Local Chef and Salamander Cookshop Serve Up Spanish Flavour at Wimborne Food Festival

Colm McKavanagh will be sharing tricks with tortillas at this year’s Wimborne Food Festival © Salamander Cookshop

Wimborne chef Colm McKavanagh is teaming up with award-winning Salamander Cookshop for this year’s Wimborne Food Festival on Saturday 19th September, bringing practical Spanish-inspired cooking ideas, local produce and exclusive festival promotions to foodie lovers.

‘Chef Colm’, as he is now known, is a former headteacher of The Romsey School in Hampshire and retrained professionally as a chef in Dorset at White Pepper Culinary School, now based in Poole. He has worked at The Wimborne Pig and currently works part-time at the new Rivers Edge Bistro in Wimborne.

His cooking is strongly influenced by French and Spanish food, inspired in part by time spent living and working in Gran Canaria, where regional tapas from the island’s mountain villages made a lasting impression.

For the festival, Colm will present Tricks with Tortilla, a live demonstration in the Dacombes of Wimborne Food Theatre Marquee on Willow Walk near Waitrose. He will show how to make a classic Tortilla Española, served with sheep’s cheese, aioli and roast pepper purée. Chef Colm explained: “The demonstration will focus on a faster, simpler method that home cooks can use when the time needed to make a traditional tortilla is limited.  With food miles in mind, the dish will highlight ingredients that can be sourced locally in Wimborne.”

The demonstration will also feature state-of-the-art cookware selected by Salamander Cookshop, including the Circulon Halo sauté pan. Salamander Cookshop, based at 57 High Street, carefully selects the pans it sells and aims to offer the best in class at each price point. Salamander owner David Crossley said: “As an independent cookshop, we’ve been exploring alternatives to traditional non-stick surfaces and stock a wide range of products from major suppliers and artisan producers for customers to see, handle and discuss in store.”

Everyone attending the festival demonstration will be offered a voucher for 20% off the featured Circulon and Prestige ranges, redeemable either at the event or later in store. Attendees will also be entered into a prize draw.

Salamander Cookshop will also host a special in-store event during the festival from 11am to 2pm. Visitors will be able to meet Chris Hoyle, representing Lékué, the Spanish brand known for silicone bakeware, air fryer liners, microwave products and other kitchen designs. Hoyle will demonstrate how to make toasties using Lékué’s microwave grill, which can also be used to grill foods such as burgers and vegetables. As part of the promotion, Salamander will offer 10% off all Lékué products bought on the day.

Wimborne Food Festival is organised by Wimborne BID and brings live demonstrations, tastings, artisan traders, local food and drink stalls, competitions, events and special offers to venues across the town.

For more information about Salamander Cookshop, visit www.salamandercookshop.com, sign up to its monthly newsletter or call into the shop at 57 High Street, Wimborne.