I went along to the first one with a fair idea of what to expect from Head Chef Jon Appleby who I’ve known for a while and who demonstrates at York Food Festival regularly. The event started at 11am with hot drinks and biscuits for the surprisingly large attendance given it was the first running. With caffeine and shortbread on board my friend and I joined the group in a private room all set up for Jon to get stuck in. Running this in a carpeted room with a portable induction hob on a tressle table was always going to inject a bit of slapstick into proceedings but Jon is clearly an adaptable fellow and tailored his set up throughout to make sure everyone got a decent view as well as the opportunity to ask as many questions as they want. First up was a twice baked cheese soufflé before moving onto a main of chicken supreme with Hollandaise, greens, poached egg and potato Lyonnaise, which prompted an excursion to the kitchen proper for the chicken as a temporary oven would have been a step too far. Over an hour and a bit Jon walked us through each step, which would be featured on recipe cards to take away, before sending us into the dining room to check the results having already seen his workings.

The dining room at The Feversham is an airy space that looks out onto the swimming pool and spa buildings and a very pleasant place to enjoy a midweek lunch. The theme of the demo and the dishes it presented was of dinner party dishes that could be prepped in advance for minimum stress, which suits a souffle down to the ground… There’s a good reason that menus proudly proclaim their soufflés to be twice baked and it’s not entirely for your benefit as much speed of service. Having seen how much cheese went into this example, I wasn’t in the least bit surprised how indulgent and delicious it was and the good scattering of chives would have made the @ratemychives grade any day of the week. The chicken supreme was similarly rich, with the neatly trimmed chicken and presented on blanched greens with a perfectly poached egg just waiting to be burst, and Hollandaise to underline the indulgence. All the elements of this rich dish fulfilled their purpose with aplomb and the red onion in the Lyonnaise potato cut through the heavier elements for a touch of relief.

With a glass of wine thrown in, two courses for £45 in such a nice dining room would be fair value but chucking in entertainment from a chef such as Jon just sweetens the deal. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I turned up for this one and it was a surprise to see it so well attended from a standing start, so I fully expect future editions to be similarly successful.

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I joined a friendly table of ham enthusiasts on a Tuesday evening to start proceedings with a glass of prosecco and meet our “Hamsmith” host from Brindisa, who spoke with enormous passion and knowledge about the meat he was working with. Through the course of the evening, we learned a great deal about the history of ham production in Spain and the traditions that have grown up around it over the last thousand years.

The Powerpoint presentation contained a huge amount of information, telling us about the protected origin status of Iberico ham, the regions that produce it, the breeds of pigs used for Spanish cured meats, the ageing process, and how to judge the quality of the meat. Incidentally, I’ve been searching my memory for another Powerpoint presentation that I’ve enjoyed even slightly, with little success.

Our “Hamsmith” friend then handed over to the venue’s resident sherry expert to talk us through the merits of sherry and how it pairs beautifully with cured meats. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a couple of sherry tastings before so needed little convincing, but those in the group less familiar with the diverse variants enjoyed a pleasant surprise as their preconceptions were challenged. Our host did a great job of talking through the journey from Fino to PX through Oloroso and Amontillado.

With the group now feeling suitably emboldened by the sampling, we set about taking a literal stab at some meat. In the manner of all experts, the chap from Brindisa made the process look easy of cutting into the cured leg to create a flat surface from which one could draw off paper thin samples of meat. There was an understandable air of trepidation about handling a very sharp knife this late in the evening from a few in the group, but practice was, thankfully, the catalyst for greater confidence, rather than alcohol, and no injuries were inflicted.

The evening rounded off with more samples of Ham & Friends’ fantastic produce and a hearty bowl of chorizo and potato stew. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with great company from like-minded food lovers, enlightening talks and generous sampling of a range of superb produce. The good mood I was left in was not even tempered by having to sprint for my train! It’s definitely worth keeping a watching eye on upcoming events here.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for my attendance at this event, opinions remain as impartial as ever.

