Join Chef Simon for a hands on workshop exploring Christmas Sweetmeats. Whether made for your own family or as gifts for friends, there is almost no present more generous at Christmas than hand made puddings and mince pies.
Held on the Saturday prior to Stir Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent and the traditional date for stirring the Christmas Pudding, you will make your own suet free mincemeat, mince pies and learn the secret of the most delicious Pudding. Dating from the early 19th Century and first written down by Eliza Acton, this recipe was saved for the modern world by Joyce Molyneux of The Carved Angel in Dartmouth.
Simon will share with you the recipes and methods to create these iconic dishes and you will leave with 6 mince pies you have made yourself and one of Eliza Acton’s famous puddings in a traditional ceramic basin.
Following the workshop, you will have an opportunity to taste our new Christmas Menu with Simon
Simon Spence, a lifelong food and drink enthusiast, turned his attention to cooking in 2012, following a career in the city across property, insurance and computers. Crystallised on a childhood trip to Perpignan, Simon’s passion began on trips to the market in search of the freshest and ripest produce, and was revisited when he began teaching himself new techniques and cuisines, with influences including Simon Hopkinson and Rowley Leigh.
Joining Worton as Baker in 2017, he transformed the bread, viennoiserie and cake offering. He also took on the role of Chief Zymologist, fermenting grains, fruit and vegetables ensuring the year round availability of produce on our regenerative, closed-loop farm. In 2019 Simon took the opportunity to buy the farm and relaunched as “Worton Kitchen Garden”
