Get down to the festival cookery theatre to catch all of the fun-filled cookery action live on stage from celebrity chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli and Antony-Worrall Thompson; as well demonstrations from your local favourite chefs sharing  tips on how to re-create some mouth-watering dishes with fantastic regional produce ! 

Friday 16th September

11.00am Pulse FM
Pulse presenters will open the festival, introduce the day’s events and play the latest chart-topping music .

12.00pm Pulse Presenter Cook-off
Catch all the action as a team of Pulse presenters have a fun-filled cook off in a Ready Steady Cook styled demonstration to get the day started!

13.00pm Holdsworth House
Holdsworth House Hotel & Restaurant has signed up to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight campaign to prevent the wasteful disposal of caught fish. Having vowed to support the campaign and switch to sustainable fish types Holdsworth House Hotel & Restaurant will show guests how fantastic fish dishes can be made from this most wonderful of produce.

14.00 Brasserie at the Bull
Brasserie at the Bull is a family run luxurious, british gastro pub situated in the centre of Halifax and will show festival visitors how to make Pork fillet Medallions Wrapped in Pancetta, Garlic & Thyme mash, Shallot Pure and Shitake Mushrooms

15.00 Posh & Swanky
Andrea Cox, Cake Artist, and owner of Posh & Swanky Cupcakes will be teaching audiences the skills necessary to produce tasty, luxurious, and visually tempting cupcakes for all occasions.

16.00 Ginger Vegetarian Café
Showcasing everything that’s great about the local area, Ginger Cafe will be producing courgette and mint fritters with local honey, mustard, beetroot and Todmorden East Lee Cheese, a seasonal dish that’s proving a real hit in their town centre award-winning cafe.

Saturday 17th September

11.00am Pulse FM
Pulse presenters will open the festival, introduce the day’s events and play the latest chart-topping music .

12.00pm Jean-Christophe Novelli
Watch Jean-Christophe Novelli, the award-winning celebrity French chef re-create a variety of taste-tingling dishes from his new cookery book ‘A Mad Frog and an Englishman’.

13.00pm Wham Bam Meringue
Katy from Wham Bam Meringue will use handmade, flavoured meringues to create an indulgent dessert and a delicious fat-free alternative.  So why not pop along and try some at the demonstration or at the Wham Bam stall – indulge yourselves without the guilt.

14.00pm Jean-Christophe Novelli
Watch Jean-Christophe Novelli, the award-winning celebrity French chef re-create a variety of taste-tingling dishes from his new cookery book ‘A Mad Frog and an Englishman’.

15.00pm La Cachette
As we approach game season, Jonathan Nichols, Head Chef and Partner of La Cachette French restaurant in Elland will be demonstrating how to prepare a game bird from scratch and making Pheasant & Pigeon Faggots, Rosti Potatoes with Shallot & Thyme Jus, just one of the delicious dishes available from their menus.

16.00pm Jean-Christophe Novelli
Watch Jean-Christophe Novelli, the award-winning celebrity French chef re-create a variety of taste-tingling dishes from his new cookery book ‘A Mad Frog and an Englishman’.

17.00pm Buttercream Cupcakes
Natasha Spreckley of Buttercream Cupcakes will demonstrate a basic cupcake recipe and show festival visitors how to ice and decorate the perfect cupcake!

Sunday 18th September

11.00am Pulse FM
Pulse presenters will open the festival, introduce the day’s events and play the latest chart-topping music .

12.00pm The Cooking School at Dean Clough
Matthew Benson Smith, Head Chef at The Cooking School will be demonstrating how to make a warm mackerel salad an apple tart tartin – just some of the mouth-watering dishes taught at The Cooking School’s cookery courses that are simple to re-create at home and guaranteed to get you in the cooking mood.

13.00pm Antony-Worrall Thompson
Watch celebrity chef and restauranteur Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrate how to create some delicious seasonal dishes using high quality regional produce.

14.00pm Wham Bam Meringue
Katy from Wham Bam Meringue will use handmade, flavoured meringues to create an indulgent dessert and a delicious fat-free alternative.  So why not pop along and try some at the demonstration or at the Wham Bam stall – indulge yourselves without the guilt.

15.00pm Antony Worrall Thompson
Watch celebrity chef and restauranteur Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrate how to create some delicious seasonal dishes using high quality regional produce.

16.00pm The Tapas Bar
Head Chef and Proprietor Chef Fred Wade will be re-creating traditional Spanish dishes from The Tapas Bar restaurant in Todmorden and sharing his culinary tips on how to cook a simple version at home.

17.00 Antony Worrall Thompson
Watch celebrity chef and restauranteur Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrate how to create some delicious seasonal dishes using high quality regional produce.

Festival Workshops for Grown-Ups!