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Demonstrations – There’s a great line up of chef demonstrators this year. I’ll be trying to fit in as many as I can, but with the number on offer I suspect some will slip through the net. Top names include Andrew Pern, Neil Bentinck, Adam Jackson, James MacKenzie, Sara Danesin Medio, Steph Moon, Josh Overington and Tommy Banks.

Food Events – With the festival expanding across large portions of the city this year, there’s a huge amount to get booked into. Here’s a selection to look at:

• Afternoon tea tour of York from Tours in a Dish
• Star Inn the City‘s pop up
• French cheese & wine with Love Cheese
• Community table at El Piano
• Txoko Basque tapas at Ambiente
• Medieval banquet at Barley Hall
• Melton’s fish & wine matching dinner

The Beer & Cider Festival -The festival, as always, warrants attention separate from that focussed on the centre of town. As in previous years, it’s taking place on the Knavesmire over four days (Wednesday 20th to Saturday 23rd Sept incl) and will offer the chance to try around 500 different beers. To help soak up all that beer, there’ll be nine food vendors on site too. Head on over to their website for all the details.

Discovery Tour and Taste Trail – The Taste Trail returns this year, offering the chance to take in York’s sights while stopping off at some of its finest food establishments for samples which are covered by the cost of your leaflet. A new concept to run along with the Taste Trail is the Discovery Tour Passport. This will allow visitors to really get hands on, enjoying activities such as pasta making, bread making and chocolate tasting.

This really is just a sample of what’s on offer. Pretty much every food business of note in York is involved, so if I’ve left out one of your favourites, don’t hesitate to shout me on social media and direct my ranging through the Festival. Have a fantastic time and happy eating everyone!

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The course took place at Andy Annat’s house, the garden of which was predictably rammed with BBQ equipment. A pizza oven and tandoor supplemented the four other BBQs that were up and running when we arrived, one of which was gently smoking away with a pork joint to be ready later, while another was packed with bacon ready to get the day underway with breakfast, over which we met the rest of the course’s attendees.

After a first burst of butchery demonstration we set about making sausages, with two of the group co-opted into mixing their own sausage meat and using a sausage machine to stuff their sausages while the activity was accompanied by many double entendres and bad jokes. After realising that making up strings of sausages isn’t as easy as Andy Annat makes it look, we moved into a chat about the relative merits of cooking on planks against salt blocks. With examples of both of those in place on one of the BBQs, I set about making up some bacon-wrapped onion rings to contribute toward lunch, which would also feature “dirty steaks”.

We were cooking with natural lump wood charcoal, so we had no worries about it being adulterated with any accelerant or chemical, and that meant that we could just throw a bunch of steaks directly onto the coals. After a decent interval for them to take on some smoke, they just needed the coals knocking off and a coating of Bovril butter to bring out the quality of the meat. With that done, we were ready to serve up lunch and get stuck into the fruits of the morning’s work and enjoy fantastically cooked examples of everything I’ve talked about along with a selection of salads and some maple- and pecan-drenched sweet potatoes that had been cooked in the coals.

The afternoon was spent over a series of more butchery demonstrations that showed, in great detail, where particular cuts of meat come from, along with more chats about technique and the BBQ scene in the UK and around the world. Andy has some cracking anecdotes to share too that I don’t doubt are, deservedly, well practised. If you have the chance, ask him the one about armed response intervention and the Queen, or about messing with a prominent food critic’s potatoes on live TV.

The day continued at breakneck speed, taking in mackerel, BBQ Yorkshire puddings, BBQ garlic flatbread, lemons injected with butter and slow smoked pork that had been cooking in the background all day. With the need for something sweet to complete proceedings, a bunch of pineapple strips were covered in rum, cinnamon and sweetness before being seared and served.

The cost of the day was £120 and included your apron from the day, all you could eat through the day and all you could drink from the cask of local real ale squatting in the corner from which you could serve yourself. That’s a complete bargain if taken in isolation, and even more so if compared to other well known local cookery schools. The next course will be a BBQ take on “The 12 days of Christmas”, which sounds like a suitably left field subject for a day with Andy Annat. I’ll be checking my penny jar…

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