"Like a sparrow’s song, foraging calls you to look around. It lures you to observe and indulge in the gentle rhythms that unfold with the seasons. It’s mindfulness at its best. Wild food is also incredibly delicious, offering a fresh palette of new and exotic flavours which are rich with nutrients, but it’s incredibly nutritious."

Rachel de Thample, Made In Hackney Ambassador, Forager, Author, Chef & Preserver

This foraging masterclass is part of our 'VIP Series', working with experts who are renowned in their field. The event will include:

• A guided walk through the park identifying wild foods and enjoying tasters of the plants along the way
• Delicious tasters of some of the recipes made by Rachel with seasonal wild foods – past tasters have included ‘Foraged Nettle & Chickweed Falafel with a Wild Garlic Tahini Dip and Pickled Wild Cherry Plums’
• Ideas on how to prepare, cook and preserve wild foods
• Tips on where and how to forage
• Information on the health benefits of wild foods
• A handout with online links to all the wild foods discovered on the walk, as well as a number of Rachel's delicious seasonal wild food recipes

N.B. This class does not cover mushrooms which is a highly specialist topic

Rachel de Thample has worked in the kitchens of Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Peter Gordon. Rachel is the author of Less Meat, More Veg, FIVE, Tonics & Teas, and has served as the Head of Food for the pioneering organic box scheme Abel & Cole, where she developed a number of foraging guides and recipes. She’s also supplied local chefs and Crystal Palace Food Market, which she helped set up, with wild food. She currently teaches preserving and fermenting courses at River Cottage HQ in Devon.

Fee: £35 (£28 Concession**) inclusive of VAT, includes tasters made with foraged ingredients and an informative handout with tips on foraging and recipes. Please come weather-prepared (the class will not be cancelled in case of wet weather).

* This fee is used to fund our programme of free courses to vulnerable and low-income community groups.

** Concessionary rate available for students, pensioners, unemployed and low waged

Refunds: We require a minimum of 7 days' notice for any cancellations or transfers once you have booked onto a class

For information: info@madeinhackney.org / 020 8442 4266

Location: Victoria Park, Hackney (meeting point and on the day contact number will be advised via email)

ALLERGEN ALERT 

Made In Hackney uses cereals containing gluten namely: wheat (spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats; peanuts; all other nuts; sesame; all other seeds; soybeans; celery and celeriac; mustard; sulphur dioxide/sulphites; lupin; tomatoes and other allergens in it's classes. Our food is freshly prepared in our busy cookery school kitchen that handles allergens, so we cannot guarantee that our food and drinks are allergen-free. Even in classes where these ingredients are not being used, they will be on site in our store rooms and our equipment will have previously come into contact with them. Participants attend at their own risk.