Food Glorious Food Master Class Marquee
Meet and chat to our fabulous producers and join our brilliant Masterclass – regular sessions over the weekend in the Festival Village.
Join us and meet experts at our Food Glorious Food Master Class Marquee
Join our Host Suzy Pelta for some some wonderful Master Classes over the whole weekend
Take a seat and listen to some of our experts as they offer tips and techniques, professional secrets and their invaluable experience. There may even be a sample or two!
These will be held half hourly on both days so pop along and listen to them wax lyrical. With anything from Cocktails to Cheese and Airfrying to Rum, so much inspiration awaits you.
FREE to join once you’re into the festival.
Saturday Schedule from 2023 Festival
- 11.30 - 12.00 | Andy Oakey, The Sustainable Chef
- 12.30 - 13.00 | James Grant, No2 Pound Street - Cheese
- 13.30 - 14.00 | Andy Clarke - Cocktails
- 14.30 - 15.00 | Clare Andrews - Airfrying
- 15.30 - 16.00 | Humble Country - Create your happy
- 16.15 - 16.45 | Vintro Cocktails
- 17.00 - 17.30 | Bray Cured and Daws Hill - Food and Wine Matching/Tasting
Sunday Schedule from 2023 Festival
- 11.30 - 12.00 | Loveday - Rum Masterclass and tasting
- 12.30 - 13.00 | James Grant, No2 Pound Street - Cheese
- 13.30 - 14.00 | Andy Clarke - Cocktails
- 14.30 - 15.00 | Simon Hartley - Hartley's Cookery School
- 15.30 - 16.00 | Humble Country - Create your happy
The schedule may be subject to change.
Suzy Pelta
Stage Compere
My name is Suzy Pelta and I won Lorraine’s Cake Club Competition on ITV1’s ‘Lorraine’ Show with my original cake recipe of a chocolate and banana cake with peanut butter frosting!
Since winning the competition, I have been lucky enough to write my own recipe book: Miracle Mug Cakes and Other Cheat’s Bakes (published by Ryland Peters & Small) and this is available in all good book shops!
I have been a Food Blogger for The Metro and I’ve been fortunate to work with many amazing brands including Maltesers, Nature Valley, Hotpoint and more.
I am regular Demo Chef at food festivals including BBC Good Food Shows, Foodies Festival, Thame Food Festival, Cake & Bake Shows, and more and I have appeared on Waitrose TV, and QVC and regularly contribute to BBC Three Counties Radio as a Food Expert.
I’m a Coordinator Food Judge for The Great Taste Awards and a member of The Guild of Food Writers and an Ambassador for both Marie Curie and The Good Grief Trust.
I live in London with my 3 teenage children, husband and dog Buster.
Read my blog to keep up to date on all of my news & recipes and for your chance to win some fabulous prizes (I LOVE running competitions!)
Suzy xxx
Clare Andrews
I was gifted an air fryer early in the lockdowns of 2020. Unsure of what to make (other than chips!), I started exploring the possibilities of an air fryer and sharing my quick and delicious recipes on my Instagram page @AirfryerUK, soon amassing a dedicated following that came along with me on my air frying journey. And now the author of the best selling book The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook.
I cannot wait to be part of the Thame food festival this year! I will be on stage showcasing a live demo of Air frying some delicious food, along with some handy hints and tips on how to get the most out of yours!
Andy Clarke
Andy will demonstrate a number of delicious cocktails perfect for any occasion from his book ‘Home Bar’. He’ll be creating his go-to ‘let’s get the party started’ cocktail – a margarita! Andy will also show his ‘Twinkle Toes’, a batch cocktail made with sparkling wine, the ideal cocktail to start any party. Andy will also be sharing a unique ‘Peach & Cranberry Sour’ full of fruity retro flavours and his ‘Gin Fizz Refresher, the perfect longer drink to sip during an afternoon in the sunshine. Andy will be evoking thoughts of a tropical beach holiday with an innovative and super fruity cocktail – his Pineapple Smash.
Don’t miss your chance to share the cocktail love with Andy! You will also be able to buy signed copies of ‘Home Bar’ – his book featuring over 60 cocktails to shake, muddle and stir, on the day.
Mark Lawson, Two Spoons Tea
I am a professional tea taster who’s tasted more than a million teas in a career that has seen me travel the tea world, including India, Kenya and China.
I started Two Spoons Tea Ltd @twospoonstea with a fellow tea taster, Giles in 2020. We’re named after the tools of our trade, our tasting spoons! We think tea is an unsung hero and want to tell the amazing stories behind this wonderful, natural beverage. We sell a delicious, Great Taste Award winning range of quality teas in both loose leaf and biodegradable ‘pillow’ format.
James Grant, No.2 Pound Street
James Grant is a cheesemonger based in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. His award-winning shop, No2 Pound Street sells British & Irish Artisan Cheese.
Join James at the Master-Class Marquee to experience a tasting on 2 delicious artisan cheddars. This year James is putting on what intends to be the largest tasting of artisan cheddar ever held. Comedian Marcus Brigstocke will be hosting the event. The Great British & Irish Cheddar Challenge will be filmed live and online from Bra, Italy. This is where the 14th Cheese Presidia is taking place. The event highlights slow food that is both ethical and sustainable.
