“At the White Hart, our whole ethos revolves around keeping food miles low, making the most of the produce around us and growing what we can, so a week long celebration of our home grown pumpkins is a fabulous occasion and something to be really proud of,” Kay Chandler says.
“So our whole team at the White Hart is really excited about our upcoming Pumpkin Week event.”
Kay’s husband, head chef and owner Mark Chandler planted the pumpkin seeds this spring, and thanks to some TLC and a fantastically hot summer, the harvest has been abundant this year.
“The pumpkins are big and fat and have just been picked from our kitchen garden,” Kay says.
“Over the Halloween period, over 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin is wasted in the UK every year. Working in partnership with Good Food Oxford, to help raise awareness we want to help reduce this food waste in Oxfordshire,” she adds.
Mark enthuses about his produce and comments that “growing something from seed, watering it, tending it and then picking it and creating a dish to celebrate that ingredient, is one of most satisfying parts of being a chef.”
All week menus will feature specials using the gastro pub’s home-grown pumpkins. Mark and his chef team have been busy planning some delicious creations – think roast pumpkin, lime and a yoghurt and tahini dressing to start; a pumpkin and cep lasagne with local truffles or roast venison with pumpkin gnocchi for main; or brioche French toast with pumpkin pie ice cream and pumpkin crisps for pudding – to name just a few.
Not to be outdone by the chef team, new manager Owain Llwyd Jones and Kay have created a pumpkin and cinnamon sour cocktail and a gingerbread and pumpkin latte, which will appear on the drinks menu.
As an added bonus, Mark and his team have created some delicious recipes which will be shared out over the Halloween period.
Pumpkin Week at The White Hart in Fyfield runs from Friday 25 October to Friday 1 November.
Spaces are filling up fast, so book your table to join this celebration of local, seasonal, home grown produce and pick up some tasty recipes at the same time.
01865 390585
