HOLY PIEROGI

Logo: Liam Parker


I've been rather quiet on the blog for the past three months as I've been working on a new project.

Earlier this month I launched my new street food business, Holy Pierogi.

Hailing as a modern interpretation of traditional Polish street food, the idea was influenced from my time spent studying abroad in Poland. It was there that I fell in love with not only Polish food, but also the warming culture that surrounds it. Holy Pierogi allows me to give old recipes a contemporary approach by adding my own twists and fusions to classic or authentic Polish recipes.

The menu is seasonal and is therefore different between events and between the months. I work with locally established suppliers to guarantee the best quality product where possible.

With pierogi being the central appeal, there are always at least two types of savoury or sweet pierogi's available to try. Current seasonal concoctions include beer braised beef cheeks in horseradish and honey roasted sweet potato with goats cheese and thyme.

 

Photos: Whip Until Fluffy

Based in Leeds, I will be trading at street food events, markets and private functions in and around the city, but will be spreading to cities across the UK next year.

I'd like to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped me to finally get my own business up and running. It has been hard work but I can see from the success of the first event and the feedback received that it has definitely been worth doing.

Photo: Belgrave Music Hall

To keep up to date on where Holy Pierogi will be trading next you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or our website!

Photo: Leeds Indie Food

OUT AND ABOUT | MANJIT'S KITCHEN YELLOW HORSEBOX LAUNCH PARTY

Yesterday I went to a very special event indeed. The official launch of Manjit's Kitchen new yellow horsebox, a result of their successful Crowdfunder campaign earlier this year after a horrific turmoil involving their previous mobile which was vandalised and written off.

Their Crowdfunder wooed the hearts of many locals but also of many up and down the country. Becoming the proud owners of a blue horsebox, Manjit's Kitchen needed to raise funds in order to make it into a mobile Indian chaat station which they could use at events and to indeed make a living from.

Reaching their target in only a matter of days, Manjit's Kitchen then went on to transform their little blue horsebox into a spanking new mobile kitchen in around three months. Just see below for the before and after pictures.

(Photo: Manjit's Kitchen)

Celebrations of their new horsebox were ideally placed at the venue and vegetarian haven Wharf Chambers, Manjit's Kitchen teamed up with friends That Old Chestnut and The Grub & Grog Shop to offer a delectable feast. Matched with great beer and some musical vibes from Mr J it made for a gloriously sunny afternoon.

Tucking in with my friend Diane, we first launched into The Grub & Grog menu. With two options on the menu, we opted for both. First up was the Beetroot in Stout (£4) served with braised barley, malt oil, hop syrup, herb sauce and pickled carrot. Beautifully sticky and succulent wedges of beetroot on a seasoned bed of barley - real healthy feel good food. I loved the sauteed leeks and pickled carrot which garnished it too adding a sharpness to the dish.

Next up were the Courgette and Chilli Fritters (£3) served with herb sauce and malt. The chilli was subtle but the herb sauce enhanced the flavour. It was like a mixture of a salsa verde and a chimichurri, a real beaut!

Onto the main appeal of the day, I joined the winding queue at Manjit's Kitchen and waited in line for my food from their shiny new yellow horsebox! On top of their show-stopping chilli paneer wrap, they had an option of five different small dishes where you could mix and match three of them for £10. We went for the Samoosa Chaat, Avocado Pani Puri and the Watermelon Chaat (£10).

Being served up an amazing platter of vegetarian Indian delights, I'm never left unsatisfied by Manjit's food. It's always pleasingley fresh, homely and filling - but definitely not lacking in flavour. We devoured the meal in a matter of minutes. Samosa Chaat was indeed my favourite but then Chaat is perhaps to me the most delicious Indian food to exist, so slightly biased!

With one of my favourite bakers at hand, That Old Chestnut, I had to get a slice of what I will just say is the best ginger cake you will ever grace your mouth with. Their Sticky Stem Ginger Cake (£1.50) was as always a moist, spicy, and scoffable treat. So scoffable that it didn't even get a chance at seeing my camera lens!

It was an afternoon full of community cheer and high spirits, which is what to me street food is all about. Congratulations to Manjit's Kitchen and to what the future holds for them and their yellow horsebox!

OUT AND ABOUT | BRANDON STREET MARKET - JULY

Running since earlier this year, Brandon Street Night Market has become established on the Leeds street food scene as a monthly event offering street food, craft beers, live art and music at Canal Mills.

On the last Friday of every month, the venue becomes a space for independent street food traders to showcase their food to new crowds. It's only a ten minute walk from the city centre, entrance is free and it runs from 5-12pm.

Last Friday there was Pizzafella, Afrikhokho, El Kantina and Afsaneh's Persian Kitchen. An interesting mix of talented traders.

First up we met the lovely Chris from Afrikhokho. Alongside selling his chocolate delights from his stall, he was also making his very own chocolate and let us have a try of the chocolate during the conching process. An 85% South African dark chocolate was in the making and it tasted intense, deep and rich. It was really interesting to here about the procedures of chocolate making and the passion that Chris puts into his product.

We also got to try his Beetroot and Mustard Cake (£2.50) and a slice of Pistachio and Chocolate Fudge (£1.50). Everything was reasonably priced between £1.50 and £3 which is the average fair you would pay for a cake in an independent cafe.

