New Christmas Hamper Course at River Cottage HQ

We love to share the bounty of the year with friends and family whether we are gathering around the table or making edible gifts, so we have created an exciting new course to reflect this which will be expertly tutored by Lucy Brazier, one of our original team members and author of our forthcoming Christmas handbook.

We caught up with Lucy to find out how preparations for the forthcoming event are going, and she shares her Saucy Hedgerow Ketchup recipe...

My foraging obsession is at its heady peak this time of year. I take any opportunity to trawl the hedgerows, hair caught in brambles, arms blotchy with rogue nettle stings and hands stained the colour of good claret. There is no better feeling than the satisfying triumph of a perfectly plump haul of blackberries and a little bit of legal apple scrumping. Other than cramming them under a good crumble topping maybe.

In my kitchen the spoils are transformed into jams, jellies, fruit leathers, a health promoting tonic and my current true love, ketchup. I have been testing several favoured ketchup recipes alongside other edibly delicious gifts for my new River Cottage Christmas Hamper Course later this year. By then the hedgerow bounty will be a collection of jars, bottles and a fond memory so we will be working with other ingredients that can be transformed into delicious presents and store cupboard treats. Like an appley lemony clove infused curd, a chocolate, hazelnut and sour cherry salami, a feisty beetroot based ketchup, a stack of seeded herby crackers and a lip tingling vinegar.

This week, in my excitement, I roped in Will, our Head Gardener, to help me pick a skirtful of quince from a tree inaccessibly tucked away at River Cottage. I have tackled these funny little fruit several ways already by steeping them in booze, turning them into a shrub and coaxing them into ‘cheese’. Whichever recipe makes the final cut for the course rest assured I will bring the booze along for a late afternoon sharpener…

Click HERE for the full Saucy Hedgerow Ketchup recipe.

Click HERE to find out more about the brand new Christmas Hamper Course.

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New Christmas Hamper Course at River Cottage HQ

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