Karen Wright: New dishes for return of a classic festival
This is the seventh year in a row that I have had the privilege of being one of the demo chefs at Wakefield’s fantastic Rhubarb Festival.
The festival is taking place this weekend from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd February so there are three days of great things to enjoy in the city centre.
The pedestrian area all around the cathedral will be packed with stalls selling every rhubarb related product you could think of. On Saturday there will also be stalls in the Ridings. There is a rhubarb food and drink trail which is a lot of fun and on Saturday, you can find me in the iconic Red Shed during the afternoon where I will be serving some rhubarb dishes and, of course, there will be rhubarb drinks too.
For the first time this year the food demos will not be taking place in a marquee in the Bullring but instead we are using the WX building, which I think is an excellent idea You can find that space near the bus station. I open the demos on Friday at eleven in the morning just after the mayor has opened the festival, and I will close the demos on Sunday at three in the afternoon.
Over the years I have cooked so many different rhubarb dishes from curry to cheesecake and much more in between. This year I am focusing on a couple of simple things to make, which are stunning to look at, and delicious to eat. I will be making sausage and rhubarb plait and a rhubarb tiramisu! The tiramisu has an extra Yorkshire twist as I will use parkin or gingerbread instead of sponge fingers and then I will soak it in Baileys.
Forced Rhubarb is very special to our area; in fact, we live in the rhubarb triangle, and this festival is a great opportunity to support our traders and enjoy everything that our city has on offer. Why not come along and say hello, I hope to be providing some samples of the things that I am cooking on stage and of course there are other people doing demos all weekend long, so it is a great opportunity to pop into the warm WX building and take the weight off your feet and enjoy the show!
Next week I will return to another of my favorite subjects, the caravan! Yes, the season starts in earnest in March, and I am raring to go!