Glastonbury For Chefs
The Universal Cookery and Food Festival is a bit of a mouthful both literally and metaphorically – bringing together everything a chef could want to know about, this annual event from the Craft Guild (now in its third year) has been dubbed ‘Glastonbury for Chefs’ – quite an accolade! This September (the 23rd to be precise) it will be leaving behind River Cottage (the venue for the 2014 UCFF) and heading north to Vallum Farm in the wilds of Northumberland to showcase the very best of the North East. And what better setting for an event dedicated to, I quote…‘farming, learning, provenance, sustainability, trends, taste, seasonality and development’? Having spent some time in Northumberland I can assure any ‘Southern softies’ that it is well worth the journey. Once there delegate or should I say festival goers will be spoilt for choice when it comes to things to do. There will be farm tours, ‘feather and fur’ butchery demos, an innovation zone, farmers market (where chefs can meet suppliers and get inspired), not to mention chef demos, talks and debates on trends, and even clay pigeon shooting! Despite our butchery skills not being all they might be (!) food pr agencies such as Jellybean were there to learn all we could that can benefit our clients.
With a line up including: Sat Bains, Paul Lewis, Seb Homes, Terry Laybourne, James Close and Asson Mulliss it’s the hot ticket for those chefs looking for a real chef to chef event, and with beer and a BBQ in the evening things could get a little messy! To find out more or book your place visit www.cookeryandfoodfestival.co.uk or call 01293 854403. I for one will be there – and by the sounds of what’s on offer you’ll probably find me shotgun in hand eating a burger whilst listening to pearls of wisdom from some of the top chefs in the country (health and safety inspectors beware!).