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BLOG | February 14, 2020

Swansea’s festival celebrating all things Welsh, Croeso Food & Drink, will be packing lots of flavours into one weekend at the end of February.

If you’re heading to the two-day event, which is in Swansea’s city centre on Saturday 29th February and Sunday 1st March, you can expect to enjoy an exciting line-up of cooking demonstrations that will get your taste buds tingling.

For starters (pardon the pun!), Dirty Vegan Matt Pritchard…

on Saturday TV’s Dirty Vegan, Matt Pritchard, will be sharing his passion for amazing plant-based food that tastes “BANGING!” The former frontman of MTV’s Dirty Sanchez is now a vegan chef and ultra-athlete who loves to show how incredible, nourishing and easy to cook vegan food really is through his BBC TV show, Dirty Vegan, and accompanying cookbook.

Matt has a genuinely infectious enthusiasm for life, centred on truly good food and extraordinary sporting achievements. He believes in celebrating the joy of beautiful, colourful, fresh plant-based dishes that are easy to cook at home. No surprise, his cookbook, Matt Pritchard’s Dirty Vegan, is now an Amazon bestseller.

Matt will be bringing his Dirty Vegan style of cooking to the Croeso Food and Drink Festival on Saturday 29 February. He’ll be cooking in the Food Marquee at 1pm before a question and answer session at 2pm in Swansea Market, where he’ll also be available to sign copies of his book.

Main course (we mean Michelin Star attraction), Jean-Christophe Novelli…

The main attraction on Sunday, without doubt, will be multi Michelin Star award-winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Dubbed the nation’s favourite French chef, Jean-Christophe will be cooking with some of Wales’ finest produce in the Croeso Kitchen at 12pm and 2pm.

“I’m delighted to be spending St David’s Day at the Croeso Food & Drink Festival. This is set to be a fantastic event for all the family.” Jean-Christophe said.

Jean-Christophe arrived in Britain in 1983, initially working in several establishments before taking care of Keith Floyd’s pub, The Malsters. As Chef Patron at Gordleton Mill, Lymington, he won the first of two Michelin stars before heading up the kitchen at the Four Seasons Hotel, Hyde Park Corner.

In 1996, Jean-Christophe then opened four restaurants in London, France and South Africa, and so began the foundations for his internationally based mini empire. What is so surprising is that he only had £500 in his pocket to start this solo venture.

These days Jean-Christophe heads up his own cookery school, Jean-Christophe Novelli Academy, where he invites people to join him in a series of masterclasses, sharing his techniques, knowledge of ingredients and passion for good, flavoursome food.

When not in the academy kitchen, Jean-Christophe is touring the country demonstrating his culinary talents at food festivals and corporate events, sharing recipes, and helping to inspire people to cook with fresh, local produce.

Don’t miss Jean-Christophe at Croeso Food and Drink! He’ll be sharing recipes, tricks of the trade, and his love of cooking on Sunday 1 March, at 12pm and 2pm.

And, if you’re hungry for more great cooking…

Joining Jean-Christophe Novelli and the Dirty Vegan, Matt Pritchard, in the Croeso Kitchen to show you how to cook exciting dishes with fantastic local produce are:

Imran Nathoo, MasterChef 2017 quarter-finalist

Since reaching the MasterChef quarter-finals in 2017, Imran Nathoo has been cooking at food festivals throughout the country and we’re pleased to be able to welcome him to Swansea for this year’s Croeso Food and Drink Festival.

As a dentist and dad, it’s a miracle that Imran finds the time to cook, hosting supper clubs in Cardiff and displaying his culinary talent at food events around the UK, including the prestigious Borough Market, Royal Welsh Show and Abergavenny.

Imran has a massive love of food and cooking. His own style of food is influenced by the Gujarati food he was brought up with, but continues to evolve as he strives to make his mark on the Welsh food scene, regularly contributing to programmes on BBC Radio Wales.

You can keep up with Imran’s culinary adventures on his blog, Kitchen Clonc (clonc ins colloquial Welsh for chat), where he documents his journey in the world of food as well as recipes and restaurant reviews.

Imran will be demonstrating his unique food at Croeso Food and Drink Festival on Saturday 29 February at 3pm.

Katie Davies, BBC Best Home Cook 2018 quarter-finalist

BBC Best Home Cook quarter-finalist, Katie Davies is looking forward to sharing her love of family cooking with the people of Swansea at this year’s Croeso Food and Drink Festival.

