Food lovers are being offered the chance to get up close with their favourite dishes at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes.
Staff at the Museum, which is owned by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA), have launched a new project to let people taste Yorkshire Dales food, understand how it was produced and explore local food traditions and related objects from the Museum’s collection.
They will also be able to find out about ingredients from the wider world and their influence on the Dales food culture.
Museum Manager Fiona Rosher said: “We aim to inspire visitors with seasonal food and forgotten skills linked to growing, gathering, storing and cooking in the Dales. We will show how people used to cook, how they cook now and how we can reconnect with local, seasonal food suppliers and 'real cooking'.”
The Museum will be running informal drop-in and taste demonstrations as well as hands-on ‘making and baking’ sessions covering everything from bread baking and butter making, simple soups, winter comfort food, casseroles and stews, to using up leftover foods and foraging for wild food for those who’d like a go themselves.
“We hope people will come along and have fun discovering some traditional skills and gaining some modern cooking tips so they can spread the word about the great food available within the area and encourage other people to buy locally and use locally-produced seasonal ingredients,” Fiona said.
There will be drop-in and taste sessions for Museum visitors on March 20 and April 5 and 10.
Local suppliers and food businesses are also invited to get involved at Museum events either by using their products and taking part on site or in the community as guest demonstrators.
The project, called Yorkshire Dales Food – A Celebration!, is being supported by the Friends of Dales Countryside Museum and the YDNPA’s Sustainable Development Fund, which is managed by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. It runs until September next year and hopefully will continue beyond that.
Anyone interested in taking part – whether they are a local food producer or food supplier or just have a special family-favourite recipe to share – can contact Museum Projects Officer Jane Sammells at jane.sammells@yorkshiredales.org.uk or speak to Jane or Fiona on 01969 666210.