Truffle Making Masterclass – Daily at 12 noon
The Ministry of Chocolate is the UK’s leading provider of interactive chocolate workshops. Join them at the festival to learn some new chocolate-based cookery skills centred around the fine art of truffle making!

See how to make a variety of truffles in a range of tasty flavours such as chilli, praline and white chocolate to name a few. Then watch the experts delicately pipe truffles using truffle spears, before being invited to have a go at hand-rolling some yourself using pre-made chocolate ganache!

The Ministry of Chocolate will be selling more chocolate based goodies in the Premium Food and Drinks Marquee, so why not visit their stand to get your hands on even more chocolate delights!

www.ministryofchocolate.com

 
Cheese Tasting Workshop – Daily at 3.30pm
International award-winners The Cheshire Cheese Company will be inviting festival visitors to sample the exquisite flavours that make up their contemporary range of cheeses, including blends like Sticky Toffee Heaven, Taste of the Raj – curry flavour Cheddar, Tarragon Champagne Mustard Cheshire and Strawberries & Cream Cheshire.

For the purists there will also be an opportunity to sample their flag ship creamy traditional Cheshire, the bestselling Black Bob Extra Mature, as well as a creamy Lancashire and the very rare but wonderful tasting Royal Blue Cheshire.

The Cheshire Cheese Company will also be talking about the Save Cheshire Cheese Campaign – an initiative to raise awareness of one of the oldest named cheeses in Britain – in order to help encourage people to rediscover the wonderful, tangy, creamy taste of one our countries truly great heritage cheeses.

Visit the Cheshire Cheese Company in the festival’s producers market to take some of their unique and exotic cheese flavours home!

www.cheshirecheesecompany.co.uk

 
Cupcake Decoration Classes – Daily at 1.30pm
Posh & Swanky specialise in teaching you the skills necessary to produce tasty, luxurious, and visually tempting cupcakes for all occasions. Offering a beginner’s class to cover the fundamentals, and also a range of couture and seasonal lessons, all classes are guaranteed to be a fun and creative day out!

Andrea Cox, Cake Artist, and owner of Posh & Swanky Cupcakes will be providing daily workshops at the festival. There are a limited number of places available so please get there early to secure your place.

And don’t worry if you don’t get a chance to get to a class during festival, like Posh & Swanky Cupcakes on Facebook for your chance to win a free cupcake class worth £99!

www.posh-swanky.com

Festival Workshops for Kids!

Chocolate Cookery Workshops – Daily at 1.30pm & 3.30pm
The Ministry of Chocolate is also the UK’s leading supplier of educational chocolate workshops for schools. They’re great fun for children, but they will also learn an awful lot too!

Watch as the class leader talks about chocolate and introduces children to where chocolate comes with real cocoa pods, real cocoa beans and an opportunity to taste some cocoa nibs from the inside of the bean.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! There’ll also be a chance to get stuck in and make some chocolate rice crispy cakes from scratch, all in time for everyone to take their very own creations home.

www.ministryofchocolate.com

Cooking Classes – Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th – 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 4.30pm
The Cooking School at Dean Clough is the UK’s award-winning state of the art cooking school. It provides expert tuition whatever your level of culinary experience and is passionate about helping adults and children alike to release their inner chef!

Having played host to some of the biggest names in the culinary world such as Gino D’Acampo, Gary Rhodes and James Martin, there really is no school better placed to increase your love of food and bring your culinary skills up to scratch!

Appearing at the Halifax Food and Drink Festival to provide interactive children’s cookery sessions, children of all ages will be able to get involved and make their very own dinner dish and dessert.

A sunset pasta salad, a strawberry rhubarb twist and a blackberry smoothie are just some of the exciting options children will get to create.

www.thecookingschool.co.uk

The festival which is delivered by Marketing Halifax will take place from Friday 16th September to Sunday 18th September at The Piece Hall, just one of the town’s many striking heritage attractions.

Antony’s cooking career has spanned more than 30 years during which time he has established himself not only as one of the UK’s most popular chef’s but also a prolific restaurateur, TV entertainer, author, journalist, farmer and campaigner.

Always at the forefront of new developments in food, Antony is increasingly involved in food and health issues, frequently speaking at NHS events on diabetes, heart disease and the benefits of a GI Diet and campaigning for the organic food movement and farmers’ markets.

Antony is a regular judge for the Academie Culinaire’s Annual Awards of Excellence and until recently he was Chairman of the Restaurateurs’ Association of Great Britain. He has won industry accolades in abundance and has been awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de Grande Bretagne (MOGB) – the chef’s Oscar – and is one of only seven chefs to have merited the lifelong title so far

Regularly requested to present popular television cooking programmes, Antony has appeared on a whole catalogue of primetime television shows to share his culinary expertise and love of food with the masses.

