Putting the Feast back into Festival

There will be no smoke without fire at the third annual Powderham Food Festival. 

It’s Autumn: think fire, succulent barbequed meat, hot chestnuts, slow-cooked pulled pork, roasted pumpkins, fish baked in corn husks, clams scattered onto hot coals, sizzling mussels, ravishing ribs. Outdoor cooking over traditional fire all served up in the beautiful surroundings of Powderham Castle.

Barbecue cooking is taking Britain by storm – chefs all over UK are installing fire pits in their kitchens, giving customers a simple but delicious alternative to more complicated offerings.

Powderham Festival 2014 reflects this in the dazzling line up of guest cooks. Bring out your inner caveman! Feast your eyes on our theatre of fire 'n' smoke and then literally feast on chunks of beautifully char-grilled Devon meat washed down with fabulous West Country ales and cider.

From fire-pits to charcoal filled wheel barrows, via flaming tandoori ovens, the festival provides a bonanza of barbecued and char-grilled meats including venison from Powderham parkland, fish and shellfish from Exe Estuary, superb grass fed Devon beef and pork from Pipers Farm. The sparks will fly as pit-masters cook up a storm.

You will find over 100 producers exhibiting in the castle and grounds, along with fascinating demonstrations, talks and tastings.

Heading the line-up are:

Tim Hayward: Food geek, Guardian writer, broadcaster, editor of Fire and Knives which won Best Food Magazine at 2012 Food Writers Awards. Author of FoodDIY - how to make your own everything! Tim will bring wit, wisdom and fiery expertise to Powderham's finest produce using a charcoal and seaweed filled wheelbarrow as his favoured cooking medium.

Jane Baxter: Ex head chef Riverford Field Kitchen Jane Baxter is a chef and food writer. She trained at the Carved Angel under Joyce Molyneux before moving to the River Café. After a stint travelling and cooking around the world, in 2005 she set up the acclaimed Riverford Field Kitchen in Devon. She is co-author of the Riverford Farm Cookbook and Recipes for Everyday and Sunday. Currently based in south Devon, her latest book, co-written with Henry Dimbleby, is Leon: Fast Vegetarian.

Ben Bulger: Devon Chef of the year Magdalen Chapter Hotel - Ben is an award-winning chef whose core ethos is to create simple, seasonal and classic dishes, with a focus on local produce. During his career he has won an Observer Food Monthly Award and just months after The Magdalen Chapter opened its doors, he was named as Chef of the Year 2012 in the Devon Life Food and Drink Awards. Before joining The Magdalen Chapter, Ben was Head Chef at The Riverford Field Kitchen, where he worked alongside Jane Baxter. Ben’s style of cooking helped them to gain a reputation for simple but excellent food.

Peter Greig: Co-owner with wife Henrietta, of Pipers Farm, produces award winning grass fed free range meat. Peter began by working in his father's industrial chicken unit but was keen to change direction to traditional, slow growing farming methods. Heading down to Devon and establishing Pipers Farm, Peter then travelled continental Europe to witness very different butchery methods, teaching himself to butcher. The prime focus is producing contented animals, slowly, on the land in small groups to minimise stress - and to produce fantastic tasting meat. Today Pipers a Farm embraces 25 family farms who use traditional, sustainable values to produce healthy food. Peter is a master at the fire pits, famous for his smoked BBQ beef brisket. 

James Strawbridge: Proprietor “Posh Pasty Company”, grower, poet, environmentalist, eco-technologist, TV presenter and cook, brings along his “BBQ Smokehouse” serving home-produced pastrami sandwiches. A “Hungry Sailor”, together with his Dad, Dick Strawbridge, he has sailed the coast of South West Britain making landfalls to find the best locally produced food and appeared on his own show. They also appeared together on “It’s not easy being green” and “Saturday Farm”. 

Patrick Fogarty: Bronx Grill and Bar in Teignmouth - London restaurant entrepreneur, Patrick Fogarty is a Devon lad returning to his roots to open Bronx BBQ restaurant and bar to add to the emerging and exciting Teignmouth restaurant scene. Committed to using best local meat, serving killer cocktails and Devon craft ales, Patrick will be serving up a fiery storm at Powderham Castle Food Fest this October.

And that's not all. Are your loaves leaden? Do you despair at your sagging sponges? Are your rock hard scones even rejected by the ducks? Help is at hand in the Garton King Perfection Marquee where we’ll be serving up superb demos on how to faultlessly bake everything from the perfect meringue to the perfect pasty.

Helen Hayes, PR manager of Helpful Holidays, the key sponsor, is looking forward to the festival. She said: “We can't wait to celebrate a third year sponsoring this event. Fabulous West Country food is very much a part of our guests' self-catering holiday experience and we are happy to be involved again.”

Plenty of fun for all the family, live music in two venues and an abundance of fabulous food and drink – don’t miss it. 

The festival takes place on Saturday 4 October 2014. For more information visit www.powderhamfoodfestival.com