PRESS RELEASE: Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar has teamed up with The Hampshire Chutney Company and this Autumn’s Pumpkin Festival in Southampton to help raise money for the Jubilee Sailing Trust.
At the suggestion of festival organiser Sonja Davison, to source a celebrity signature Pumpkin Festival chutney for 2011, and with the support of county food group Hampshire Fare, Shelley Wilkinson of the Basingstoke-based Hampshire Chutney Company approached Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar of Vatika Restaurant at Wickham Vineyard, to ask whether he would donate a recipe for pumpkin chutney. Production of 'Atul Kochhar’s Pumpkin Festival Chutney’ is now underway, and Shelley is donating 50p from each jar sold towards the Jubilee Sailing Trust and a further £20 per 100 jars sold. Pumpkins are close to the heart of the Trust’s fundraising, which holds the hugely popular Autumn Pumpkin Festival and Scarecrow Avenue, this year on 8th October at Royal Victoria Country Park near Southampton.
Shelley said: "Atul has been so generous with his support, and his recipe tastes delicious, either straight from the jar as a chutney, or warmed to serve as a side dish. I hope our sales of Atul Kochhar’s Pumpkin Festival Chutney will raise as much as possible for the Jubilee Sailing Trust. The Trust has offered to donate any surplus pumpkins from this year’s Festival to me, to turn into Atul Kochhar’s Pumpkin Festival Chutney and help grow their funds even more, so I can see many hours at the stove ahead!" Leading up to the Festival, Shelley has been sourcing pumpkins from Hampshire Fare farmer Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers, who as well as making their award-winning cheeses, grow over 420,000 pumpkins and squash each year.
Vatika, The Hampshire Chutney Company and Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers are all members of Hampshire Fare. Hampshire Fare Chairman Mike Wright said: "This is perfect example of teamwork for a good cause – Atul Kochhar and Vatika are always very involved in our Hampshire Food Festival held in July, and The Hampshire Chutney Company is a dynamic local producer working with other local producers such as Lyburn Farm and looking to support this charity through what it does best. It is rewarding to see this idea turn into a good fund-raising opportunity!"
JST Volunteer Sonja enthused: " Some of our greatest festival foodie friends and supporters are Hampshire Fare members and producers and we are thrilled to be working as a team to help raise funds and awareness for this pretty amazing Hampshire based charity".
You can buy Atul Kochhar’s Pumpkin Festival Chutney online at www.thehampshirechutneyco.co.uk, at the Pumpkin Festival and Scarecrow Avenue on October 8th and from outlets listed on this website. For more information about the Pumpkin Festival and Scarecrow Avenue on Saturday 8 October which runs noon-5.30pm, or the work of the Jubilee Sailing Trust, visit www.jst.hampshire.org.uk.
ENDS
For more information about this press release, please contact Sophie Boxall at Hampshire Fare on 01962 847098/07725 445042, sophie.boxall@hants.gov.uk or Shelley Wilkinson at The Hampshire Chutney Company on 07545388767, thehampshirechutneyco@ymail.com.
For more information about the Pumpkin Festival on October 8th, please contact Sonja Davison on 02380641882 or via the festival website www.jst.hampshire.org.uk.
For more information about the Jubilee Sailing Trust, please contact Kelly Carter at JST on 02380 426868, fundraising@jst.org.uk. The Jubilee Sailing Trust promotes the integration of men and women of all physical abilities through the challenge and adventure of tall ship sailing
Hampshire Farewww.hampshirefare.co.uk is the county food group and is supported by Hampshire County Council plus Corporate Partners, Ecover UK Ltd, Festival Place Shopping Centre, Fuller Smith & Turner PLC, Leepeckgroup, Newsquest (Hampshire) Ltd, The Southern Cooperative, Wave 105 FM, and Corporate Friends The National Trust and New Forest & Hampshire County Show.
Our main aims are to:
- increase awareness among the public and trade of the wide range of local produce available
- foster good business practice and assist producers to compete as viable enterprises
- encourage high standards of production and presentation
- organise marketing activities - festivals, exhibitions and promotions - to promote food, drink and craft from Hampshire
- develop initiatives to incorporate local food and drink into public sector menus