‘Double dibs’ to see top chefs at Thame Food Festival

A star-studded line up of National celebrity and high profile local chefs will be making an appearance in Thame later in the month as Thame’s annual Food Festival takes over the whole of the town centre – and there’ll be not one but TWO chances to see many of them in action.

John Whaite, Great British Bake Off winner

The double-bill planned for this year will see chefs including Raymond Blanc OBE, Adam Simmonds, Sophie Grigson, Jonathan Phang, David Mooney as well as Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi taking to the main demo stage, which will once again be compèred by BBC Radio Two’s Ken Bruce. Between them, they will serve up a mouth-watering selection of dishes and inspiring ideas to try at home.

Two stars of the baking world, ‘the boy who bakes’ Edd Kimber and his fellow winner of BBC Two’s the Great British Bake Off, John Whaite, will be joining forces to do a fabulous double-act on the day, with whisks at the ready at 10 am. Edd will be rustling up some sublime chocolate soufflé tarts with salted caramel from his new book, Pâtisserie Made Simple, whilst John will make an irresistible blackberry and gingernut marshmallow mousse cake.

TV chef, Jonathan Phang, will be cooking up his favourite monkfish curry recipe at 12.30, closely followed by Raymond Blanc who will share his love of simple seasonal food done to perfection in his 45 minute slot, from 1.30pm onwards.

Things really start to hot up at 4.30pm, when chefs from the world-famous Raymond Blanc Cookery School take on their counterparts from Aylesbury College in the fun cook-off, now making its third appearance at the festival.

Mark Peregrine, head tutor and Raymond Blanc’s right hand man in the kitchen, and his colleague Adam Johnson, Development Chef at Belmond Le Manoir, will take on students from the college as they expand their culinary horizons and try to make it 3-1 in favour of the college.

After watching all these great chefs in action, you can then enjoy a second helping by making your way over to the interview stage outside the AGA Showroom on the Upper High Street, where festival patron, TV chef and writer Lotte Duncan will be putting many of them through their paces. Headlining on the interview stage at 12 noon will be Tom Kerridge from the only pub in the land with two Michelin stars, The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, alongside Edd Kimber and John Whaite from 11am, and Monsieur Blanc from 2.45pm.

An all-day programme of food and drink workshops will be running at two locations across town, the Stoneworld Gallery in the Upper High Street and the Upper Chamber in the Town Hall, with sessions on pasta and sausage making as well as bread shaping and wine tasting. Sessions can be booked in advance by going to http://www.thamefoodfestival.co.uk/ Click on ‘Workshops & Talks’ from the main menu where you’ll see a drop-down list of the workshops and events.

Festival patron and celebrity cook, Lotte Duncan, said: “We’ve really got an incredible roll-call of cheffing talent coming to Thame on the day, as well as our biggest ever array of local and artisan food and drink, hands-on workshops and exciting live entertainment. Not only will you get the chance to watch a thrilling double-bill of top chefs in action, you can also get your hands on all the latest cookery books, many signed by the chefs, in our first ever pop-up book shop run by Thame’s independent book seller, The Book House.

“Afterwards you can feast on some amazing street food, have a pint at The James Figg and The Thatch pop-up pub and listen to great live music. We’ve really got all the ingredients for an unforgettable day, so mark your calendar for Saturday, September 27, and join us for a fantastic, free foodie day out!”

The Thame Food Festival takes place from 9am to 5pm on Saturday, September 27, in the heart of Thame town centre.