Birmingham Bites At BBC Good Food Show, NEC

A lyrical feast of food and poetry will launch Birmingham Bites first ever appearance at this year�s BBC Good Food Show at the NEC, Birmingham on Wednesday 23 November 2005.

Birmingham�s Poet Laureate, and former chef, Richard Grant, aka Dreadlock Alien will be introducing The Feast of Heroes on the Birmingham Bites stand, with Birmingham�s five Food Heroes: Gastro Guru, Glynn Purnell; Prawn Star, Greg Pearce; Choc Star, George Dadd; New Spice, Aktar Islam and Top Class, Charlie Barr. The five local food experts were chosen to front Marketing Birmingham�s food and drink campaign, Birmingham Bites, to highlight the city�s rich food culture from fine dining to weekend breaks and local produce.

Accompanied by tasty words and rhyming verse from Dreadlock Alien, the Feast of Heroes will comprise a 30 minute cookery demonstration beginning with Prawn Star Greg Pearce�s top tips on how to shell crabs, crack lobster, and clean scallops, using an abundance of shellfish from his family run stall at Birmingham�s Bull Ring Markets.

Two of Birmingham�s top chefs, Charlie Barr, cookery course tutor at Simpson�s L�Ecole de Cuisine and Aktar Islam, Development Chef at Lasans Indian restaurant will then be demonstrating delicious dishes of Sesame Scallops with Endive Marmalade and Sauce Epice and Crab Pakora with Sour Mango Chutney.

A brief history of chocolate by Cadbury�s chief chocolate taster, George Dadd, Birmingham�s very own Choc Star, will be followed by the piece de resistance in which Birmingham�s Michelin-starred chef, Glynn Purnell, Head Chef of Jessica�s restaurant in Birmingham, will combine Pearce�s shellfish and Cadbury�s chocolate in an adventurous culinary creation - a dish of Lobster, Pear Ravioli and Chocolate.

The Feast of Heroes on Wednesday 23 November introduces five days of activity on the Birmingham Bites stand, through which visitors will have the opportunity to taste the world in one city, featuring the very best of Birmingham�s gastronomic delights. Some of the city�s leading food and drink outlets and associations will be showcasing their produce and running food demos throughout the show. These include: Brindleyplace, ABRA (Asian Balti Restaurant Association), Bullring, Bull Ring Markets, Hyatt Regency Birmingham, The Mailbox, New Hall Country House Hotel, Peppers, Shades of Black and Birmingham College of Food Tourism and Creative Studies.

Marketing Birmingham will be hosting the Birmingham Bites stand at this year�s BBC Good Food Show, from Wednesday 23 � Sunday 27 November and again at the Festive BBC Good Food Show at Earls Court, from Friday 2 � Sunday 4 December.

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PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL MEDIA ATTENDING THE BBC GOOD FOOD SHOW MUST REGISTER FOR PRESS PASSES ONLINE AT WWW.BBCGOODFOODSHOW.COM AND THEN COLLECT PASSES FROM THE PRESS OFFICE AT THE NEC.

Media Enquiries: Jo Green, S&X Media T: 0121 604 6366 / E: jo@sx-media.com Trudi Dunlop, PR Manager, Marketing Birmingham T: 0121 202 5001 / E: trudi.dunlop@marketingbirmingham.com

Notes to Editors:

Marketing Birmingham is the destination marketing agency for the Birmingham City region. It is a public�private partnership supported financially by Birmingham City Council and some 400 member companies. It raises additional commercial revenue through the provision of a hotel accommodation and conference booking service.