It’s almost here: June 12th, the start of the FIFA World Cup.
Potato fries, wedges, nachos, pizza, chicken wings, burgers; all have pride of place in sport bars, pubs and house parties. For the joy of the sport lies in bonhomie and beer accompanied by platters of greasy, spicy finger foods. But such comfort food need not be uninspired or unhealthy. A few ingredients, a little creativity and you can have a fabulous spread of snacks and drinks that will keep the most discerning sport foodie delightfully satiated.
Nuts! Start with nuts; lay out numerous little bowls of nuts. Pick from our shelves for plain nuts or roasted flavoured options of all kinds. Or try some of the lovely options from our Healthy Alternatives range for indulgence without guilt. Lime n spicy soya snacks is one of our favourites! Or toss up these spicy peanuts. Coat peanuts, garlic cloves, oil and crushed chillies and roast for 25 minutes till crunchy. When cool, toss with lime zest, salt and sugar and serve with beer, mocktails or even iced teas for a super bar snack.
Dippy Chippi! No party of any kind is complete without deep bowls of crisp potato chips and an addictive dip. Pick from a range of wonderful dips on our shelves or look out for the lovely dips the food specialists at our stores stir up fresh daily. Want to get creative on your own? Try this creamy dip we swear by; stir caramelized onions and garlic into a mix of sour cream and goat’s cheese. Season with freshly ground black pepper and prepare for it to be completely wiped out before the game ends!
Canape! Another great snack involves canapés of bread. Simply take flatbread with toppings exploding with flavour such as savoury olives, sausage, smoked cheese and spicy harissa. One option we love is to combine all of the above! Lightly fry some onions and tomatoes up with the harissa paste and chopped parsley. Spoon a little of the mixture onto bread or crackers and top with a slice of chorizo or sausages and olive. It goes great with beer and is also lovely with red wine such as a bold Syrah, perhaps?
Mighty munchy! For more substantial munchies, make open or closed sandwiches with the great selection of cold cuts, mayonnaise and mustards we have. Try these amazing pulled jerk chicken sandwiches. Slow cook or oven-braise chicken thighs with your favourite jerk seasoning until the meat is tender and easy to pull apart and pile high on crusty buns for an amazing slider. This filling is even better made the day before the game.
Sweets Victory! To celebrate your favourite team’s win, bring out a batch of sweet Cinnamon chips made from tortilla chips and a tub of your favourite ice cream flavour. Pick from the range of Haagen Dazs and London Dairy options at our stores. To make these addictive chips, lightly fryor bake flour tortilla chips to crisp them up to a puff-pastry-like texture, then sprinkle with cinnamon powder and caster sugar and serve as is or with a little pot of caramel sauce.
