Charles Campion is The Smart Shopper

"Malaysia Kitchen" is one of the sponsors of the 2010 Taste of London (in Regent's Park, lunch and dinner sessions today, Friday and Saturday; final lunch session Sunday). Malaysian restaurants such as Awana, Satay House and Tukdin Flavours of Malaysia will all be strutting their stuff. If you feel inspired to cook Malaysian at home, one of the best ranges of ingredients is to be found at Wing Yip. Slightly more centrally located there is the Tawana Oriental Supermarket where you can usually get essentials including fresh galangal, lime leaves, dried shrimps and tamarind paste. Wing Yip, 395 Edgware Road, NW2 (020 8450 0422, wingyip.com); Tawana Oriental Supermarket, 16-20 Chepstow Road, W2 (020 7221 6416, tawana.co.uk); tastefestivals.com.

Elderflower Power

This is the season when ambitious British restaurants start to sneak elderflower fritters on to the menu. To make them you dip the freshly picked flower heads into a light batter and fry until crisp, but it is a lot of fuss for not much taste. Similarly, elderflower cordial is a fearful palaver to make at home — even when you have plenty of elder trees to hand. This is one occasion when you can substitute shop-bought and no one will know. The bottle green drinks company has launched a limited edition "elderflower pressé RSVP" which comes in a chic bottle and you'll find it in branches of Waitrose and Tesco (£2.29 75cl). There is also a pomegranate and elderflower pressé RSVP — good luck with convincing your guests that you picked your own pomegranates. bottlegreen.co.uk.

Salt your Ice Cream

Salt caramel seems to be found on every dessert menu in town so it's no surprise that it is cropping up as a smart ice cream flavour at L'Artisan du Chocolat — "Iscream soft salted caramel gelato" — with liquid salted caramel bits covered in chocolate. Other flavours in the current range include "intense dark chocolate gelato with caramel nibs" and "cocoa pulp sorbet". £4.99 for 500ml. L'Artisan du Chocolat, 81 Westbourne Grove, W2 (0845 270 6996, artisanduchocolat.com).