Congratulations again to Neva in Year 10, who recently won the Trust-wide TSAT Food Influencer Competition! As part of her prize, Neva enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Ground-Up Cookery School in Chudleigh, accompanied by four friends and our Earth Alliance Ambassadors.

The day began with an exciting foraging expedition around the surrounding area, where students explored the natural environment and were taught to identify edible plants.  They were challenged to remember the names of everything they discovered, showing impressive enthusiasm and curiosity.  The group demonstrated real bravery in sampling a range of wild foods, including nettles, sorrel and wild garlic.

After the foraging session, the group returned to the cookery school to see how these ingredients can be used and preserved.  They then enjoyed a delicious lunch of chicken and halloumi wraps with sweetcorn, all flavoured with foraged ingredients.  One highlight was mugolio – a unique syrup made from pine cones and brown sugar. Students also sampled a variety of fermented foods, including pineapple and mustard sauerkraut and homemade hot sauce to accompany their wraps.

The afternoon concluded with a hands-on workshop focused on fermentation.  Students were taught how to make Curtido, a traditional fermented salad from El Salvador, similar to coleslaw.  Once again, they showed impressive adventurousness, trying a wide range of unusual and bold flavours such as miso, banana paste, and even dried deer’s heart!

The Head Chef at Ground-Up, Colin Wheeler-James, was full of praise for the group, particularly highlighting both their excellent conduct and willingness to try new things. He commented that he was “blown away by how adventurous Neva and the group were,” adding that he has worked with chefs who were more cautious than the students who attended.

This was a truly memorable and enriching experience – well done to Neva and all involved for representing the school so brilliantly!

Article provided by: 

Mrs Brown, Teacher of Food & Textiles