Workshops

Is there anything more wonderful than popping open the jar of jam that you made last summer in the middle of winter and smelling the sweet fruit? Or the jar of homemade chutney in pride of place next to the cheese and crackers on Christmas day? We all buy preserved food when we go shopping but do we stop and wonder how much we could make ourselves? Ever dreamt of a larder full of beautiful jars but don’t really know where to start?

If you have wondered how to preserve and store food this workshop is for you. We will explore various different kids of preservation from the simple jar of jam to pressure canned soup. We will talk about the wonderful relationship between salt, sugar and vinegar and how we can harness these ingredients to preserve our food. We will get hands-on sterilising jars and bottles and using live fires in our outdoor kitchen we will bubble and boil and create magical jars of jam, chutney and pickles. We will look at the American style of creating shelf-stable goods (including beans, fish and meat) called pressure canning and also touch on smoking, drying and fermentation as methods of preservation.

We will use as much seasonal produce as we can taking inspiration from the surrounding Welsh hills and our own kitchen garden and polytunnel and try to bottle the seasons in various jars.

You will leave with a handout with recipes and ideas plus various jars of deliciousness that we create during the workshop and hopefully enough knowledge to feel confident to start your own preserving journey at home.

Lunch will be simple and seasonal and a joy to sit with you all and share. Please let us know within two weeks of the workshop date of any allergies or food intolerances we need to be aware of.

PRICE: £110 inc VAT

Ever wanted to have a try cooking over fire? Have you wanted to learn BBQ funamentals and go beyond simple sausages on a BBQ and create different dishes, maybe even bake your pudding outside? Have you seen those chefs on TV or demos creating spectacular displays and not really known where to start and what equipment you might need?

Live fire cooking is an organic and sensory experience that really brings you back to an ancient connection to your food, the land and the process of creating food. We will explore as many ways of using fire to cook as we can and set to work to create a fiery seasonal late lunch for us to all enjoy together, round the fire. Come and relax and experience the wonders of the smell and taste of fire cooked foods in our little corner of Welsh wilderness.  

We will delve into fire lighting and management, fuels and woods and discuss (and probably use) various different pieces of equipment like the wood fired brick oven, the firecage with it’s crazy looking chains, asado cross and various cooking levels, plus simple fire pits and BBQ’s like the Kamado Joe. We will delve into BBQ techniques to take your BBQ to the next level and look at the best cookware, how to care for it and the various ways you can use Dutch ovens, potjies and cast iron.

Lunch will be seasonal, a little charred around the edges and all cooked by us. Please let us know within two weeks of the workshop date of any allergies or food intolerances we need to be aware of.

You will leave with a handout with recipes and ideas, plus suppliers of equipment and hopefully slightly charcoaled hands, maybe a twig in your hair, a smile and a whiff of woodsmoke.

PRICE: £95 inc VAT