Cookery Demonstrations

Guo Yue - musician • composer • author • cook

THE INTERNATIONAL SOLOIST AND COMPOSER GUO YUE is well known in the music world for the soaring beauty and descriptive poetry of his Chinese bamboo flutes. However he is also becoming well known as a specialist in Chinese home cooking. His memoir, MUSIC, FOOD AND LOVE, tells the story of a musical childhood in the old alleys and courtyards of Beijing, before and during the Cultural Revolution and contains many traditional recipes.

Find out more about Guo Yue’s performances, recordings, compositions, cookery workshops, writings, interviews and tours to China, where he teaches students the art of authentic Chinese cuisine.

‘I have heard Guo Yue play his music, I have eaten his food, and guarantee he delivers in a magical way.’ PETER GABRIEL

Yue will demonstrate:

Bashed cucumber

Prawns and (Green Flower) Broccoli

Three Colours: Aubergine with tomatoes and mange tout

Trout with coriander

Liang Ban Qin-Cai Si (cold mixed celery silk), with dou-fu (bean-curd) and egg

Recipes here (PDF 84kb)

Richard Fox - the Beer Chef

Richard Fox is a chef, broadcaster and writer with 25 years experience in the bar and catering industry. His passion for cooking and flamboyant presentation style has led him to appear on BBC1 Look North, ITV Saturday Cooks and a number of BBC radio shows. He has also been awarded the prestigious title of Food and Beer Writer of the year. His passion and dedication to the gastronomic qualities of beer and the success of his Food and Beer Cook Book have resulted in a second publishing deal with Marshall Cavendish and his second book is due out in the autumn. His constant touring, writing and broadcasting on the subjects of beer and food have arguably made one of the greatest contributions to the rise and recognition of quality beer in this country.

Amanda Grant

Amanda Grant is a broadcaster, food writer, and a mother. She has written several books specializing in baby and toddler nutrition and writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines and frequently speaks on radio. Her latest book is "Kid’s kitchen, Good Food Made Easy". It’s a truly hands on experience – encouraging children into the kitchen to acquire an early and healthy passion for food. Amanda is running “roll your sleeves up” sessions in the Kids’ Kitchen marquee making scones and smoothies. More here...

Gordon Campbell - Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa, Nantwich

Scottish Chef, Gordon Campbell, joined Rookery Hall Hotel near Nantwich in Cheshire, in November last year. Gordon is a talented chef who has worked locally at Nunsmere Hall at Oakmere near Northwich and also for Michelin Star restaurants such as L'Escargot in London and The Vineyard at Stocks Cross.

Gordon will demonstrate:

Beignet of blackpudding with pearl barley casserole

Roast wood pigeon with glazed root vegetables and thyme jus

Wild Food Demo (with Dave Watson)
to include wild rabbits and squirrel

Dave Watson

Dave's passion for ancient survival skills, or ‘bushcraft’ as it has become known, stems from his teenage years when he spent much of his time wandering around Britain in semi-wild places trying to live off the land.

This was a powerful and important time for Dave as he searched for some meaning to his life and personal self-worth. What he discovered during this period dramatically affected his whole outlook on life.

More here...

Leigh Myers - Grosvenor Pulford Hotel, Chester

Leigh Myers started cooking at the age of seven but it was when he was offered an apprenticeship at Paul Heathcote's School of Excellence, now in Manchester, at the age of 15 that he decided to go for a career as a chef (and put dreams of being a professional golfer to one side).

Now executive chef at the Grosvenor Pulford hotel in Chester, the 27-year-old feels his decision to forgo the country's fairways for different kinds of greens was the right one. More here...

roast local codling with morecambe bay shrimps and cabbage and bacon

roast loin of bowland forest venison, baby beetroot and celeriac purée, chocolate foam

passion fruit souffle, fresh raspberries

David Mooney - Belle Epoque, Knutsford and The Duke of Portland, Northwich

In over 30 years at the Belle Epoque the Mooney family, mostly out of necessity in the early years, have always sourced produce from small local producers. David has taken this as a philosophy for his many TV appearances and most recent venture, The Duke of Portland gastropub at Lach Dennis, Northwich.

Andrew Hollinshead - Crewe Hall Hotel, Crewe

Chefs from the fine dining Ranulph restaurant at Crewe Hall will be demonstrating how they make innovative use of the freshest, finest ingredients available. The Ranulph restaurant has a fine reputation for dining on a grand scale. Crewe Hall is also home to the contemporary Brasserie, with its famous revolving bar, which offers a blend of up-to-the-minute menus and an amazing array of worldwide wines.

Deborah Robb

Although a Southerner Deborah has lived in Nantwich for 18 years where her career has taken in teaching and latterly working with the regions food producers. She is passionate about food but it has to be quality food, where she knows where it comes from and what is in it. Even more reason to buy locally or from the region.

She is usually found at shows behind the celebrity chefs where her role is to make them look good, doing their shopping, preparation and making sure they don't burn anything. Her next assignment is with Jean Christophe Novelli at Tatton at the end of October.

Her signature style of cooking is it must be quick to make, look good and taste great so you will find the book packed full of simple recipes using regional produce and plenty of pictures that show you the stages as well as the finished dish.

Deborah has written several cookery books but her most recent is a bargain at £3.50 published by NW Fine Food, www.nwfinefood.co.uk. She will be demonstrating recipes from this book at the Nantwich Food and Drink Festival.

Cooking with Pork - Ladies In Pigs

The Ladies in Pigs are devoted to increasing the consumption of British pork and bacon. They will be cooking and sampling a variety of pork treats in their mobile kitchen at the top of Mill Street (Friday and Saturday) and on Pepper Street (Sunday).

Salt Making with Lion Salt Works Trust

Lion Salt Works was the UK's last surviving open pan salt works that produced salt by the evaporation of wild brine and was closed in 1986. Andrew Fielding, of the Lion Saltworks Trust, will be demonstrating salt making using a small working salt pan to evaporate brine and will be talking about the recent archaeological excavations carried out in Nantwich over recent years at Kingsley Fields and the salt ships found north of Welsh Row.