Game and foraging classes
Back in fashion, and for good reason, game is wonderfully versatile, while food miles have made foraging popular. Learn how to cook game to perfection and to forage safely.
BERKSHIRE
The Mike Robinson Game and Wild Food Cookery School
Mike’s school offers a variety of different courses in country cookery throughout the year. Courses range from basic game preparation and cookery to specialist courses on venison, ferreting and foraging. Game is sourced from surrounding estates and the school does its best to work with the seasons, so the dishes students prepare vary accordingly. Teaching on the courses is provided by Mike and his chefs in state-of-the-art kitchens and refrigerated preparation rooms where students can learn everything from basic prep to complex butchery of different types of game. Prices range from £185-260 per person.
Matthew’s Kitchen
Matthew’s courses teach students to positively identify different types of mushrooms as well as the best ways of preserving and cooking them. One day courses run from his farm in Berkshire or alternatively Matthew will come and teach you all this in the comfort of your own home. From £100.
DERBYSHIRE AND STAFFORDSHIRE
DEVON
Ashburton cookery school
This Devon-based school runs two hands-on courses in game preparation. The one-day course focuses on the preparation and cooking of feathered game whilst the two-day course covers furred game and the preparation of freshwater fish in addition. Both courses include plenty of time to get involved in the kitchen (preparing a three-course meal eaten at the end of each day), and are taught by chef tutors with extensive experience in professional kitchens. Prices from £179.
ESSEX
The Cookery School at Braxted Park
Braxted Park Cookery School offers a diverse range of game cookery courses that take place throughout the year. Each course provides insight into how to create a range of rich and flavoursome dishes with meat such as venison, pigeon, pheasant and rabbit and are taught by award-winning chefs. Courses start at 9.30am and finish at 3.00pm and involve both hands-on cooking and a tasting session, before the day is rounded off with a delicious meal in the beautiful location that is Braxted Park Estate. Classes cost £145 per person.
EDINBURGH
The Edinburgh School of Food and Wine
This established school runs one-day classes on the preparation of either the feathered or furred variety. These courses aim to provide students with new and interesting recipes that reflect the changing seasons providing even experienced cooks with new ideas for preparing many different types of game. From £120.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
The Gables School of Cookery
This course offers students the chance to learn the most delicious ways of cooking various different cuts of feathered and furred game. The course includes specialist demonstrations as well hands-on cooking time in the kitchen, finishing the day with a three-course meal. From £135.
KENT
Wild Man Wild Food
These courses are run by Fergus Drennan, a man who lives to forage and has made attempts to live entirely on a wild food diet that has in the past included road kill! He aims to provide students with a basic introduction to seasonably-available wild plants and ways to harvest them sustainably and use them as food. Courses include a full 12 hours instruction with Fergus and two foraged three-course meals. From £125.
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NORTH YORKSHIRE
Gilli Cliff Cookery
Classes take place at Gilli’s country cottage outside York, where students enjoy a demonstration on how best to enjoy the spoils of the shoot accompanied by a glass of wine followed by a three-course lunch prepared by the lady herself. From £30 for women; £35 for men (because men drink more wine).
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
The Manor School of Fine Cuisine
This school is based just outside of Nottingham and prides itself on using local food and suppliers for its one-day course covering various aspects of game cookery. The school aims to create an informal and friendly environment in which students learn the basics of preparing and dressing game. Tips on hanging, skinning and trussing, recipe ideas and accompaniments are also covered and the course is designed to be suitable for beginners as well as those with a little more experience. From £125.