It was sweet before savoury on this occasion, but the winner for my money that night was Afsaneh's Persian Kitchen. With an interesting menu of Persian treats, I couldn't resist buying their Mezze (£5) which meant I could taste a bit of everything!

Run by Afsaneh Kaviani, her business came after her stint as a finalist on Masterchef in 2012. Operating on a street food level as well as a private chef for supper clubs and events, her food has been received very well.

With my Mezze in hand I ventured outside to find somewhere to eat it. Served with toasted bread was a selection of mezze items, including feta, herb salad, bulgar wheat, roasted aubergines and my absolute favourite, a dip made of tomato and aubergine (I think it was caled Mirza Ghasemi). It was a beautiful silky smokey paste that just made me go WOW. 

Great food and another great event for championing local independent street food traders.

Have you been to Brandon Street Night Market?

OUT AND ABOUT | MANJIT'S KITCHEN FUNDRAISER AND SOCIAL

Last week I went to a very special event indeed. It was a fundraiser and social for Indian vegetarian street food traders Manjit's Kitchen. Last month they were the unfortunate victims of an attack whereby their van for trading was completely vandalised to the point of being written off. With this as their main way of getting to events and trading it was a big shock to their business and to their every day lives.

Manjit and Michael, the talented duo behind the business put faith in a blue horsebox which was pointed out to them. This then quickly became a new viable option for a portable street food kitchen to trade out of. They put together a Crowdfunder appeal to raise £4000 to help them get their new set of wheels made into a kitchen and get back on the road. This was amazingly reached in just under a week. To make their new vehicle safe and secure they decided to continue with "overfunding" and have at this point made £4741 and have nine days of donations left.

Back to the event... It was put on by Emma of Culture Vultures and Andrew of Northern StrEats/Fish& as an opportunity to raise more money for Manjit and Michael's new vehicle but also for friends and for those who had donated to come together to celebrate the campaign and Culture Vultures 5th birthday too. Held at Holbeck Underground Ballroom (The HUB) it was a great setting.

Street food traders from Leeds and Manchester united and give up their time and serve their food on a 'Pay as you feel' basis with all money donated to the Manjit's Kitchen crowdfunder appeal. Street food traders who collaborated with the event were Fish&, Manjit's Kitchen themselves, The Greedy Pig and Ginger's Comfort Emporium who had doubled up with Noisette Bakehouse to serve some delectable goods.

Heading over with Diane, we were both on a mission to share a bit of everything on offer. First up was Fish& who were serving up their notorious twisted fish and chips in taster cones. With fis in three different batters (normal, chilli and pepper) laid upon a cone full of chips.

The fish was very good. Extremely good actually and it was the freshest fish I have ever had in the form of fish and chips. Flaky but firm white fish in a light and crisp batter - not greasy and heavy like some of the traditional versions. The flavours in the batter gave a nice little kick to the eating experience too. I could have eaten this all night!

Next up was the stars of the show - Manjit's Kitchen! Back on form with the support and confidence of all their supporters they were here to trial run a new street food dish. In comes the Chapasty! 

A dry curry of beetroot and paneer marinated in masala with coriander, sev and spring onion then wrapped in a chapati into a pasty shape. These were truly intriguing and a great new take on the street food which they offer.

Manjit was on rolling duty, honourably rolling out each chapati individually and then filling them with the curry and the toppings before shaping it into a pasty. Michael was in charge of frying the chapasty's and giving them a nice bit of colour. Good teamwork! 

The resulting dish was a lovely golden chapati filled with a sweet flavourful curry. Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables and I love tasting it with different cultural influences and twists. This was definitely a winner for me. It was easy to eat, not too greasy and absolutely beautiful to look at too! These would make for a perfect little meal or snack to eat and I look forward to seeing them resurface on future menus at events.

Jo from The Greedy Pig had been busy making two variations of scotch eggs to bring to the event. I managed to get my hand on one of each. The meat option was filled with what I think was pork and chorizo. The egg yolk was runny, the meat juicy and tender and the coating was a light coating of fine breadcrumbs. These were seriously good. I'm not really a scotch egg eater but I think it's because I have memories of the horrible things that are available in the supermarkets. 

On to the vegetarian option... this was MIND BLOWINGLY good. My favourite vegetable made yet another appearance in this wonderous delight with a shredded beetroot filling surrounding the egg. It was seasoned very well and the whole texture in my mouth thing going on was incredible. 

Last but not least was the collaboration between Ginger's Comfort Emporium and Leeds favourite baker Noisette Bakehouse. Sarah from Noisette Bakehouse had made a selection of cookies to team up with Ginger's ice cream to make ice cream sandwiches. These looked really good but unfortunately I didn't get to try one. Ginger had packed up and was just about to leave by the time we had worked our way round to getting some ice cream. 

The evening ended with a raffle with lots of very generous prizes donated from a wide range of sources, including local independent businesses.

It was a fantastic evening with some really good vibes going on. It was not packed out with people but the people who were there were full of love, awe and support for Manjit and Michael. 

It is great to see the people behind Culture Vultures and Northern StrEats continuing to support and strengthen the food and culture scene in Leeds. There was such a good community feel that night and I was honoured to be part of it. The evening managed to raise over £840 too.

There is still time to donate to Manjit's Kitchen crowdfunder, to do so click here.