School of Artisan Food – Blog

This month started off quietly as I planned my sessions during the two weeks of the Easter Holidays.

A recent study found that only 1 in 10 young people were considering going into the hospitality, catering and distribution industries. In light of these findings I headed into Heritage High School in Clowne to talk to GCSE students about careers available to them within the Food industry.

I started off the sessions getting them to write down any jobs within the industry they could think of…. Both groups came up with Chef! After talks about the industry and the wide range of jobs –they could all give me at least five job titles including: butcher, baker, cheesemaker, gamekeeper, food stylist, technologist….. Hopefully a success and opened their eyes to the wide variety of jobs available to them.

The following week I went into Sutton Academy and ran my first after-school session with them. The students were y7 and really enthusiastic. These will become monthly sessions with the Y7’s learning about artisan food. We had a great response and a whopping 20% of the year group turned up and learnt how to make artisan bread. Next month we will re-enforce our knowledge by making flavoured breads.

The next day I worked with the GCSE students looking at different flours and raising agents. We looked at how using different flours and raising agents and how you kneaded the bread would affect your end loaf. They all really enjoyed the artisan method of making bread and want a session just on making bread next…if we can fit it in before their exams start.

From these few days concentrating on bread I whisked off to Magnus Church of England School in Newark and spent two happy days making ice-cream while the sun shone (it really did shine for a bit!) with again some GCSE groups.  During the two sessions we compared store bought ice-cream in some blind tasting and then we made our own ice-cream in a bag.  They all had a great time and the majority of them preferred their home-made ice-cram and the least favourite was the super-market basic soft-scoop!

In the next blog find out about how our students from Minster school enjoyed their sausage making here at the school with Rich Summers our butchery tutor. I will also be visiting West Bridgford School in Nottinghamshire and Retford Oaks Academy in Retford for some full days of artisan cooking and baking as well as cross-curricular days.

The Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Scheme

Latest update from Sally McGowan, Education Officer:

This month I started working in schools, finally getting out and passing on the Local Food and artisan food message to young people and staff!

A long snowy drive on the Monday morning found me in Cotmanhay, Ilkeston working with the students of Ormiston Enterprise Academy. I worked with two groups of students for three days teaching them about bread and the function of ingredients.

On the first day we learnt how to make white bread and in between weighing out ingredients, wielding our bowl scrapers and kneading the dough we discussed different types of flour, the function of yeast and what gluten was. The students rolled their sleeves up and produced some great loaves of bread and all seemed to really enjoying the baking although a few ‘didn’t enjoy the washing up’!

On the second day we moved on to making a traditional tealoaf where we looked again at function of ingredients, the different types of flour and how this was a healthier option to a fruit cake. The students, as predicted, particularly enjoyed the tealoaf because ‘it is so nice and easy to make’.

On our final day we put our bread making knowledge and skills to the test with me taking a back seat with the teaching and let the students choose their own ingredients to add to their bread to make flavoured breads. They put their imagination to the test and made cheese and ham, fruit and cinnamon, ginger, garlic and herb flavoured breads.

In the evening of the final day staff and students alike joined me in the food room for an after school club bread baking session. The staff decided to dress up and pose for the camera to everyone’s enjoyment and once again produced some great flavoured breads.

I had an amazing time working with the students and staff of Ormiston Enterprise Academy and the students left some great feedback saying they ‘now weren’t as scared of the oven’,  ‘ they had fun and gained confidence’ and ‘wanted to make bread at home’.

A great result and next month I will be working with different schools in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Chesterfield making sausages and ice-cream and also talking about careers in the food industry.

Resident experts at The School of Artisan Food - Rich Summers, David Carter and Lee-Anna Rennie will be leading the School’s summer school.

Swap the beach this summer for some life changing skills in baking, butchery and cheese making. We’ve added a great new six-day Summer School to our extensive list of courses, led by expert tutors teaching artisan skills, that will stay with you forever.

Based in Nottinghamshire, on the magnificent Welbeck Estate, the School is the UK’s only not-for-profit organisation dedicated to artisan food.

Joe Piliero, Director at The School of Artisan Food said: “The Summer School offers a great opportunity to learn about the theory, research and practical skills involved in creating artisan food.  It will appeal to people who are interested in how their food is produced with little or no experience or for anyone with a passion to learn new skills.  There’s also the added benefit of us being located in one of the most beautiful parts of Sherwood Forest so it really can be a summer break as well as a learning experience.”

The course is practical, hands-on and students will learn the full production processes from weighing out ingredients to taking their finished products home.  All classes will be small and informal with access to state of the art training facilities.

There are a limited number of places available for the Summer School which runs for  six days and can be booked for either the 10th-15th June 2013 or 12th-17th August 2013. To book visit www.schoolofartisanfood.org/summerschool or for more information contact the school on Tel: 01909 532171 Email: info@schoolofartisanfood.org

The Real Bread Campaign visit the School of Artisan Food

What do you call 100 bread-heads in one room? Well, a Real Bread Campaign event of course!

And 100 plus bread-heads is what we had as we hosted an inspirational members gathering for the Real Bread Campaign.

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Merry Christmas from everyone at The School of Artisan Food.

Straight from the oven...

Today marked a momentous day for the class of 2012/13 as they produced their first loaves.

A crowd gathered around the ovens to mark the special occasion…

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