Shakespearean Food Comes To Life At The Stratford Food Festival

Food historian, Seren Evans-Charrington will be giving demonstrations of Shakespearean food on both days of the Stratford Food Festival on the 14th and 15th of September at the Stratford Racecourse.

The cookery displays in the evening on Saturday and in the morning on Sunday will include dishes quoted in Shakespeare’s plays such as Warden Pie from The Winter’s Tale and Date & Quince Pastries from Romeo & Juliet and will be conducted by Seren in full period costume.

Seren is a professional cook and enthusiastic educator on period cooking and was recently delighted to take part in filming for ITV1's series “Country House Sunday”. She appears in four episodes and covers Frugal cooking, Victorian cooking, Georgian cooking and Victorian cleaning. She runs a business called Bubbling Stove, in Bwych-llan, near Lampeter. Her work is based on a real passion for British historical food that she has researched and practiced for many years.

She said: ”I particularly wanted to attend the Stratford Food Festival because of the great history of the town and the Shakespeare connection.”

Her business recently scooped a Bronze award at the annual British Pie Awards, in Melton Mowbray  for her Victorian Curry Pie in the Vegetarian Pie class. Organised and Hosted by the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, the awards broke all records this year as a staggering 983 pies were entered from across the UK.

She has worked in costume since 2007, portraying characters and food history from the medieval period to the1940's. In addition to her live cookery demonstrations and television and radio appearances, Seren is also a talented food stylist. She has also collected a range of period props, moulds and antique kitchen equipment.

Historical food and the history of food have become more popular in recent years. It is increasingly visible in the media and is now being recognised by many historical locations as being a key part of the visitor experience.