Lost Weekend (Sept 6-8)

Confidentials 5 September 2013

Austerity bites
YOU might not be a celebrity in the Australian outback, but who says you can't still down a cockroach cocktail with the best of them?

And what's wrong with that? Did you know that the pink food colouring used in icing and marshmallows is made from cochineal bugs and the delicious honey we spread on our toast is little more than bee vomit?

Mmmm. Lush.

Liverpool John Moores University and TV chef Stefan Gates will be bringing edible grubs and bugs to Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, which launches this weeekend in Sefton Park.

Stefan Gates: What doesn't
kill you etcThey will be joining Lunya, Bistro Qui and the Creepy Crawly Show in a new ‘what’s bugging?’ themed area, designed to highlight one of the food industry’s most current issues (it says here) - entomophagy, or eating insects.

Gates will be bringing his Incredible Edible Insects Show - "a mind blowing exploration of insect eating" with live bugs, demos, video clips and tasters of some delicious pests. He will also be bringing along his live cricket farm and offering tasters of smoky bacon mealworms, while mixing up some delicious purple bug blood drinks.

Students and staff from Liverpool John Moores University will be demonstrating recipes that incorporate bugs, "which anybody can cook at home".

Lunya will preparing a bug paella, while Bistro Qui will be demonstrating how to cook the legs of frogs (which aren't bugs, people).

Drew Li, Subject Head of Tourism, Events and Food Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, said: “We look at whether eating insects could be the solution to the world food crisis, as well as examining whether eating insects could ever be quite as acceptable in the western world as it is in other cultures. In Cambodia, for example, it’s quite normal to eat tarantulas and in Thailand they deep fry crickets.

“There are huge benefits to eating insects, they’re naturally sustainable, easy to farm and highly nutritious.”

If you are a pathetic wimp and draw the line at putting wriggly things in your mouth, there are lots of other areas to explore at Liverpool Food and Drink Festival event over the weekend.

A heavenly chocolate garden, a street food zone and a seafood emporium to an interactive children’s zone, an edible garden and a pop-up restaurant. TV chefs, Gizzi Erskine, Levi Roots, Aiden Byrne, Shelina Permalloo and Nisha Katona will also be joining more than 160 local chefs to serve up a giant feast in the heart of Sefton Park.

Liverpool Food and Drink festival launch weekend, Sefton Park, Saturday-Sunday Sept 7-8, noon-6pm. Tickets start from £5 online and entry is free for children (under 14). Visit here for further details.

All Together Now
THE Farm headline the Stanley Park Festival this Sunday.

Their appearance comes at the end of seven hours of free live music from a stage curated by the Liverpool International Music Festival and children from Everton Free School.

The FarmThe full line-up for the stage in Anfield is: Latin music ensemble Wara. Veyu, winners of the Merseyrail Sound Station competition (what?). Natalie McCool; The UD Vocal Collective featuring Terri Walker; Ian Prowse; Natty; Tea Street Band; The Farm.

In addition to the live music, the festival will also include a fun fair and a Family Zone with free activities including, a petting zoo and an assault course, food stalls and an area offering advice and support for the local community.

*Stanley Park Festival featuring The Farm, ian Prowse etc, Stanley Park, Anfield, Sunday Sept 8, noon-6pm, free.

Cheap dates
YOU could be quids in for classics and culture when you visit the Liverpool Philharmonic Box Office this Sunday.

For the Hope Street venue is issuing 1,000 concert tickets for just £1 – and that means dosh for a chippy tea or a couple of bevvies afterwards.

Ten events are on offer, ranging from performances by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, to the spectacular Joy Division re-imagining Live Transmission, a stellar folk line-up for Bright Phoebus Revisited and more.

But don't think you can shlep around the house and buy them online or call up. Tickets must be purchase in person from the Phil box office with your loose coins, no cards.

It's sociable, it shows your commitment.

'Hello, is this where I come
for concert tickets for a quid? Just 100 tickets per event are available for the following events.