Rotherham town centre has added a new event to its menu - a food and drink show to suit a wide variety of tastes.
The very first Rotherham Food and Drink Show will be taking place in the very heart of the town this weekend. Fabulous guest chefs will be in the town centre to prepare an array of dishes in the CookeryTheatre, along with vendors and stallholders to provide delicious street food, produce and drinks.
The two-day show offers free entry to the public who will be treated to live cookery demonstrations, artisans and specialists, drink and cocktail bars, street food and an assortment of restaurants will be cooking dishes based on recipes from around the world.
The show will run from 10am to 6pm on the Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on the Sunday.
A recognised figure on the Yorkshire food scene, chef Stephanie Moon will host demonstrations in All Saints' Square from fellow chef, Matthew Benson-Smith of The Chef's Academy and representatives of the Ministry of Food. Steph has worked for world famous chef Anton Mosimann and is currently Chef Consultant at Rudding Park.
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Stallholders range from Mexican street food to artisan brownies. Local enterprise, Pastures Moo, will also be taking a stall, selling various flavours of its handmade dairy ice cream.
Representatives from Rotherham College will be there on both days to promote the catering and hospitality provision of courses and apprenticeships, as well as answering any general questions and providing advice and guidance.
Catering students from The Wharncliffe will be selling plenty of ambrosial homemade delights for the occasion to spoil the customers for choice and on the Sunday, two of the Level 3 students, Ian Riley and Aaron Myers are set to run a 45 minute demonstration on the main stage from 3pm, preparing an Italian themed menu before the audience.
Last month, Rotherham town centre hosted the Garden Lovers Fayre and June sees the return of the popular Vintage Hop.
Manvers ice cream business, Pastures Moo, has secured a sweet spot at Parkgate Shopping over the summer to supply its highly original flavours to Rotherham shoppers.
Owned by Hercules Unit Trust, which is advised by British Land and managed by Schroders, Parkgate Shopping is one of the largest retail parks in the UK, home to over 40 shops and attracting around seven million visitors a year.
Pastures Moo was established in 2013 by enterprising Dearne Valley brothers, Ali and Will English. It has already become established in the local community and has begun to attract local and national interest. They are already supplying local attractions and events as well as making home deliveries. Weddings and birthday parties are proving particularly popular.
Parkgate Shopping has given them a free pitch on the popular shopping park for the next six months as part of a link up with Rotherham Youth Enterprise, who have supported the fledgling company since its formation, providing them with premises, at Century Business Centre in Manvers, as well as business advice and encouragement.
Ali English, co-founder of Pastures Moo (pictured, front right), said: "The generous offer from Parkgate came at a very good time for us. Having established a good niche, we were looking for our next challenge, and serving the public through our first mobile on such a busy site certainly provides that."
Ali already has all the credentials, having served a successful apprenticeship in food production and hygiene. When he recognised that the task would be too daunting for him alone, who better to call on than his energetic brother, Will, who had just finished school and was looking for his own challenge. Behind this dynamic duo is the steady hand of financial adviser father, Simon.
Denis Copeland, manager of Parkgate (pictured serving, back left), said: "They tick so many boxes for us. The mobile is very attractive, the ice cream itself is heavenly, particularly "Messy Moo" which is becoming the flavour of choice (I can say that from personal tastings) and above all, our shoppers love it. The local connection though is the real clincher. Two enterprising lads working their socks off to create a viable business."
The family-owned business has over 20 flavours available ranging from more traditional Vanilla or Strawberry to their signature Messy Moo which combines dairy ice cream with a chocolate sauce, chocolate cookies pieces and mini mallows.
A Manvers ice cream business is already finding success having learnt from the best on a recent trip to Italy at the invitation of the exclusive International School of Gelato in Rimini.
Based at RiDO's Century Business Centre, young Barnsley brothers Ali and Will English launched "Pastures Moo" just a few months ago, after identifying a market niche for handmade artisan ice-cream manufactured in South Yorkshire coupled with a home delivery service.
At the master class they were schooled in the art of artisan ice-cream making with one-to-one tuition from top gelatieres – or ice-cream chefs. Learning methods were personalised to suit their interests and ambitions and incorporated theory and practical lessons which included the history of ice-cream, key ingredients, production methods and a particular emphasis on presentation and marketing with regard to ice-cream parlours.
The brand, which has already become established in the local community, has begun to attract local and national interest for the young entrepreneurs. Over 20 trade retailers have placed orders for the spring and will join their first trade customer, local restaurant, Bistro 63 in the Dearne Valley.
Ali English, co-founder of Pastures Moo, said: "To secure this invitation so early in our careers was a true honour and has allowed us to extend our knowledge and skills so that we can continue to drive the business forward.
"We have never been short on enthusiasm to make this business a real success story but our trip to Italy has shown us other ways in which we could carve ourselves a real reputation for the best ice-cream outside Italy.
"In 2014 we will be looking for new larger premises in order to cope with the increase in demand from both trade customers and home delivery customers and hope that we will also be able to open our first ice-cream parlour."
The family-owned business has over 20 flavours available ranging from more traditional Vanilla or Strawberry to their signature Messy Moo which combines dairy ice cream with a chocolate sauce, chocolate cookies pieces and mini mallows.
A former public services student from Dearne Valley College in Rotherham has launched an exciting new ice cream business called "Pastures Moo."
20-year-old Alistair English and his younger brother set up the enterprise to create handmade, luxury diary ice-cream in a variety of flavours, with a home and work, delivery or collection service available seven days a week. With the help and support from his family, the business-minded former student took the brave step to quit his job and embark on his journey as an entrepreneur.
Alistair said: "I saw a gap in the market for a business that produced freshly made, luxury diary ice-cream that could be delivered right to the to the doorsteps of the Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster communities, and I felt I had gained the perfect skills at College such as project management, to take this huge step with the support of my brother and family.
"We did some initial research and training and bought the equipment we needed to create delicious flavoured ice-creams and we haven't looked back since. We only use natural flavours and ingredients, and source our ingredients locally where possible, such as the Longley Farm Jersey cream that goes into every one of our ice cream products."
The former student, who completed his Level 3 in Public Services course before launching his company, now based at RiDO's Century Business Centre in Manvers, said that his first month in business has been a whirlwind, and the project has had much more interest than he ever anticipated; exceeding his initial targets.
He added: "We have been overwhelmed by the support and response that we have experienced since the launch of Pastures Moo, and we can't make the ice-cream fast enough!
"We are already receiving enquiries from local restaurants, cafes and farm shops, as well as independent retailers who are excited about, and very interested, in our products and branding, so it is an exciting time for us."
The young entrepreneur has now set his sights on his future goals, with the hopes of expanding the business to more than just a delivery service, following their early success, with a view to open an ice-cream parlour in the area in the forthcoming year. The brothers have also been invited to visit the Gelato University in Italy to further their skills in this type of business.
