By Ninder Kaur
Gennaro Contaldo, the highly regarded Italian chef arrived in Bradford on Friday for Bradford’s first ever Food and Drink Festival.
The top television chef, who has worked in some of London’s most popular restaurants such as Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant, prepared four pasta dishes during a live demonstration to a packed out audience.
The organisers, Bradford Council’s Markets Service, were working with local businesses and Jamie’s Ministry of Food, to bring a wide range of high quality locally produced goods, mouth-watering street food and drink as well as exciting street entertainment to the festival. The festival was being designed to complement the great food offering already in Oastler Market – cheese, meats, fresh spices and exotic fruits as well as the new bars and venues which have opened in the Independent Quarter.
The Bradford Council-run event featured around 50 stalls, with guest appearances from renowned Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo, Coronation Street actor turned award winning cheese maker Sean Wilson, Great British Bake-Off contestant Sandy Docherty, as well as other local food professionals.
The event also marked the sixth birthday of Jamie’s Ministry of Food in Bradford, the community-based cooking programme.
Gennaro said: “Its is incredibly important to have projects like the Ministry of Food. It is a project that we do with the love and passion of food. We opened the Ministry of Food to make people understand how important it is to eat well and if you eat well you will live well. Everything is in season and it’s so cheap. We will teach you how to cook and eat healthy foods.
Asking whether he would be returning to Bradford, Gennaro added:” Of course. I love it. I am going to come back again and again and again. I find this city incredible, full of love and passion.”
Diana Greenwood, Markets Promotions and Marketing officer at Bradford Council, added: “We’ve had an amazing response to the Bradford Food and Drink Festival.”
