I’ve tasted my way around West Yorkshire’s free festivals – and Leeds West Indian Carnival is next
In his latest column, Danny shares his favourite free festivals with the best grub
You can find some of the best food and drink at free community festivals.
There’s nothing like breaking bread to bring people together and West Yorkshire has some banging festivals.
We’ve got Leeds West Indian Carnival coming up, and next year it will celebrate its 60th Jubilee Year. If you want to taste some amazing grub from local people and traders you can grab it in and around Potternewton Park - from jerk chicken to curried goat and fried plantain.
Even just walking around the park on Bank Holiday Monday will give you aromas like no other.
Last weekend, I took my van down to Leeds Road Festival in Bradford and Wakefield Mela to show my support.
West Yorkshire’s food scene really was the making of me, and the food just keeps getting better. I had some amazing food from Jinnah’s which has bases in Bradford and Leeds.
I tried their Tak Tak kebab and then their sweet Jalebi for dessert which was bang on. Jalebi reminded me of pretzel-shaped baklava. The wheat flour batter had been deep-fried before being soaked in a warm sugary syrup of saffron and cardamom.
I also tried Rani’s, one of the smaller stalls which specialises in samosas - and I can see why. They’re huge, super crispy and packed full of flavour.
I also had my first taste of Falooda, which was a pink dessert of rose syrup, thin vermicelli noodles, and milk, finished with sugar. I’d definitely have it again.
A huge surprise on the day was trying cheesecake made in Heckmondwike. A lovely guy from the West Yorkshire bakery - The Baker Boy - asked me to try his San Sebastián Cheesecakes that he and his brother bake.
It’s a small, family-run business, so although I had stuffed my face already, I do have a soft spot for small businesses where there’s so much passion.
Fortunately, I also have a sweet tooth so I can always find a pocket of room for a dessert despite already having indulged.
Wow, I’m so glad I did. This was quite probably the best vanilla cheesecake I’ve ever had.
I had it with different toppings, including Kinder and a raspberry ripple. The day after, I visited Wakefield Mela at Thornes Park with my van. I could barely move from the van because there were so many fans who wanted photos, but I did try Tikka Tacos UK.
It’s a Pakistani-Mexican fusion street food van. The owner brought me a butter chicken taco and a keema taco.
I’ve not had anything quite like it.
The taco was crispy and filled with chicken and a buttery coconut milk. The tacos came with a fresh garnish of cucumber, tomatoes, onion and mango. They were a solid 10.