Welcome

Ground Up Cookery School is a family business born out of a lifelong love of food and drink, from growing it and finding it to preserving it and cooking it.

At home we use a lot of foraged and seasonal ingredients. On the courses we enjoy using traditional cookery methods including pickling, infusing, fermenting and curing and also embrace modern techniques and equipment to complement classic techniques.

As a family we aspire to a zero-waste lifestyle. As a business we like to support this ethos in a realistic way. We all need to learn to eat seasonally and locally, but also to enjoy our food and drink!!

Learn what is available and growing around you throughout the year, share that passion and make the most of available ingredients. We want to engage, enthuse and empower you to make better food decisions.

Crockernwell sits on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park which epitomises the very best the UK has to offer. We are surrounded by nature, local farms, large and small producers and the sea is not too far away in either direction!

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Head Tutor:

Having grown up in a fishing and farming community on the Isle of Coll in the Inner Hebrides, Colin has always been surrounded by the finest seasonal ingredients and driven by the necessity to make the most of them. Over 30 years as a professional chef has seen Colin work in a variety of different roles from charter yachts and boutique hotels to leading catering companies. This has given him the opportunity to showcase his skills to the most discerning of guests. Having received many accreditations and awards he feels that now is the time to share his extensive knowledge and passion for a career that chose him.

 

 Tasha

The one behind the scenes:

Tasha is a very competent home cook…most of the time! Before having a family she loved to travel. One of her few hobbies is definitely eating delicious food, with a fascination for trying new dishes and ingredients from around the world. Tasha moved to Devon from London about 15 years ago having fallen in love with the South West. Professionally her career is from a more administrative/managerial background. As a couple we have always worked well together in every venture followed, so fingers crossed you will enjoy Ground Up Cookery School as much as we hope.

It is our aim to bring our children up close to nature, enjoying everything that Devon, Dartmoor and rural life has to offer.

Customers - Courses

Our courses are aimed at anyone with an interest in food. From competent cook to beginners you will find that there are skills to learn. Most recipes will be prepared in pairs and there is always help available if you get stuck. Those with more knowledge and experience may be pushed a little harder to take their dishes to the next stage.

We are always interested in feedback from our customers, so if there are any courses that you would like to see run or any ingredients you would like us to focus on just drop us an email. We are very happy to design bespoke courses for groups of 6-12 people.

Ground Up Cookery School