Katie was the only Welsh contestant in the 2018 series of the BBC home cooking competition, Best Home Cook, which features Mary Berry. And, she used the programme to promote Wales and its wonderful produce.

A busy working mother of four children, Katie’s a 999 call handler for South Wales Police, it’s amazing that Katie finds time to cook for herself, let alone a crowd. However, since the programme she’s demonstrated her passion for home cooking at several food festivals, sharing recipes suitable for busy young families.

Hailing from Neath, Katie regularly shops at Swansea Market and hasn’t far to travel for her cooking demonstration at Swansea’s Croeso Food and drink Festival. You can watch Katie’s demonstration on Sunday 1 March at 1pm.

Meanwhile, you can check out some of her recipes on her website, www.katiehomecook.com.

Okay, we’re a little biased, but we really like her Penclawdd Pie!

Michelle Evans-Fecci, Great British Bake Off 2019

On you marks… Get set… Bake! Michelle Evans-Fecci, contestant and star baker, cake week, on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off 2019, will be donning on her apron for Croeso Food and Drink Festival.

Like many, Michelle’s love of baking comes from a childhood spent watching her mam baking at home. Growing up on a farm, fresh local produce is important to Michelle.

Michelle bakes almost every other day and loves to experiment with flavour combinations, making good use of seasonal ingredients from her own vegetable patch.

Don’t miss Michelle’s baking demonstration at Croeso Food and Drink Festival, in Swansea’s city centre, on Saturday 29th February at 2pm.

Meanwhile, you can watch Michelle baking cookies…

Sian Day and Rob Bowen, semi-finalists on ITV’s My Kitchen Rules

Sian Day and Rob Bowen, semi-finalists on ITV’s My Kitchen Rules, will be teaming up again to deliver a mouth-watering cooking demonstration at Swansea’s Croeso Food and Drink Festival.

Photo of chef Sian Day at Croeso Swansea

Readers of Swansea Life magazine will be very familiar with Sian Day’s food, but the food writer has also appeared on TV, and not only with Rob Bowen My Kitchen Rules. Sian has also cooked on ITV’s Food Glorious Food, impressing Lloyd Grossman and Tom Parker Bowles with her use of local seasonal ingredients. Sian’s grandparents have inspired her cooking. It was her grandad’s recipe for the Welsh favourite, cawl (lamb broth), that she cooked on Food Glorious Food. Sian regularly demonstrates at local food festivals, sharing her passion for home-cooked nutritious food.

Growing up in the family kitchen and grocery, Rob Bowen’s food is deeply rooted in home and local community. As well as reaching the semi-finals of My Kitchen Rules with Sian, Rob has appeared on ITV’s Taste the Nation. He regularly attends local food festivals, demonstrating his culinary skills and sharing his food adventures.

Can’t wait until Croeso to see Sian and Rob cook? Check out this video where they cook a delicious Red Thai Fish Curry and Raspberry Crème Fraiche dessert.

Nerys Howell, Howel Food Consultancy and author of Wales on a Plate

Nerys Howell, a familiar face on S4C, will no doubt deliver Wales on a plate at the Croeso Kitchen on Saturday 29 February.

Having presented and demonstrated food and drink themed items for nearly 20 years, on programmes such as Heno, Prynhawn Da, Casa Dudley, Pryd o Dafod, Byw yn ol y Papur Newydd, and Y Plas, Nerys is no stranger to showing people to get the best out of fine Welsh produce.

She is the author of Wales on a Plate which brings to life the traditions, lifestyles and cooking of Wales combined with Nerys’ more contemporary recipes based on Welsh produce. You can see Nerys cook in the Croeso Kitchen at 11am on Saturday 29 February.

Helen Wilson, vegan chef and consultant at Great Green Kitchen

Plant-based chef Helen Wilson has spent the last 12 years promoting, teaching and creating vegan food and is very much looking forward to Croeso Food & Drink Festival.

Helen, who has delivered dozens of talks and cookery demonstrations across the UK while working for vegan charity, Viva!, will be in the Croeso Kitchen in Swansea Market on Saturday 29 February at 11.15am.

Helen was head chef at Swansea’s first vegan cafe, Urban Zen and her recipes have appeared in many major food magazines, books and websites. She is currently getting ready to open doors to her own vegan coffee bar in Brynmill.