While the bearded and sandals image of CAMRAs Great British Beer Festival does have a grounding in reality this year the organisers are targeting a more niche ale-drinking segment of society – women!

Melissa Cole is to host a series of walking tours through the festival exclusively for women attending the Earls Court Show. Melissa will bring her expert knowledge to the fore by talking through the various beers styles available around the show.

“The range of brews on show is truly exceptional and all beer styles are covered – including golden ales, milds, bitters, stouts, barley wines and porters – and Melissa’s walks will take you through as many of the different beer styles at the festival as possible, explaining their flavours & attributes, whilst answering any questions you may have and throwing in a little bit of history & trivia along the way.

CAMRA is inviting women who haven’t tried real ale before or are inexperienced real ale drinkers to contact us if they would like to come on this beer voyage at the Great British Beer Festival.”

The walks are scheduled for:

Tuesday 5 August 6.30pm
Wednesday 6 August 6.30pm and 7.45pm
Thursday 7 August 6.30pm and 7.45pm
Friday 8 August 6.30pm and 7.45pm

The Great British Beer Festival is run by CAMRA every year at Earls Court in London around 400 real ales are on offer over the five day period from August 5th – 9th.

Following its success in 2007, Covent Garden will once again be revisiting its heritage as the original ‘larder of London’ with London’s only night market.

An array of stalls will transform the Piazza into a foodie paradise this summer with many of the UK’s finest traders including appearing including Spore Boys, The Ginger Pig and Primrose Bakery.

They haven’t revealed the names but expect the attendance of several ‘celebrity chefs’ in the ‘kitchen theatres’ (a first apparently on a public square). Each will be cooking exciting dishes prepared from fresh produce taken directly from the market stalls. A different session will be hosted each week; giving alfresco diners the opportunity to pick up some culinary tips from the professionals and take away some of the best quality fare in London.

The night markets start on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of August and continue for every Thursday and Friday of the month with the “Kitchen Theatres” happening every Friday at 7pm. The market itself is open from 3pm until 9pm.

Photo from I Am Jae’s photostream

Do I remain the only person in the foodie-world who hasn’t visited London’s Borough Market?

With the launch of the Definitive guide to London Borough Market stalls online it would seem I no longer have to! OK, so the atmosphere is not quite the same, the chance to sample isn’t there and the aromas are certainly different but I now have a list of all those stalls that also sell via the wonders of the internet.

The list is quite substantial ranging from The Cool Chili Company and Denhay Farms through to Portuguese specialist Rainha Santa and the Feng Sushi Japanese people.

If you enjoyed the travels of James May and Oz Clarke as they trundled through the French and then the Californian wine-lands you may be interested to learn that a new series is soon to appear.

A little different this time as the duo are covering Britain (did the budget run out for more exotic travel?). They will be traversing the nation hunting for authentic drinks and produce – which includes cider, bitter, wine and, bizarrely, milk!

Sadly that is all the details I have. No word on broadcast dates or anything! We shall just have to wait.

Bake a cake during the summer break! Get your aprons on because UKTV Food wants your favourite cake recipes.

If your cake passes muster then they will make your cake on Market Kitchen and you’ll win a fantastic Kenwood Chef!

We’re looking for original cake recipes – your own creation or a family favourite passed down the generations. Because of copyright laws we can’t accept any recipes that are not owned by you.

From classic sponges to dainty cupcakes, fruity celebration cakes, and cream-laden gateau – we’re looking for those recipes that are important to you. For this competition, our definition of cake is a broad one – baked, sweet, and including sponge in some form, with or without icing and toppings.

Traybakes, although delicious aren’t what we’re looking for on this occasion – so holdback on sending in recipes for flapjacks, millionaire’s shortbread, and goodies of this ilk. Same goes for Danish pastries, cookies and confectionery.”

More rules and entry form on the UKTV website.