HUNTER GATHER COOK
COURSES 2013
Please Visit www.huntergathercook.com
For Booking & Enquiries please do drop us an email:[email protected]
(Currently our new website is under construction and will be online in February).
HUNTER GATHER COOK is a foraging and cookery school that specialises in adventures in wild food, outdoor living and self-sufficiency. All our courses take place in an off-grid HQ in the woods and are designed to teach participants how to identify, process and cook a range of wild plants and animals to a high standard. We also believe in teaching fundamental skills such as making fire, trapping, shelter construction and outdoor cookery methods to help you on your way to becoming the ultimate 21st century hunter-gatherer.
We cater for absolutely anyone who wants to learn more about how to live comfortably in the wild, and to us that means how to make food fit for a king from what you can hunt and gather. From individuals to families and children to stag & hen parties or large groups.
The off-grid kitchen at HGC HQ.
The School.
Established in 2011 by Nick Weston, HUNTER GATHER COOK HQ sits in the middle of mixed woodland on a stunning 40 acre farm near Lewes, East Sussex. All our courses take place in the woods, fields and meadows, which offer a wealth of wild plants, fungi, fish and game that supply our off-grid kitchen. We have taken time to ensure that everything has been built from the surrounding landscape: The Canopy frame is made from lengths of birch, all our tables and benches have been milled out of Oak on site, even our sandstone kitchen unit and clay oven have been dug from the stream beds at the edge of the wood.
At HUNTER GATHER COOK we feel that to really learn about wild food you have to immerse yourself in the outdoors completely. Everything from butchery to brewing is conducted in the woods to ensure a great learning experience that will genuinely make you feel more comfortable in the woods and view the surrounding landscape as your very own larder, workshop and kitchen.
HGC Stag do in breaking for Lunch.
We offer bespoke courses for Private groups and Overnighters, if interested please contact: [email protected]
A full list of our Specialist day courses will be on the new website, but our standard seasonal day courses which take place throughout the year can be seen below. If you are interested in booking onto a day course or would like to get a gift voucher for someone special, please email: [email protected]
Overnight DIY accomodation at HGC.
Seasonal Day courses:
Bookings: All courses run weekly between April-November at our off grid HQ in the finest Sussex woodland. Day courses start at 10am and finish at 6pm.
Spring:
Saturday 4th May
Saturday 18th May
Summer:
Saturday 15th June
Saturday 20th July
Autumn:
Saturday 7th September
Saturday 5th October
Group size: 12 people.
Spring Course (April-May) £100.00
Butchery: Deer/Rabbit
Spring greens & wild food walk
Seasonal wild brew workshop & tasting
Fire/ Deadfall Trapping
Outdoor cookery & Underground ovens
Summer Course (June-August) £100.00
Butchery: Rabbit/pigeon/squirrel/Trout
Wild food walk
Seasonal wild brew workshop & tasting
Fire/Snaring and fish trapping
Outdoor Cookery: Clay ovens & Home smoking
Autumn Course (September-October) £100.00
Butchery: Pheasant/Duck
Fruits and Fungi Wild food walk
Seasonal wild brew workshop & tasting
Fire/Bird trapping
Outdoor Cookery: Dutch ovens & skillets
Day Course Overview.
The Adventure will begin with a steaming cuppa and an introduction to HUNTER GATHER COOK, the off grid HQ and a few basics about foraging. We will then throw you straight in at the deep end and send you off to our butchery field camp! Depending on the season we will teach you how to skin, gut and joint the wild meat of the day in preparation for lunch and the afternoon’s taster dishes.
Deer butchery at HGC- Everyone gets stuck in.
Before lunch we will embark on a foraging walk where we will teach you how to identify wild edibles and taste & nibble your way through the woods, fields and meadows.
On return to the HUNTER GATHER COOK HQ we will then put your newly acquired plant knowledge to the test, followed by preparing a wild banquet using both foraged and store cupboard staples.
Putting new Knowledge to the test.
Venison Carpaccio (photo by Steffan Stringer).
After Lunch we will move onto the afternoon workshops. These are designed to teach you a variety of skills that will encourage you to feel more comfortable in the outdoors and help you to see how the surrounding landscape can not only be your larder but a workshop full of useful materials. From wood selection and fire starting to trapping animals and fish- all the tools the 21st century hunter-gatherer needs to acquire and cook their catch.
Trapping: The Fig.4 Deadfall trap.
The day will round up with a wild brewing workshop and tasting and a final cook off using a variety of outdoor cookery methods. Expect to get your hands dirty, a good dousing of wood smoke and learn valuable skills that will stay with you forever ready for your next culinary adventure into the wild!
Wild cocktails at HGC.
Rabbit Butchery Tutorial with a catering school.
We even do Kids Parties...