On Saturday 13th April, Masterchef semi-finalist and Happerley Chef, Sarah Dugdale, ran her first pop-up at the Hive Restaurant in Cheltenham. Taking on the challenge of ensuring that she was able to trace all her ingredients back to source, Sarah wowed all the guests, finishing off the evening with an enpassioned speech about the ctitical importance of provenance.
Wow, what a night that was. The Hive was buzzing with excitement. The venue is great and the food - ooh-la -la!!!! But most of all Sarah Dugdale is not just a brilliant cook, she speaks confidently and candidly to people in a genuine and honest way. She is diligent and works hard to show the local provenance of the food. I am really looking forward to more events as I have loved every minute and am awaiting to seewhat she’s going to do next. Bravo.
Sarah's three course menu was all sourced locally. Sarah explains:
The fish was suppiled by the New Wave Fish shop and the lamb came from Adam Henson's farm. I made the red wine reduction using lamb bones from Lambournes Butchers. The salt used to season the food came from Droitwich Salt and the chives came from my own garden.
Most of the vegetables for the meal came from the Wayside Farm Shop ( the farm where they are also grown). The cauliflower and purple stem broccoli, however, came from Drinkwaters Farm. The cheese I used in the cauliflower cheese was made using Isle of Mull Cheddar and the Lancashire cheese was from Greenfields in Lancashire.
The eggs used in the souffle and in the dessert were from Cacklebean Farm, Stow on the Wold - a family run business who keep rare breed chickens and are renowned for their rich yellow yoke. I made my own butter using the cream from Homeleigh Farm, which was rich and delicious. The cream used to make the Gelato dessert and the ice cream was from Homeleigh Farm (Julian, the farmer, has a heard of Guernsey and Jersey cows).
A wonderful evening. Lovely venue, warm staff and, of course, some fabulous food.
The staff at The Hive were fantastic and photographer Crack The Lens managed to catch this fantastic photo of the staff tucking into Sarah's delicious dessert at the end of the evening!
