CELEBRATING THE AFTERGLOWS - MARCH 13 - 10.51am

Surprising festival gems

One thing you can bet on during this festival will be its unexpected pleasures. Those talks where you expect one thing and exit 60 minutes later feeling like you’ve won, quite by chance, the Literary Lottery. So, over the next 24-hours I’ll be highlighting those speakers who, based on past experience, will leave you not only enthralled DURING the event, but LONG AFTERWARDS too... 1. Eleonora Galasso (Friday, March 23, 2.00pm). One of Italy’s top gastronomic writers and a self proclaimed ‘food activist’ (no, I’ve no idea what that means either), Galasso is an intriguing combination of high-end couturier, hands-on culinarian and expensively bottled (but perfectly balanced) parfum de Italian. And while her talks and demonstrations are hugely entertaining (anyone who’s seen her on BBC’s ‘Saturday Kitchen Live’ will tick that box), it’s her Teflon-coated wardrobe that will truly leave you enthralled. I have seen Ms Galasso speak on many occasions and each time while frying, blending or flambéing, she has managed to walk away without suffering so much as a single stain, speck or smudge on her impeccable ensemble. And extraordinarily, it’s something the whole audience become fixated by. Joyous.