Michay Matthews, Marketing, Events and Membership Manager at Marketing Halifax said: “Antony Worrall Thompson has made a significant contribution to the culinary world and we’re therefore very excited to welcome a chef of his distinction to our town. He champions excellence across the industry as well as the use of locally sourced and organic food, and with such a plethora of exceptional local producers and high quality restaurants in Calderdale, it’s a great pleasure to be working with someone that shares the local values.”

Antony Worrall Thompson said: “It’s great to have been asked to come to the Halifax Food and Drink Festival. The Yorkshire region generates a fantastic array of first-class food and I cannot wait to show festival visitors how to utilise the wonderful local produce available on their doorstep to create some delicious regional dishes.”

Visitors to the event can expect a feast of all things foodie – as the region’s best restaurants, eateries and producers join together to provide a fun-filled weekend which will include a local producers market, live cookery demonstrations, a premium food and drinks marquee, children’s cookery workshops, food tastings, expert master-classes and evening entertainment.

For more information on the full programme of events including ticket information, join www.facebook.com/halifaxfoodfest

Television superstar and award-winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli will be gracing Yorkshire with his presence as one of the celebrity chefs at the Halifax Food and Drink Festival. The Bill & Val Rooney Fund and the Gartland Family Trust managed by the Community Foundation for Calderdale has supported his appearance. The festival which is being delivered by Marketing Halifax is being held in association with Halifax Bank and will take place next month at The Piece Hall in Halifax town centre from Friday 16th September – Sunday 18th September.

Jean-Christophe Novelli who is dubbed “the nation’s favourite French chef” has accumulated no less than four consecutive Michelin stars during his career and created exquisite dishes for celebrity stars such as Richard Branson and David Beckham to name a few.

He has also appeared on a wide variety of the UK’s most popular cookery programmes including Saturday Cooks, Hell’s Kitchen and Richard and Judy’s Tender Loving Cooking. Now Jean-Christophe is bringing his kitchen skills and culinary flair to the festival’s cookery theatre, to whip up a treat for Halifax Food and Drink Festival visitors with his selection of mouth-watering recipes and inspiring cookery demonstrations.

Jean-Christophe Novelli said: “I am extremely excited to be a part of the Halifax Food and Drink Festival. It is going to be a fantastic event for food and drink lovers everywhere and I hope people take advantage of this opportunity to come to this wonderful town and sample some of the high quality local produce that Halifax and the Yorkshire region are famed for.”
Last year more than 17,000 people came to the Halifax Food and Drink Festival and organisers Marketing Halifax expect the 2011 event to be the biggest yet, having extended the festival to now take place across three days rather than two.

Michay Matthews, Marketing, Events and Membership Manager at Marketing Halifax said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have attracted such a high profile chef like Jean-Christophe Novelli to the festival and hope that this demonstrates the calibre of the event we’re organising this year. Jean-Christophe is going to be a real treat for festival visitors and we are confident that this will create an unrivalled food festival atmosphere for all the businesses that take part and the huge crowds of visitors that attend.”

Showcasing the best food and drink the region has to offer, the festival has become a major event on the culinary calendar. The event will also boast a local producers market, children’s cookery workshops, evening entertainment, food and drink tastings, fun-filled cookery demonstrations and much more to provide a gastronomic feast for all.

For all the latest information on the full cookery theatre programme, festival workshops, celebrity chef announcements and tickets join the facebook page at www.facebook.com/halifaxfoodfest or visit www.halifaxfoodanddrink.co.uk due to go live later this month.

The Halifax Food and Drink Festival, which this year is being held in association with The Halifax, will return this autumn for its fourth year. Taking place from Friday 16th-Sunday 18th September at The Piece Hall, the festival delivered by Marketing Halifax will showcase the very best culinary delights from Calderdale, the Yorkshire region and the rest of the UK.

 This year the festival looks set to be bigger than ever with an increased number of local food producers, accompanied by some of the best restaurants in the region; giving festival visitors the opportunity to sample critically acclaimed delights for a fraction of the cost.

 The festival will again be supported by a celebrity chef presence and for 2011, Marketing Halifax is lining up some high profile TV personalities, to provide fun-filled and action packed cookery demonstrations to make the event its greatest yet.

 Michay Matthews, Marketing, Events and Membership Manager at Marketing Halifax said: “The food and drink festival has grown to be the largest annual event in Calderdale, and this year the aim is to draw in even bigger crowds to sample our home grown produce, enjoy the festival atmosphere and engage with the diverse range of shops and businesses in Halifax town centre.”

 David Nicholson, Managing Director, Halifax Community Bank said: “We’re really proud to be supporting this year’s festival. We want to focus on the traditions of our building society roots, and get involved in the local community, so this is a great way of strengthening our commitment to our customers, small businesses and colleagues in the region.”

Join the facebook page www.facebook.com/halifaxfoodfest for further announcements about the celebrity chefs and new information on the exciting events programme.