Last week, I ventured on a very exciting trip to London to attend an event hosted by Iceland. The purpose of the event was to unveil their new up and coming autumn collection and as a self-confessed foodie, I was more than intrigued to see what they had up their sleeves.
There was a whole host of bloggers attending, some who I’d previously met (always nice to see familiar faces at these events) and many who I hadn’t. It’s always so lovely to mingle and chat with bloggers in the industry over delicious food and drink and what a feast we were treated with.
Iceland’s talented chef, Niel Nugent had cooked up various dishes using products from the new range and given them some fine dining finesse at the luxurious Aveqia. It was so interesting to see frozen food cooked in such an interesting way and combined with so many different flavours – a real eye opener and inspired me to become more adventurous in my cooking when it comes frozen ingredients.
Some of the food that was served, I would have never have dreamed of putting together, but I guess that was the point of the event – to become savvy with Iceland’s frozen products and create beautiful dishes using good quality frozen ingredients in our own homes. The menu followed themes focused around new vegetable innovations, luxury fish, including rainbow trout and tuna, and the launch of Iceland’s new own label ice-cream.
We really were spoilt and the food just didn’t seem to end! Personal highlights for me included the tuna tartare, riced cauliflower with lemon fava cream, crab taco served with deep-fried avocado, pickled cucumber and mustard, red shrimp schnitzel and the Belgian blue steak with wild mushrooms and quinoa. Oh, and the desserts we just as good as the savoury offerings the millionaire tart and peanut butter ice cream had my name all over it.
Previously, I felt that there was a real stigma attached to cooking with frozen food, that it wasn’t as good as fresh. However, frozen foods are preserved from the very moment they are harvested and prepared until they are cooked to eat, meaning that they maintain that level of freshness and quality. I love having a well-stocked freezer of a wide range of ingredients, which I heavily rely on when cooking. Times are definitely changing and you can see when frozen food can look as good as this, it definitely has a place in the heart of every home.
Do you cook with frozen foods? What are staples in your freezer at home?
*Post commissioned by Iceland, but all opinions are my own.
This is the second time I’ve seen food from Iceland and thought it looked really good. Definitely gonna have to go and see what they have…
It’s surprising how good the quality is on some of Iceland’s food products.
I buy frozen grilled vegetables from Sainsburys which are great- so convenient for salads, wraps and other meals and no added salt, sugar etc..
I really need to think about going to Iceland more they seem to have such a huge range of delicious items. Look forward to some of these hitting the freezers.
I like their pizzas but I do love the sound of their autumn collection. The riced cauliflower with lemon fava cream sounds lush x
Oh wow, that range looks incredible. I think a I need to visit Iceland!
WOW! I know that Iceland have been getting better and better recently and I got quite a lot of their party range over the Christmas period. This however is on another level. It all looks so amazing and I found it hard to believe it was from Iceland!
We use a lot of frozen veggies, especially in the winter months. Reputable brands will harvest and freeze the veggies, so it’s almost like eating them from the garden (nutrient wise). That being said, I’ll often avoid frozen meals, mostly because they’re often highly processed. Like anything else, pick and choose what works best for your family x
I wish there was an Iceland near where I live. Whenever I go in there there’s always great stuff!
It’s amazing how much frozen food has changed over the years. We always have a packed freezer.
That looks like such a fab event! As someone who really doesn’t cook enough due to time constraints I really need to look more into what Iceland has to offer, I know I use a lot of their frozen fish for recipes
I’m looking forward to seeing the full range in the shops as it looks pretty good. I don’t really use much frozen food to be honest.