A RISING culinary star is set to celebrate the quality of local Cheshire ingredients with a demonstration at this year's Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival.
Executive Sous Chef at The Chester Grosvenor's Arkle restaurant and former National Chef of Wales, Sam Griffiths, will host a live cooking demonstration on Sunday, April 9, which will see him prepare a mouth-watering mutton dish alongside his signature take on the iconic Chester Pudding.
The festival is expected to host 30,000 people as it explores the region's unique culinary offering.
With over 150 exhibitors, the Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival will take place at Chester Racecourse between April 8 - 10, playing host to some of the best chefs across the region as well as top TV chefs John Torode, Chris Bavin and Simon Rimmer.
Sam will be on at 2pm on the demonstration stage, where he will be showcasing his culinary skills as well as some amazing local ingredients he and his colleagues have the opportunity to work with on a daily basis.
A celebration of local mutton from Bosley in Cheshire, his main course, which is now also featured on Arkle’s menu, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, will be the star of the show. Accompanied by stuffed morels, wild garlic handpicked from Dukes Drive less than a mile away from the hotel, and tongue gravy, it offers an amalgamation of rich and Cestrian flavours.
READ MORE: Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival returns with TV's Simon Rimmer
Another recent addition to Arkle’s menu, Sam will also be demonstrating how a luxury five-star hotel interprets Chester Pudding, a Victorian and regional version of a lemon meringue pie. In a unique twist, Sam will be pairing it with amazing local honey and gin — packing it with flavour and texture.
Commenting on the event, Sam said: "I am absolutely thrilled to be hosting a demonstration at this year’s festival as not only does it help put Arkle’s name out there, but it also celebrates the abundance of top quality produce our region has to offer. We are extremely fortunate at The Chester Grosvenor to have strong relationships with an abundance of local suppliers, who are essentially the backbone of what we offer. I’m hoping that the two dishes I will be cooking will help showcase our local community and inspire others to shop local and eat well."
Sam works closely alongside Executive Chef Elliot Hill and Head Chef of 18 years Raymond Booker at The Chester Grosvenor’s refined dining restaurant, Arkle. Since joining the hotel in 2016 as Demi Chef de Partie, he has swiftly risen through the ranks to become instrumental in developing fantastic dishes for the restaurant and a well-respected figure within the kitchen team.
More information on The Chester Grosvenor can be found at: https://www.chestergrosvenor.com/.
For more on Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival, visit: https://chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk/.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here