Christmas at River Cottage is a magical time and the climax of a year of growing, cooking and feasting. On this hands-on cookery course, the River Cottage chefs will teach you a range of skills and techniques to fully embrace fruit and vegetables in your festive cooking.
Learn how to get the best out of your veg, discover new ways to turn vegetables into delicious starters and sides as well as stunning celebratory showstoppers. And it wouldn’t be Christmas without some indulgent sweet treats!
Take home a glut of knowledge to feed your family and impress your friends at Christmas time.
“A fantastic day, a wonderful cooking experience in a unique tranquil setting! Everyone so welcoming, knowledgeable and nothing too much trouble. We learnt so much, felt safe to ask questions and the food was absolutely amazing. I will be returning!” Emma, December 2022
10:00 - 17:00
You will meet your host, and start the day with tea, coffee and treats fresh from the kitchen.
We'll begin the day by creating some sourdough seed crackers and a selection of festive dips and salsas, perfect for pre-dinner celebrations.
Next Next, you will discover new ways to use winter veg in creative and delicious raw assemblies before you move onto rough puff pastry. You'll use this buttery flaky pastry to make sumptuous veggie sausage rolls or cheese straws.
You'll pause to enjoy the creations you've made so far and have an opportunity to explore your surroundings.
After your light lunch, you’ll create a series of stunning veggie side dishes that will change your approach to classic Christmas veg.
Next, learn how to incorporate veg into cakes and puddings and make a spiced root veg and chestnut cake and seeded chocolate tiffin.
Your chef will then demonstrate a show-stopping veggie centrepiece as inspiration for your Christmas dinner.
You and your fellow scholars will tuck into the show stopper created by your chef tutor with Hugh's vegan gravy and some of your sides. Now is a perfect time to ask your tutor any burning questions and reflect on your day.
Head back up the hill for 5pm, with your goodies in hand and the inspiration to create a veggie festive feast at home.
This course is run from River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of HQ will be provided once you have booked.
We are a licensed venue. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines available to purchase.
If you would like to stay at the heart of River Cottage, we offer overnight accommodation at River Cottage HQ in our beautiful 17th century farmhouse. We have three stylishly refurbished bedrooms for B&B plus the 2-bedroom Gardener’s Cottage. These get booked quickly so for more information go to rivercottage.net/stay to book. Alternatively, we have put together a list of our local accommodation which includes B&Bs, self-catering, hotels and camping.
We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12 years of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. We put these guidelines in place for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.
Sorry, we’re afraid this course is not suitable for those with coeliac disease or wheat intolerances. However we do run courses that are suitable for those who are gluten free.