Countdown to Foodival

Transition Town Tooting present our 6^th Foodival on the 28^th and 29^th September 2013, and this year’s two day event promises to be even bigger and better than the previous 5! 

Foodival is a celebration of local growing and cooking with a sustainable slant.  Even in the busy city environs of Tooting, many people are growing vegetables and fruits in their back gardens, allotments, in pots or on windowsills.  Foodival aims to show that locally grown food can be just as tasty and good for you as food imported from elsewhere, while of course having a much smaller carbon footprint.  We will showcase dishes with close to zero food miles. 

Competing Cooks

Foodival has always relied on donations of fruit and vegetables from local growers and this year is no different.  On Saturday 28^th Sept., at Mushkil Aasaan in Upper Tooting Road, volunteers will be accepting donations of any tasty Tooting fruit and veg from local people.  Local chefs and home cooks will then use all this lovely produce to create fabulous Tooting dishes while there will also be several professional cooking demonstrations using the donated food. 

Entrants to the cook’s competition (want to join the cook's here?) will take away fruit and veg to cook overnight for Sunday’s event at Tooting Market, vying to be crowned Top Tooting Cook. Local restaurants have also accepted the challenge to do likewise meaning that Sunday’s event will have a wide variety of Tooting food cooked up by Tooting people. All that’s needed is some Tooting Eaters to sample and enjoy the bounty!  Sunday in the market will have live music, comedy, local stalls, games with prizes, the cook’s competition and a wide variety of food to sample.  

Foodival is a free event for all the family.  Come along and enjoy the fun, 

For more information on Foodival 2013 or to get involved in any way, please contact Dave Mauger via foodivalttt@gmail.com

Cooks Wanted!

Can you cook a tasty vegetable dish?

As part of this year's Tooting Foodival, we are looking for talented home cooks and budding local chefs to share their culinary skills with other Tootingites. Could this be you?

We need volunteers to cook up a dish made from locally grown fruit and vegetables for our 6th Foodival, which will be held in Tooting over the weekend of 28th & 29th September 2013. We will provide you with home grown produce donated from the gardens of Tooting on Sat 28th, ask you to cook it in whatever way you please and then bring along your dish to Tooting Market on Sunday 29th for others to sample. The tastiest dishes will win prizes, with the winner crowned “Top Tooting Cook”.  It’s all in the name of fun, but also to show how locally grown, locally cooked food can be tastier and a whole lot healthier for you and for our environment.

Please call Mal if you are interested in taking part or in finding out more on 07980 611 704 or email : malsaraw@gmail.com

Foodival 2012 Film

Courtesy of our very own award-winning film maker Garry Samett, TTT is proud to release this awesome short film of Foodival 2012. A great memory of a very enjoyable event. Very cool Garry, thanks.

Wandsworth Guardian Coverage

Nice pics but a better report can be found at Tooting Online.  Meanwhile Thanks Gillian for sharing the Crafty Pint pics here

Foodival 5, A Great Success

A busy second day of Foodival was enjoyed by hundreds at Tooting Market today where food, fun, stalls, music and comedy made us all forget the bad weather outside.  The punters swarmed like Tooting bees to buy their Tooting £s to exchange for local Tooting delicacies made from yesterday's donated food.

We'll be adding to the slideshow below which includes pictures of the whole weekend's activities. 
Thanks to Lahore Karahi, Al Mirage, Ricks Restaurant, Pooja and Spice Village who all did Tooting proud with their amazing cooking.  Remember you can use your Tooting £s as a voucher to take advantage of special offers at these brilliant purveyors of culinary excellence!  (As long as it is stamped or ticked appropriately!).  Stalls meanwhile, included EcoPeace, Alizarin Wine, The Fabulous Felt Lady, Crafty Pint, S.M.A.R.T, Tooting Community Garden, Doddington Estate Roof Garden, Friends of the Earth, Streatham Cemetery Bees, Bottletop Magic and the Happiness Project.  Thanks also to our entertainers: we enjoyed music from Jonathan Buckley, Vince Burke, Giles Read and Larry Sparkle plus comedy from Sam Quinn.

Thanks lastly to everyone who helped out - many of you are in this photo. 

Roll on Foodival 6!

Together We Grow This!

Yes it is possible to grow rather attractive food not very far from the Upper Tooting Road!  A big thank you to all the growers who donated at today's event at Mushkil Aasaan.  And also a big thank you to local chef Volker Nissen for his fabulous cooking, turning unlikely looking ingredients into something delicious as if by magic right before our eyes.  Volker made a spicy beetroot soup, a marrow pasta and a pumpkin risotto - recipes please!

Don't miss tomorrow's second half of this annual food festival at Tooting Market from 12, where we can sample the homegrown Tooting produce cooked by local restaurants.  See you there.

Counting Down to Foodival

Transition Town Tooting has been running the Foodival since 2008, so this year is the 5th incarnation. Foodival connects local growers of vegetables and fruit to local restaurants and local people, aiming to tap into and share expertise around growing and making food as well as being a fun event for all the family. 

One of the key ideas behind the Foodival is that food in Tooting can be more sustainably produced.  Food grown and sourced locally has less of an impact on the planet with an almost negligible carbon footprint.  At next weekend's Foodival you will be able to eat a dish that has only travelled one or two "food miles" and then maybe on foot or the back of a bike! 

Don't forget to bring any fruit and veg that you can spare on Saturday.  You may even see your produce cooked on the spot by our Michelin background chef Volker!

On Sunday don't miss the chance to try locally grown food cooked by a variety of local restaurants while perusing the stalls and relaxing to an eclectic of musical and comedic entertainment at Tooting Market! 

Foodival 2012 promises to be even bigger and better (is that possible?) and we look forward to seeing you there.

A good haul for the Foodival

Jeni was busy out and about in Tooting today 'harvesting' buckets to decorate tomorrow night.

If you want to do some decorating come along to the Foodival Prop making evening at Mushkil Aasaan 222 Tooting High Street tomorrow from 7 -9 pm. We need all hands on deck to get these done and the banners - no previous artistic ability needed, just enthusiasm and old clothes.

Foodival 2012 Poster

Foodival 2012

This year's Foodival takes place over the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd September.  As in previous years we are looking for local gardeners and food growers to donate any surplus produce you can spare to be used by local chefs and restaurants to cook up delicious local food.  I am doing my best with out of control Rocket plants!

On Saturday 22nd we will collect food donations at Mushkil Aasaan between 11 and 4pm and as well as our familiar Restaurant Cook-up Challenge, this year we also have Pop-up cookery demonstrations from a local Michelin background chef.

On Sunday 23rd, the main event takes place in the wonderful 1930s Tooting Market from 12pm-4pm with free entry, free live music, activities for kids including recycled bottle-top art, competitions with recycled prizes and a heck of a lot of food tasting!                 David