Worcestershire
WR13 6NW UK
Tel: 01684 584900
For more information please contact:
Sharon Gilbert
Press & PR Manager
Telephone:
01684 584929
Fax:
01684 584930
E-mail: sharon@threecounties.co.uk
Editor's Notes:
The Malvern Spring Gardening Show is a fund raising event and a joint venture of the Three Counties Agricultural Society (Registered charity no: 511868) and the Royal Horticultural Society (No: 222879), and is now in its 24th year.
Felice Tocchini has appeared on BBC’s The One Show, Countryfile, Midlands Today and Heart of the Country, as well as having cooked on BBC Woman’s Hour. He works with schools to teach children the wonders of cooking, and is honorary chef for the British Sprout Association on account of his famous ‘Sprouty Cake’.
Fusion Brasserie is at the Bird In Hand, Hawbridge, Stoulton.
Celebrity Chef Keeps It Under His Hat!
A Tuscan-born chef who made his English debut at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre restaurant in Stratford, is to bring his own special blend of culinary magic to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show (7 – 10 May 2009).
Felice Tocchini, of the acclaimed Fusion Brasserie at Stoulton, Worcestershire, will be marrying food and horticulture to rustle up a heavenly selection of tasty recipes inspired by the fruit, vegetables, herbs and even flowers which thrive in the average home garden or allotment.
He’s also been commissioned to come up with a special bespoke creation set to wow guests at the Show’s exclusive evening party on First Day – but, for the time being, he’s keeping the details firmly under his chef’s hat!
Honest cooking, which uses simple ingredients farmed, fished or reared locally by artisan producers is currently in vogue with dedicated ‘foodies’ nationwide.
Felice will be working very closely with the Show’s Farmers Market exhibitors, such as Bilbury Trout Farm, Emily’s Jams and Pickles and Larkins Family Reared Meat among others, to create a tempting array of flavoursome dishes using out of the ordinary, and largely organic, home produce.
He’ll also be sharing some timeless tips gleaned from helping his mother and grandmother gather and cook fresh ingredients from the family allotment back in Italy, when he was a small child.
Felice is famous for incorporating some of the more maligned vegetables such as Brussels sprouts and cabbage, into delicious cakes which go down well, even with children. He is the only Worcestershire restaurant to have been selected to appear at the Taste of Birmingham event in July.
In fact, on Saturday, 9 May, he will be running a special culinary master class, for junior ‘head chefs’ who want to teach a parent or a grandparent how to cook!
He’ll also be cooking with television gardener and Design For Living Theatre host, James Alexander- Sinclair, and Kim Hurst from the Cottage Herbery (8 May), as well as meeting local food producers and working with their products live on stage, and cooking from some of the event’s 22 Show Gardens.
As part of a special ‘Flavours of the World’ theme, chefs from other countries will be joining Felice in the Cookery Theatre, to create some wonderful dishes inspired by their homeland, with recipes from Italy - of course! - India, China and the Lebanon.
He is also creating a Victorian menu and hopefully a fantasy menu too!
Said Sharon Gilbert, Press and PR Manager for the Show: “Promoting local and regional food is high on our list of priorities, here at the Showground, and the food element is fast becoming an integral thread running through all our main events, so Felice’s Kitchen is a wonderful addition to the Spring Gardening Show.
And it’s not just about taste – healthy food is a hot topic too, so more imaginative use of fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, which are believed to offer some protection against cancer and heart disease, will almost certainly be of interest to our visitors.”
The Malvern Spring Gardening Show is a joint venture of the Three Counties Agricultural Society and the Royal Horticultural Society, and takes place at the Malvern Showground between Thursday 7 and Sunday 10 May. First Day is advanced tickets only.
Other attractions include 22 Show Gardens, the Chris Beardshaw Mentoring Scholarship 2009, sponsored by Bradstone, 7 school gardens, 3 student borders, a Design For Living Theatre with contemporary garden catwalk, fashion shows, the 1.6 acre Malvern Floral Marquee, a new Eco Home & Garden area, floral art, crafts and quality shopping at hundreds of sundries stands.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:
Sharon Gilbert – Press & PR Manager
Three Counties Agricultural Society
Telephone: 01684 584929 (direct dial)
E-mail: sharon@threecounties.co.uk
Show Web Site and Box Office: www.threecounties.co.uk/springgardening
Ticket Hotline: +44 (0) 1684 584 900/924
For more information about Felice’s Kitchen, please visit: www.fusionbrasserie.co.uk
Released: 20/04/2009