Back to school for fine food in Welbeck

The School of Artisan Food at the heart of the Welbeck estate has reopened its doors and has welcomed back students for the first time since lockdown.
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A new programme of culinary and baking courses has been launched as well as activities to celebrate Sourdough September.

Simon Pittman, school director, said: “We are delighted to be able to welcome people back.

“During the last few months, we have hosted various online courses but we are thrilled we’re able to open our doors again and see people back in our building here in Welbeck.”

The School of Artisan Food in Welbeck has opened its doors againThe School of Artisan Food in Welbeck has opened its doors again
The School of Artisan Food in Welbeck has opened its doors again

“One thing we’re not short of here is space.

"As we’re based in a huge building within the beautiful Welbeck estate, we’re able to host our courses in a safe environment where people can feel comfortable.

"Our training rooms are large plus we’re lucky that we’re also able to open up our doors and spill out into our spacious courtyard.”

Over the summer the team worked behind the scenes to ensure it was ready for the reopening to meet Government guidelines regarding Covid-19 and received the Visit England's 'Good to Go' accreditation.During that time, they were also able to devise a new programme of courses, including events to coincide with this year’s national Sourdough September festival.Sourdough September was originally launched by the Real Bread Campaign to encourage more people to buy genuine sourdough from independent bakeries and to have a go at making their own sourdough.

The school will be hosting a sourdough demonstration evening with the school’s expert baker, David Carter on September 15.

There will be the chance to taste some freshly baked sourdough bread and take away a portion of sourdough starter to practice bread baking at home.David said: “I look forward to welcoming everyone to the School and sharing our passion for real bread.

"As a process, a lot of mystique has a grown up around sourdough.

"Whilst there is advice online, there is no substitute for a step-by-step myth-busting practical session with the opportunity for personalised questions and answers throughout and hints and tips a plenty.”

During the event, David will go through the sourdough process from how to build and maintain sourdough culture, through the whole baking process from mixing the dough, to moulding the loaf and finally baking-off in the oven.

The evening takes place at the school in Lower Motor Yard within Welbeck from 6pm until 8.30pm and tickets, which cost £20, can be booked here.

Following on from this will be a two-day hands-on introduction to sourdough course led by the internationally renowned baker and author, Emmanuel Hadjiandreou over the weekend of September 19 and 20.

Learn all about sourdough from fermentation and mixing to proving and baking, all from one of the world’s best.

For details and tickets, click here.

Other courses coming up range from baking, pizza making, and beer and cheese tasting to foraging, how to prepare and cook fish and preparing venison and game.For details, click here.