Visit Lancashire

Lancaster Dinner Delight

Although it snowed yet again on Tuesday evening, the Waterwitch in Lancaster was bursting at the seams as diners made their way to the first Lancaster HotShot event. Head chef Craig Johnson had been busy all day preparing a sumptuous menu and on the drive there I still couldn’t decide which dishes to try – they all sounded so good.

Schools Out!

Schools Out! It was raining and my Sister and I had 3 bored Children to entertain on Monday... I suggested a visit to Farmer Ted’s Farm Park on the B5195 between Ormskirk and Formby as working for Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board I was aware of the awards they had won and the developments that had taken place over the last few years.

Ghostly Goings on at Gawthorpe

On Saturday 13^th February there were some famous ghost hunting visitors to Gawthorpe Hall.  Yvette Fielding and her team of intrepid ghost hunters came to do a 2 hour live show of Most Haunted to see what spirits, phantoms and ghostly presences they could find in the panelling and stonework of this 400 year old building.

La Clique

I was lucky enough to be invited to the preview of La Clique, which is part of the Showzam! festival taking place in Blackpool during February 2010. Not quite sure what to expect and having seen many circuses in the past, I sat down in the beautiful setting of the Blackpool Tower Circus Arena and hoped to be impressed. Boy, was I impressed! Absolutely amazing from start to finish is the only way I can describe it.

Embarking on a journey through Lancaster

Armed with a newly printed trail map, my wits and an army of loyal tourist board members, I set forth to try out the new Lancaster Heritage themed Treasure Trail – a heritage themed walking trail through the city of Lancaster with clues to solve along the way.......

Obsession Cookbook

Well, the 10 day marathon that is Obsession 2010 has come to an end for another year. The event finished last night with Northcote’s own Nigel Haworth stepping up to the plate with his  “phenomenal blend of textures and mouth-watering flavours”, to quote one of the diners and the wine which accompanied the rhubarb dessert got a real thumbs up – “the wine was perfectly chosen as its bouquet resembled rhubarb”!

The good news is that while you’re waiting until next year’s fabulous festival, Obsession lives on in the Obsession Cookbook. Featuring the original Obsession dishes as well as easy to cook at home recipes from talents such as Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux junior and Angela Hartnett, the Obsession Cookbook celebrates all things passionate about cooking. The book of over 100 recipes is on sale on Northcote’s website at a price of £35.

A Fairlie French Obsession

Having been in the kitchen from 8 in the morning, I think Andrew Fairlie, the chef from Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, was glad of the short break our interview gave him! Andrew has been on Nigel’s hitlist for nine years and only now has he been able to work a trip to Obsession into his own busy schedule, due to the extension of the Festival dates into February.

Something fishy’s going on at Obsession...

Last night it was the turn of Jacob Jan Boerma to take centre stage at Northcote’s Obsession 10 event. Another international guest chef, Jacob comes from the Restaurant De Leest in the Netherlands which has 2 Michelin stars.

Jacob says he is very honoured to be invited to this event. “This is a good opportunity to show the people the style of our kitchen and the way of cooking in The Netherlands. I think it is also important to learn from this event and maybe some day we can hold an event like this in The Netherlands.”

Obsession 10 in Pictures

This gallery, of a week in the kitchen at Northcote during Obsession 10, is representative of a wide range of images taken throughout the festival by photographer Allen Markey. This year the festival continues until February 3 – a ten day celebration, marking a decade of Obsession.  Reproduced as part of the visitlancashire Blog,  by kind permission of Allen and Northcote. For contact details or more information about Northcote Northcote.