Emma First events for Edinburgh Food Festival 2023 revealed
Edinburgh Food Festival has announced the first of its live events taking place in the Treehouse Kitchen at Assembly George Square Gardens.
Among the chefs showcasing their skills are Ka Pao Executive Chef Sandy Browning, and MasterChef alumni Sarah Rankin and Vijaya Kunaparaju who will each present a free cooking demonstration in the festival’s outdoor kitchen.
This year’s programme will include demonstrations and workshops around Ethical Eating, Seasonality, Mood Impacting Foods, Plant Based Living and the Zero Waste Kitchen; with a different food focus for each day of the ten-day event, including free daily children’s activities to kick off each day’s line-up.
Saturday 22 July will be Spice Saturday, with a series of workshops and tasting events that’ll spice up your summer. Fife–based private chef and MasterChef 2023 contestant Vijaya Kunaparaju will lead a Children’s Curry Workshop at lunchtime before sharing her secrets on how to prepare the perfect dosa with a practical demonstration making the South Indian savoury crepes in the afternoon. The seasoning experts from BoTree Seasonings will take visitors on a Spice Voyage with a tasting event exploring single origin spices and the stories behind them.
Ka Pao Executive Chef Sandy Browning will be joined by founder Jonathan MacDonald to present a cooking demonstration on seasonality and how they blend the best of seasonal Scottish produce with Southeast Asian flavours to create signature dishes like their Arbroath smokie miang, with galangal, spinach leaves and peanuts.
Rhyze Mushrooms will explore the key role that mushrooms play in our planet’s eco-system and why the future is fungus with a variety of free mushroom themed workshops and cooking demonstrations, including a Children’s Mini Mushroom Alchemy Workshop, an oyster mushroom cooking demonstration, and a talk and discussion on How to Build Food Sovereignty in Scotland.
The final weekend of the festival turns its focus to Wild Food and Plant Power. Edinburgh Fermentarium will lead a double bill of masterclasses, teaching visitors how to prepare their own kimchi and kombucha; cookbook author and MasterChef 2022 Finalist Sarah Rankin will cook up a wild feast live in the Treehouse Kitchen; and award–winning author, wild food expert, and herbalist Mo Wilde will share her experience living on a foraged diet and lead a discussion on Scotland’s wild food biome.
The live events at the Treehouse Kitchen will run alongside the festival’s vibrant Global Kitchen, showcasing some of the best street food from across Scotland. Highlights of this year’s festival menu include British Street Food Award 2023 Finalists The Falafel Stop, Okanda, and The Funnel Cake Co., authentic stroopwaffel from Wholly Waffles, and speciality drinks from Panther M*lk and Stranger’s Point Gin.
New for 2023, the Edinburgh Food Festival will host a Producer’s Market with a changing line-up of stalls from some of Scotland’s best producers and makers selling produce and gifts to enjoy at home.
The ninth edition of Edinburgh Food Festival will take place in the bustling festival hub of Assembly George Square Gardens.
The ten-day event is an annual celebration of Scotland’s larder, placing Scottish produce firmly at the centre of the table. Edinburgh Food Festival 2023 will run Friday 21 July through to Sunday 30 July at Assembly George Square Gardens.
For more information and to sign up to receive updates visit www.edfoodfest.com.
