Company type | Charity |
---|---|
Founded | 2009 |
Headquarters | Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom |
Key people | Alison Swan Parente (founder) |
Website | schoolofartisanfood |
The School of Artisan Food is a cooking school sited on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire. Founded in 2009 by Alison Swan Parente, the school aims to teach the 'lost skills' of artisan food production.[1]
The School was founded in 2009 by William and Alison Swan Parente as the UK's first artisan food school, and opened that October.[1][2] The couple had founded the Welbeck Bakehouse the previous year but, upon finding that there was a lack of skilled artisan bakers to supply it, decided to establish a school to provide education and training in artisan food production.[3]
The school is located at a Grade II listed former fire station dating back to the 1850s at the Welbeck Estate. The School's facilities include three purpose-built training rooms, a resource room and a demonstration theatre.[4][5][6] The school focused first on fermented foods like cheese, beer, bread and charcuterie.[7]
The first students graduated from the School's Advanced Diploma in Artisan Baking in 2011, which is now a six-month course equivalent to foundation degree level.[8][9] About 2000 students enrolled in 2015.[10]
The School hosts the annual 'Food for Thought' festival each summer with lectures from food writers, business owners and educators.[11][12] The School won the Cookery School of the Year award for 2014-15[13][14] and the Countryside Alliance Clarissa Dixon Wright Award in 2017 for outstanding contribution to food and education.[15]
It was featured on the BBC radio The Food Programme on 26 April 2010.[16]
In 2018 the School launched a foundation degree course, Artisan Food Production FdSc, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, taught jointly by both institutions. The first course will be taught in October 2019.[1][17][18]
In August 2018 the School launched a range of handmade artisan meats in collaboration with Delilah Delicatessens sold in Nottingham and Leicester.[19]
The School's courses cover a range of food production skills including butchery, bakery, cooking, cheesemaking and patisserie.[20]
The School's cheesemaking courses have been claimed by The Guardian to have "helped to transform the British industry".[21]
Courses range in length from half a day to six months and also include courses to teach students how to set up their own food businesses.[22] Seasonal courses, such as Christmas-themed classes, Mother's Day and Father's day courses, are also available.[23] The school's "Pig in a Day" is a crash course in butchery.[24]
The School attracts students from a variety of backgrounds, from middle-aged people looking to change career path, to hobbyists, to children, to international students who come for long-term residential courses.[25][26][3]