Yemi’s Food Stories: food highlights from the Great Yorkshire Show (Part 1)Stray Kitchen: Game on at the Great Yorkshire Show

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

Great Yorkshire Show time always makes me smile – the whole county gets into a spin and excited about it… and in my book, rightly so!

With my staff pass and negative lateral flow band attached, it was time to enter the ground, trolley brimming with goodies of the catering variety, pots, pans, plates, ingredients, and a veritable larder ready for those “oh Steph have you got any…” moments (as chefs doing cookery demonstrations tend to forget something). As you can imagine, when you are in the ground it is too late to go back to your kitchens and collect it.. I was MCing the Game Cookery Theatre where local chefs inspire the audience to give Yorkshire game a try – many for the first time.

Walking to the Game Cookery Theatre, seeing friends and feeling like the show really ‘must go on’, it was amazing to be back at the hallowed ground! All those hours of prepping for the show with Michelle Mackey and the rest of The Great Yorkshire Show team were condensed into just four days.

I love the show, and always have. I remember as a young girl having a day away from the farm with my parents for a trip to the show. It was a real treat and the wide-eyed wonderment of the show is so memorable for me. From the animals and food to always getting free pens and stickers from farm machinery and feed suppliers, and loving going around seeing the sights, we really had a grand day out. I even smile at remembering the collective family groaning when Dad would say we had to “just go in here for a cup of tea” – and we kids sat legs swinging on benches as my Dad talked cows feed with a specialist.. Then my turn, as I begged for a trip to the food hall!

These days I love the Great Yorkshire Show for different reasons – the people, the food, catching up with clients and good friends, the camaraderie of delivering a belting show, and the proper Yorkshire gumption of getting through these tricky times with true grit and a smile.

There is a feeling of celebration – it is great to be out and great to be doing!

I am proud to help run the Game Cookery Theatre for the show with a super team of chefs and game specialists and under the watchful eye of Daphne the Chief Steward of Country Pursuits. This year we had Mehdi and Heather from Fodder cooking up Yorkshire Puddings with Anita Rani, and some stand out chef demos with the likes of Callum Bowmer from Horto at Rudding Park, John Rudden from Grassington House, the Coniston Hotel boys Chris Oakden and Jonny Purnell from Skipton, and another Skipton and Ilkley favourite Simon Miller from La Casita.

Together we cooked up up some stunning great Yorkshire game with a lot of cheeky banter.

Steph x

Read More: 

 

Stray Kitchen: freezing flower show, but the chefs keep cooking

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

The Harrogate Flower Show had bad weather this year, but in spite of the rain, it was a blooming marvellous success! Those of us who were cooking at the event were just so happy to (finally) be let out..

The plants took a battering in the rain but even the soggy ground seemed not to mind. My role this year was to cook alongside expert gardener Martin Walker, former Head Gardener at York Gate Garden and his partner Sue. We ran the cookery theatre and did 40 demonstrations in four days. Every cookery demo was coupled with expert gardening tips from Martin and his encyclopaedic knowledge of gardening.

Our gardening tips and cookery demonstrations took inspiration from salads, asparagus, courgettes, beetroots and some seasonal sweet treats. I found the tips on growing fascinating and it gave me more confidence to have a go in the garden. My potatoes now are looking great, along with a piece of guttering which Martin and Sue filled with “Cut and Come Again Lettuce”. It’s had three close shaves so far, and is still going strong…

My cookery demos where showcasing the Yorkshire produce available to buy on the day at the show. Tasked with what to do with a glut of courgettes, we demoed a courgette, beer and cheese soup – using Isaac Poad‘s sell out beer and Coverdale Cheese.

‘Feast over the Fence’ garden was great fun and Martin and Sue won the President’s Choice Award

All agreed the garden Martin and Sue so expertly made up was a beautiful thing to behold and it really had it all… raised beds full of cabbage and brassicas, pots of rhubarb and beetroots, a wheelbarrow spilling over with vegetables and fruits, a garden shed and guttering filled with salads and herbs- really the finest stage I have ever had the pleasure to cook on and with such a marvellous fun and humble couple we had a great time.

Now that events are back, I cannot wait for the Great Yorkshire Show and Harrogate Food Festival.

See you there and hopefully if the weather is better than it was for the Flower Show, we will have some fun in the sun!

Steph x

Read More: