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Top foodie courses in Hull & East Yorkshire

Love food? Course you do. How would you like to learn a few specialist culinary skills at a homely farmhouse kitchen table, get your bake on surrounded by the scent of freshly risen bread, master the art of the chocolatier, or go back to basics on an organic vegetable plot?

Hull and East Yorkshire’s food producers and providers are tapping into our increasing demands to know where our food comes from, how it’s grown and how it’s made. And there’s an impressive range of experts offering a mouth-watering range of truly memorable foodie experiences in our region, from classes that make an unusual gift idea to children’s parties and even hen and stag events.

East Yorkshire Local Food Network brings producers, makers, cafes and restaurateurs together to help spread the word about great East Yorkshire produce. Spokesperson for the network Julia Soukup says: “For generations, the wonderful and varied landscape of East Yorkshire and the surrounding area has produced some of the finest foods in England. This is still true today and it reflects the passion and skills of the people and businesses that produce it. Our members are small businesses driven by a passion to create superb food and drink to be enjoyed by others – whether that’s in the city, villages or historic market towns set in wonderful countryside, or along our stunning heritage coast.”

On the edge of the stunning Yorkshire Wolds, Side Oven Bakery at Carr House Farm, near Driffield, offers baking classes for all occasions – and all ages – using flour that’s been grown on the organic farm, milled on site and finished in the bakery.

If you take a Side Oven class, there’s a good chance you’ll get a bespoke tour of the flour mill while you’re waiting for your bread to rise, or spend a little time wildlife spotting on the riverside farm, which works closely with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to preserve the natural environment. You’re your eyes peeled – herons, brown owls, otters, trout, egrets and cormorants have all been spotted here.

Jess Sellers, of Side Oven Bakery says: “We run classes, open days and nature trails all year round, it’s all very relaxed, friendly and fun … It’s all about getting members of the public to farms to see how it all works. We run breadmaking classes for all occasions – children’s make-your-own pizza parties, hen or stag dos, breadmaking for beginners and seasonal bakes. In December, our bakers can come and learn how to make stolen, croissants and sweet buns – we can also run this course in conjunction with another local business, Rosebud Flowers, so people can choose to bake stollen in the morning and make Christmas wreaths in the afternoon. In summer, we run a picnic breads course. At lunchtime we all eat together and, of course, our bakers get to take home a big basket full of breads home with them.

“Everything we do is rooted on our farm and rooted in our products, so we have seasonal open days for apples in October, a blackcurrant-picking day in July and an elderflower festival – what we’re trying to demonstrate is how to make best use of what’s out there.”

For more details of foodie experiences and cooking courses, check out the businesses in the East Yorkshire Local Food Network. In the meantime, here are a few more to tickle your tastebuds:

COOK, EAT, SLEEP, REPEAT

Yorkshire Wolds Cookery School has the largest range of cookery courses in the region and it’s the go-to place to learn everything from street food cookery to classic patisserie; Lebanese or Thai to a Yorkshire Born and Bred course. It’s also unusual in offering B&B accommodation – either as a package alongside cookery courses, or separately. Basically, pick a skill, learn it, eat it and, if you fancy, stay over in a beautiful setting that’s surrounded by beautiful private farmland. Yorkshire Wolds Cookery School has four resident chefs leading classes, and also brings in guest chefs such as James McKenzie from nearby Michelin-starred restaurant, or Great British Menu chef Stephanie Moon.

Yorkshire produce reigns here, with typical ingredients including Staal Smokehouse smoked salmon, dairy from St Quintin’s Creamery, Lowna Dairy for goat’s cheese, Pocklington butchers Burton’s and Skipsea-based fishmonger Frank Powell.

Business development manager for the school Alison Johnson says: “People come from far and wide, simply because they can stay over – we can take up to 18 people for a cook-and-dine experience. We also offer private dining, as well as children’s and family classes such as junior baking and young masterchef.”

 

CHOCOLATE HEAVEN

 

Cocoa Chocolatier in Humber Street at the heart of Hull’s attractive Fruit Market area offers the chance to learn the basics of chocolate making with this fun, informative, one-hour class. You’ll learn how to temper chocolate to get that perfect sheen, make your own ganache filling and, best of all, get to take your creations – a dozen filled chocolates, a chocolate bar, chocolate thins and a lollipop home with you. Caters for parties for chocoholics of all ages.

DEAR DAIRY…

Does milk get any fresher than this? Help yourself to a pinta from Cherry View Milk’s unusual milk vending machine and show the kids exactly where their milk comes from with a trip to this small, but busy, dairy farm. The Milk Shed in Cherry Burton is open from 7am to 7pm daily – just pop up the farm’s driveway and fill up your milk bottles. Becky Waring, of Cherry View Milk, says: “As we are a working dairy farm, customers get to experience the activities on the farm when they are here filling their milk bottles from the specialist milk vending machine. On a daily basis this can include watching calves being fed, seeing the cows queueing in the field to come in for milking time and this week customers even looked on as a cow gave birth to a baby calf in the field. Our youngest customers also love to see the tractors working around the farmyard.”

 

 

VISIT A VEG GROWER

If you’re prepared to get stuck in, Arthur’s Organics in Rise, near Hornsea, welcomes visitors to its walled garden every Monday and Wednesday. Find out where your food comes from by having a go at planting, harvesting, weeding or similar in exchange for fresh, organic veg. The organisers say: “It’s a tranquil, lovely space. We are Soil Association certified and we don’t use chemical pesticides – it’s all totally natural and healthy. As well as being a wonderful exchange of energy, the work is calming, friendly and fun.”

Similarly, Frith Farm in Molescroft, near Beverley, welcomes all-comers for seasonal volunteering opportunities on Wednesdays, between 10am and 1pm. Get in touch with the farm to check details before setting off.

 

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