The evening will be a combination of talks, coupled with sampling products from our expert foodies

Paul Merry, The Dorset Baker. Based at Cann Mills in Shaftesbury, where flour has been milled since before the Doomsday book in 1086, Paul’s work is rooted in the landscape and history of Dorset. In collaboration with Michael Stoate of Cann Mills, Paul created a bakery where he has been baking and teaching for twenty years. Paul has run Panary courses for dough enthusiasts covering everything from basic bread making and using a wood fired oven to French baking with sourdough, and pizza and Italian baking.’

‘The Dorset Baker’ evolved partly in response to endless student requests on Paul’s popular baking courses and partly from his own passion for his craft, he wants to inspire the next generation. Arriving in the UK in the 1970s as a young Australian he became part of the movement which over the next forty years transformed the bread we eat. He has lived and worked in Dorset for twenty years.

Paul’s book contains plenty recipes and lots of advice on the technical aspects of using flour and making bread, it also looks at the history of bread making and how bakers themselves are shaped by their relationship with the social and geographical environment in which they ply their craft.

Paul’s new cookbook will be available to purchase, making a great christmas gift. As well as bottles of cider or perry and ferments.

Claire at Rull Orchard. Rull Orchard came to be as we sought to move away from our busy urban lives and find a way to connect more meaningfully with nature.  Through the years we’ve planted a mixed species traditional orchard, woodland areas and wetland areas.  We tend our land sympathetically without chemicals, working regeneratively to support the return of a biodiverse ecosystem.  Our bees are nestled amongst a wildflower meadow,  and wildlife and insects have returned in abundance in response to our application of regenerative and organic principles.  

Alongside our sustainable, minimal intervention land management, we’ve been crafting small batch cider and perries, from the fruit we grow and from donations from local ancient orchards with heritage apple varieties. Each harvest we hand select organically grown fruit and wild ferment to develop a range of small batch, award winning full juice ciders and perries.

Red Earth Ferments is run by Rose Whitehouse, who has been fermenting food for over a decade in order to heal and improve her gut health after a diagnosis of Coeliac Disease.  Originally from New Zealand, Rose completed a Masters Degree in Auckland focusing on the experiences of newly diagnosed Coeliacs.

Although she initially started her fermenting journey to make positive choices for her own wellbeing, she’s also found that fermenting food helped to draw attention to the food chain.  She believes fermenting connects us and draws attention to the life that is in/on food. This also helps us consider where food comes from. 

Rose is the fermenter for Shillingford Organics just out of Exeter. The ferments are made by hand in small batches, with the vegetables from the farm. Batches adjust in flavour and ingredients according to the seasons.

Rose runs workshops around Devon and often directly on the farm. She believes ‘field to fork’ experience helps people draw a deeper understanding of our food chain and local food sources.