Cookery Theatre

10.30am Breakfast with the fabulous Woz & Loz!

Kedgeree using fish from the Wye Valley Smokery & a Burford Brown egg. Also ‘A Healthy Start’ – apple bircher, local honey, natural yoghurt & toasted granola.

Head Chefs Warren (Woz) and Lawrie (Loz) have over 30 years experience of catering at sporting venues between them. Working at Cheltenham Racecourse for the Jockey Club they both enjoy the challenges that come with delivering high quality food in large numbers. From a humble burger to a fine dining experience.

Lawrie has also taught professional cookery at Gloucestershire college’s Forest of dean campus. He lives in the Forest where he and his wife have a large vegetable garden cultivating unusual vegetables & he keeps his own pigs for a hobby.!

11.30am Debbie Jones from Forest Deli

Debbie shares her favourite Autumn Cheese recipes, using meltingly tasty local cheese.

Debbie is the chef behind Forest Deli in Coleford. She makes all of the homemade items for the deli including sausage rolls, quiches, scotch eggs, soup and cakes. She also selects (and tests!) all of the cooking ingredients stocked at the Deli. Forest Deli has supported many start-up businesses in the area, often being their first retail outlet and the variety and championing of local producers is something they are well known for.

12.15pm Yvette Farrell, Principal, Harts Barn Cookery School

‘Just One Thing’  – Kale as a brain food, making kale pesto, kale crisps, lemon dressed kale with potatoes & a kale soda bread.

Yvette was born on a country estate and grew up gathering blackberries, nuts and wild garlic. Community has been important to Yvette from childhood when in Scotland she exchanged eggs with the trawlers for fresh fish and from these years has developed a passion for the land and its food.

Yvette worked in horticulture for 16 years gaining extensive plant knowledge and associations with food. She opened an award-winning organic farm shop with cafe and deli before launching Harts Barn Cookery School. She has a keen interest in researching heritage recipes.

Yvette also provides care and tuition to those with special needs both within the cookery school and her continued work outside.

1.15pm Arron Christopher, Head Chef The Tudor Farmhouse Hotel

Showcasing his skills with duck from Madgetts Farm.

Arron Christopher was born and bred in the Forest of Dean. He is an award-winning chef with over 20 years’ experience in hospitality, having worked at some of the UK’s most prestigious venues including the two Michelin-starred L’Enclume, Cliveden House Hotel, and Foxhills Golf Resort & Spa. Having spent most of his career away from the Forest, leading teams of all sizes, overseeing multi-outlet operations, and delivering exceptional dining experiences in both the UK and abroad, he is delighted to have come home to raise his son and take on the head chef role at the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel, Clearwell. Known for his calm leadership, creativity, and passion for seasonal, locally sourced produce, Arron is looking forward to bringing his own creative innovation and excellence to the Tudor Farmhouse.

2.15pm Debbie from Plump Hill with Lewis Cooper from The Speech House Hotel.

Lambs Offal V Pigs Offal – the difference between the two & easy ways to serve them.

“Plump Hill Farm is a small family farm borne out of a dream for self-sufficiency, concerns about the decreasing numbers of heritage breeds and a desire to return to traditional farming practices. “We believe that knowing exactly where the food on our plate comes from is becoming increasingly important; more and more of us care about food miles and the origin of our food.” “Our mission is for our livestock to be happy and healthy and to provide our customers with fabulous pedigree meat, safe in the knowledge that animals have been raised to the highest welfare standards. Our produce is traditional – lamb and pork – just like it used to taste.” “Our customers will know that the produce they are purchasing is what they believe it to be.””