Preserve the Seasons

You will meet Rachel in the cookery school and settle in with a tea or coffee in hand and a morning snack prepared by our team of chefs, featuring local, seasonal produce.

We’ll get stuck right in learning how to make a seasonal jam. Rachel will explain how pectin works and how to make jam with pretty much any fruit (or veg!) you have to hand. You’ll learn how to make small batch jams and Rachel will also teach you how to reduce sugar or scrap it altogether in favour of local honey. We’ll dip into the garden to inspire herbal and seasonal floral twists.

Next, we will dive into the world of chutney-making. A classic question raised on the course: ‘What’s the difference between a chutney and a pickle?’ You’ll not only have the answer by the end of the day, but you’ll have also made a jar of each, packed with delights from our kitchen garden. By the end of the day you’ll be able to whip up delicious batches of both without a recipe - which means you can truly embrace your gluts by effortlessly transforming them into crafty condiments.

Lunch will feature a smattering of some of Rachel’s favourite preserves such as mackerel with oak-smoked beetroot pickles or horseradish salt-baked celeriac with pickled mushrooms.

The afternoon will focus on fermentation, one of the oldest and healthiest forms of preserving food. You’ll gather some beautiful ingredients from our garden to make a tongue-tingling sauerkraut and a lacto-fermented pickle (a technique that not only keeps your veg preserved for up to a year, it also increases the health benefits).

Pickles are one of the easiest ways to preserve garden gluts. Rachel will show you how to make pickles with a salt brine and with vinegar. You’ll learn how to tweak and tailor the recipes which mean can harness your skills at home using seasonal produce throughout the year. In this session, we’ll also dive into infusing and drying, two of the easiest ways to preserve seasonal ingredients.

Once you’ve packed your jars, Rachel will day demonstrate two more fabulous ways to preserve food (dry and infusing), all whilst you relax and sip a homemade brew such as a Honeyed Marmalade Quince G&T and taste your way around a platter of local cheeses paired with various pickles and chutneys touched on throughout the day’s class.

There will be time to chat to your fellow scholars and the River Cottage team, before heading back up the hill for 5pm.

You’ll take home the jars of jam, chutney, pickles and sauerkraut you'll have made, as well as a recipe pack full of guidance so you can get preserving throughout the seasons.