The round table discussion will cover topics such as why it is important to choose what we eat carefully and about the impact that some modern farming methods have on our planet and health.
For more information about The Great British Cheddar Challenge and to get involved follow this link.
Will Torrent
Will Torrent is delighted to be back at the Thame Food Festival and is looking forward to sharing some of his extensive knowledge on all things chocolate… and yes, there will be a tasting!
Having spent the last 10 years as a Consultant to some of the UK’s biggest brands, Will is now a Senior Innovation Chef at Waitrose and Partners as well as a Judge for the Great Taste Awards, World Marmalade Awards, National Chef of the Year, Quality Food Awards and more.
He is a member of the Academy of Chocolate, Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and Craft Guild of Chefs as well as an Ambassador for the charity Tearfund.
His bestselling first book “Pâtisserie at Home” aimed to take the fear factor out of desserts; he demystified the dark art of chocolate making in his second, “Chocolate at Home”; and his third “Afternoon Tea at Home” helps you bring the elegance of afternoon tea to your table at home.
Humble Country
Supporting the Festival every year, the local Humble Country team specialise in curating a really lovely collection of small businesses straight out of Instagram and bring them all under one roof!
Do you love to buy from small businesses when possible? Do you love to discover new small businesses selling homewares, gifts and accessories? Visit our shopping marquee for a real treat, we have a treasure trove for you all under one roof and you can easily start your Christmas shopping early!
Even better than just shopping from small businesses is the chance to get to meet the owners and makers face to face! We are thrilled to be interviewing four of the small businesses here in the Masterclass Theatre this year: come and meet the makers, ask questions to the business owners, see their ranges up close and personal and find out more about them… then go and and find them on their stands afterwards and shop!
Festivales and Kate Kelland
Kate Kelland invites you to join her tasting some of the extremely supable beers and ciders available at Thame Food Festival this year. Learn about the beers and ciders and the stories behind them. Kate brings together some of the most talented independent award-winning brewers and makers in the country.
Kate is Director of Festivales which delivers event bars with craft and passion. It specialises in craft beer, real ales and traditional cider bars, bringing hand-picked delicious delights to the people. Kate has provided bars for Sidmouth Folk Festival, Henley Royal Regatta, Crawley Folk Festival, and Towersey Festival.
Simon Hartley, Hartley's Cookery School
Simon opened Hartley’s Cookery School In January 2022.
Bringing his wealth of hospitality experience and extensive cookery knowledge to Haddenham to provide fun filled cookery courses in a relaxed environment.
Simon will be demonstrating a dish that’s a bit of a cross between their chefs tables and cookery courses.
Mangalitsa pork tenderloin marinated in porchetta flavours with date and orange salad and smoked mayonnaise. Delicious!!
Andy Oakey
Andy Oakey (The Sustainable Chef) started his mission to share tasty and simple recipes with a big focus on the environment. He started out with the Foodies food festival crew in 2021, and has since been sharing his newly released cookbook, top tips, and hacks at the BBC Good Food Show, Ideal Home Show and beyond. His latest work is looking at the use of alternative cooking approaches to save on energy.
Masterclass: Plant-based or not? Your turn to judge
Andy Oakey has cooked up some samples but can you tell which is which? Discussing the sustainability of your supermarket and cooking choices, Andy shows you how you can cut the environmental impact of your diet with some super simple swaps.
Bray Cured
Inspired by the writings of Raymond Blanc and Darina Allen initially, Alex Mugan has been crafting charcuterie since 2008, when he was briefly a chef. While a move from Accrington, Lancashire to London killed his career in the kitchen, his love of creating charcuterie survived corporate life as an increasingly out of control hobby.
In 2021, Bray Cured was born, focused on creating charcuterie with local inspiration and real provenance. Winning 13 Great Taste Awards in 18 months, for products featuring local beef, pork, venison and hogget, Alex and Bray Cured are recognised as rising stars in the firmament of the British charcuterie scene.
Loveday
Loveday is the work of old friends more than a little bit obsessed with flavour and with two decades of culinary & design experience, on an eternal search for beautiful, vibrant new things to sip on.
They’ll be talking you through the process of creating and distilling their gorgeous Organic rum.
Create Your Happy
We are Liz and Laura from Create Your Happy and we are thrilled to be part of the Humble Country Shopping Marquee at the Food Festival for the first time this year!
We are so excited to meet you in the Masterclass tent! We will share with you our special approach to crafting, in which we help people enjoy nourishing, mindful, connecting, creative experiences and tell you about current crafting trends to look out for! We will tell you about the origins and vision behind our small business, introducing you to our ever-growing Craft Kit range and the craft workshops we run. Plus, we always make sure that food factors into our workshops and even our craft kits!
While we are chatting, we will demonstrate a simple craft activity, highlighting how crafting can be fun, achievable and accessible to all!
Vintro Bar
Visitor Tickets
