge it on the criteria listed. Sometimes you knew straight away which entry would win a category but sometimes it was much harder.What was lovely about the Gala awards was meeting the people behind the brands including more mainstream people you may already have heard of such as Pulsin as well as discovering new brands such as Pure grain bread who make a delicious gluten free bread, HunterGatherUk who use avocado oil for mayonnaise and more, Pep & Lekker who have produced some delicious crackers, SweetRev who have a lovely tumeric latte and many more producers including the TumericCo whose turmeric shots are delicious. It was a great chance to meet up with some industry folk I've not seen for a while including one of the sponsors Fiona Scott and the food we were treated to at the event was delicious :)
It was the stories behind why people had started their companies and the PASSION that they all had which was so inspiring. Some producers were less than 12 months old and some were hitting the 10 year mark and they all shared their beliefs in the importance of what they were offering customers which was so refreshing to see when we are bombarded with adverts for the big players in the industry on TV and other media, bigger companies that perhaps don't really care about the health of the nation and the planet but more about money.Another bonus of going to the awards was meeting the charismatic Naomi Devlin who was a magnificent host for the evening and a passionate advocate of gut health. As a coeliac Naomi has written several gluten free cook books and teaches at River Cottage. Her fascination with gut heath reminded and inspired me to buy some Kefir and Kombucha at the health food shop.GUT HEALTHMilk Kefir is something I do buy on and off but not religiously, and you can get goats milk kefir as well as cows milk, infact it was a goats Kefir produced by Mount Olympus Pure Foods that won an award -it tastes amazing, I highly recommend you try it ( I found the lemon flavour one in my local health food shop).
Here is a little science about Kefir that you may find interesting in particular how it differs to yoghurt (I took from the Mount Olympus website).Kefir is a fermented probiotic drink similar in taste and texture to drinking yoghurt and milk fermented with kefir cultures. Originating 2000 years ago in the Caucasus mountains, where many people live much longer than 100 years. Kefir has been linked with a long list of health benefits like vitamins, Minerals, Amino acids, enzymes, probiotics to mention a few.Probiotics, which literally means “beneficial for life,” are live cultures that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Kefir contains Billions of live active bacteria and dozens of different strains. The enzymes found in Kefir can colonize the colon and help the digestion of other foods, not only of kefir. The kefir contains yeasts bacilli unlike yogurt yeasts permitting the destruction of other harmful bacilli in the intestine and also has the property of adhering to the intestinal wall, creating a sort of barrier.So there you go that is Kefir and now to Kombucha...Kombuca is a fermented tea – so although it’s sweetened the sugar is consumed by the bacteria, leaving the end product extremely low in sugar, or as in the case of Lo Bros kombucha, virtually sugar free. If you buy Kombucha be sure to check it is unpasteurised so the beneficial bacteria for gut health are still present. Unlike Kefir it contains caffeine so not so good for kids!One product I'd not heard of was the raw sauces made by "The Saucy Affair" whose play on words is brilliant. The guys were on my table so I got a chance to chat to them and even got some samples to try - so far I've had "beetroot cahoot" (because it was pink!) with salad and I've also enjoyed some chicken breasts with "Fiery fiasco". Next on my list is to try the award winning "Smokey Cokey" which I'm going to try with some meat balls - yum!
So in summary well done to all the entrants and the winners and most importantly to Diana who was the driving force behind this event. I'm looking forward to next year already!