Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.  

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One of the upsides of British summer is the opportunity to go to festivals, and I love that there are so many food festivals in Yorkshire.

Each one has a different vibe, and you can never quite anticipate what the experience will be with Yorkshire weather. Luckily, this year, the weather was fantastic.

The RHS launched The Festival of Flavours in 2022 to celebrate the produce from its gardens and encourage us to grow some of our own food. It was a huge success and this year's festival offered even more traders and chef demonstrations.

Both seasoned and amateur gardeners and foodies turned out in their droves for the event, which included children's cooking classes, kitchen garden tours, live music performances and a wide variety of food to try.

The festival was backdropped by the colourful grounds of Harlow Carr and I was excited to be on stage cooking two dishes alongside many other local chefs.

Fig and raspberry clafoutis

A personal highlight for me was using seasonal ingredients; I used white currants as part of my sweet dish, which was fig and raspberry clafoutis, with a white currant and raspberry whipped cream. It was my first time using the berry and I was excited to learn about the flavour profile.

Traditionally made with cherries, clafoutis is a French classic that is a staple in many homes. Methods behind the dessert can be varied - some simple and others much more complicated.

The former calls for all ingredients to be mixed in a blender before pouring over the fruit in an oiled dish.

The more complex recipes, however, call for the egg whites to be beaten separately – to form soft peaks - before being added to the yolks which have been beaten with sugar. Melted butter is also drizzled into it before folding in the flour.

Having tried different recipes, I have concluded it doesn’t make much difference to the end result, so I would recommend keeping it simple!

I sometimes use brown butter (beurre noisette) to get a nutty taste and add some almonds for a bit of crunch.

The cooking stage

The cooking stage featured some incredible chefs, including 2022 MasterChef winner, Eddie Scott, and contestants Afsaneh Kaviani and Owen Diaram. The RHS’s own Joe Lofthouse was also there, as well Gilly Robinson from The Cook’s Place in Malton, Ian Wilkinson from Yolk Farm, and Bobby and Minal Patel from Prashad, Leeds.

David Atherton, who won the Great British Bake Off in 2019, taught a masterclass on scones. I am still dreaming of his lemonade scone, but we still don’t know if the cream or jam should go first.

Lots of local businesses were also there, including the district’s own Harrogate Tipple and Jack in a Box, as well as The Yorkshire Pasta Company which is based in Malton.

How to reduce food waste

I left with some fantastic tips on reducing food waste. These include always writing a shopping list; never go shopping when hungry; avoid going shopping too frequently; do a weekly fridge raid; get creative to use what you have at home and store your ingredients in the right way to extend their shelf lives.

9.5 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the UK alone - despite 8.4 million people being in food poverty.

We all need to try and grow some of our own food, have an appreciation for ingredients and reduce waste as much as possible.

Next week, I will be visiting Baltzersens Café and Coffee shop.

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Read more:

• Yemi’s Food Stories: the Yorkshire distillery that makes vodka from apples


• Yemi’s Food Stories: A ‘sweet day’ at Bettys Cookery School

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