This masterclass shows you how to pickle, preserve and ferment your way through the last of the summer’s produce and keep your larder stocked up with vibrant, intense and easy-to-achieve flavours in time for root veg season (which, let’s face it, can get a little dull after your seventeenth roasted parsnip).

During these mad times, Food Waste has become an important part of everyday life. We at Carousel have taken it upon ourselves to lead from the front, with our new workshops “Pickling and Preserving like a Boss”, which are based on The Hunger Gap. 

During the classes, you will learn how to make the most of your food waste, through pickling and preserving seasonal fruits and vegetables. The chefs will share their knowledge and skills, so you can stock up and create some magic with your waste.

In the first class we looked into the last of the Summer Berries and how to preserve for the Winter months ahead, from sauerkraut to melon cordial. The class started with our Head Chef Mark Tuttiett explaining how learning about Food Waste has changed both the way he works and his thought process behind creating all the menus at Carousel. This process varies from making all the vinegars in house with the fruit trimmings throughout the year, to using all the vegtable offcuts to make kimchi and sauerkraut. 

During the class, the students asked questions such as how they can use the leftovers in their fridge, how they can make their shop go further and how to best limit their food waste. A good example is that by utilising all your leftover fruit (that has become too soft to eat), you can make your own cordials and shrubs. With a simple recipe it can be turned into something special.

Ingredients

• 150g fruit Trimmings 
• 1.7litres boiling water
• 900g caster sugar
• 50g citric acid 
• 2 unwaxed oranges, sliced
• 3 unwaxed lemons, sliced

Just these simple ingredients will make your Gin and Tonics taste that much better.  

We would love to take this class much further and to start developing the students’ skills, during different times of the year. Come join us and you will never have an empty fridge again! Instead, you will have a larder just like your Grandparents used to have.  

After the class, the chefs will also cook a feast for you, using all the methods and skills you have learnt on the course and showing you what you can do with all these ingredients. We hope to see more people and restaurants working this way in the future and we hope that we can make a small difference.