Below are some descriptions of workshops I have previously run to give you an idea of what I do. I don’t have any upcoming public events but if you’d like to be notified as they become available you could follow me on Instagram. If you are a group or venue that are interested in hosting these or similar events please get in touch for a quote. I can travel within Aberdeenshire and Moray.
Autumnal Forage with Wild Tasters
Join me for a late September forage when the hedgerows will be offering nuts and berries. Imagine your larder stocked with fruit leathers, berry ketchups, wild hazelnuts, acorn flour, dandelion coffee and elderberry elixir. The flowering plants have had their time in the sun, hopefully we’ll find their skeletons still bearing seeds, nutrient dense wayside snacks, some with a taste profile that earn them the title of ‘Scotland’s wild spices’. As the plants die back for the winter energy returns to their roots, some of which find their way into comforting winter brews, my favourites being valerian hot chocolate and dandy chai.
Mocktails and Fermented Beverages
Bring sparkle to sobriety. Inspired by herbal preparations, sample the flavour of wild seeds, berries and flowers captured in syrups, elixirs and tinctures. A few droppersful of these added to sparkling water makes a pretty fine mocktail but we won’t stop there. Learn about the bitter deficiency in our diet and why inviting the bitter flavour into your life is a good idea. We’ll get beyond angostura by trying a range of homemade cocktail bitters and you’ll be invited to pick n mix from a variety of herbs and spices to take home for your own bitters infusion. I’ll ferment some fizz for our mocktails with kombucha, Tepache and ginger beer and together we can experiment with a little sober mixology. (3 mocktails pp included in price)
Wild Fermentation
Join me for an introduction to the ancient art of fermentation. This two hour workshop will include demonstrations on how to culture a variety of wild fermented food and drinks. There will be demonstrations and tastings of vegetable lactoferments, kefir, sourdough bread and kombucha. Take home a little jar of vegetable ferment and a scoby, sourdough starter or kefir grains if you want to get more adventurous. Fermenting is an amazing way to play with flavours, to preserve and to enhance the nutritional quality of food, as well as promote healthy gut bacteria.
