A new partnership between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) and the Edinburgh Food & Drink Academy (EFDA) to help the public learn how to make the most of what they can grow in their garden.
A series of Gardener and Chef events will be taking place from July through to September this year, developed between EFDA’s chefs and RGBE’s Learning and Engagement team, bringing together the culinary and botanical worlds.
Equipping attendees with culinary skills as well as a deeper understanding of what to grow at each time of year, the events will run from 10am and combine time in the RBGE kitchen garden with cookery demonstrations.
The first event, taking place on Saturday 11 July, will focus on fermenting and pickling. Attendees will be taken through the kitchen garden by an expert from RBGE, before participating in a 90-minute demonstration with a cookery teacher from EFDA.
The second session will focus on seasonal summer cooking, using fresh produce that’s in season throughout the summer months to create nutritious and delicious meals.
Taking place on Saturday 25 July, participants will learn about the wonderful diversity of crops, what produce is in season and the benefits of eating fresh.
Following this, they’ll enjoy a two-hour demonstration session in the kitchen before enjoying the fruits of their labours during a buffet lunch showcasing the new dishes they’ve created.
Running from 11 July to 26 September inclusive, the events will take place at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and range from £126 p/p to £137 p/p.
Subsequent weekly sessions throughout August and September will cover themes including autumn harvesting and winter warmer dishes.
Commenting on the partnership, Caroline Lamont, director of culinary education at EFDA, said: “Through our partnership with RBGE, we hope to be able to support people from Edinburgh and the surrounding area to better understand what they can plant and cook seasonally.
“We know that eating fresh, local, produce is incredibly important and want to demystify access to locally grown seasonal produce and successfully preparing fresh produce from scratch.
“Through these sessions we’ll equip attendees with an understanding of how to move from plot to plate, teaching them new dishes and cooking techniques to help them create delicious and nutritionally balanced meals.”
Dr Greg Kenicer, author and botanist at the RBGE, said: “At RBGE, our kitchen garden grows crops to the highest environmental standards, with a seasonal planting calendar led by our kitchen gardener, Ben, and an amazing team of volunteers.
“Providing fresh produce for our in-house kitchen, we’ve seen first-hand the positive impact of using fresh fruit and vegetables in our Terrace and Gateway Cafes and Garden View Deck and Bar.
“We want to take this one step further and, in partnership with EFDA, share our passion for the best quality fresh food from the vegetable plot to plate.”
EFDA relaunched earlier this year, following 17 years as the Edinburgh New Town Cookery School, with a clear mission to create, connect and elevate cooking skills in the community and food and drink industry.
Based in the centre of Edinburgh, which is regarded as a vibrant food and drink destination, it brings together innovation and experience to deliver a range of professional chef courses and recreational classes and events for home chefs, with an interest in mastering the kitchen.
The RBGE’s Kitchen Garden is one of the many ways the organisation is championing conservation and sustainability projects. Located near the historic Botanic Cottage, visitors to the garden have the opportunity to see a working harvest garden change through the seasons.
The Kitchen Garden uses organic planting practices and produces up to 1.5 tonnes of fresh produce every year, which is then used to shape the seasonal menus in the garden’s onsite cafes in a true plot to plate fashion.
