South West News

Eden Project and The Big Lunch

The Big Lunch is back and has today [16 April] launched a new nationwide search to unearth hidden culinary gems and the stories behind them with the help of celebrity chefs including Ainsley Harriott, Dame Prue Leith and Briony May Williams. It is part of Eden Project’s campaign to invite people to take part in The Big Lunch, the UK’s annual celebration for neighbourhoods and communities, which takes place on 7 and 8 June.

The recipe search has been launched in response to a new national survey conducted by YouGov that revealed Brits love to cook but are in urgent need of inspiration to get themselves out of a cooking rut. The new data reports that almost one in seven of all UK adults (14%) NEVER cook a completely new recipe, with around a quarter of people (24%) admitting that a lack of ideas discourages them from cooking from scratch.
The report dives deeper into the nation’s kitchen habits, finding that while four in ten UK adults (40%) report they are more likely to cook meals from scratch compared to five years ago, many of us hold back from trying new dishes due to a lack of ideas and inspiration. Eden Project’s head chef, Mike Greer, has created a unique variation of a potato salad to mark the recipe search launch. He aims to inspire Eden Project visitors offering up new delicious flavours and encourages home cooks UK wide to roll up their sleeves and share their favourite recipes at www.TheBigLunch.com!
Mike said: “This unique twist on a classic potato salad is a dish that is great for sharing and perfect for picnics. It is allergen free, suitable for vegans, easy to prepare and delicious. Potatoes can be grown at home quite easily and you don’t need a huge amount of space for them, so it’s something fun that children can get involved in too.”
At the Eden Project, Mike Greer’s curried potato salad uses turmeric and coriander grown at the attraction’s state-of- the-art Growing Point nursery. It is one of the many culinary delights currently on offer to visitors, in a menu filled with fresh and tasty choices. Mike and his team at the Eden Project serve up a vast array of meals every day. Dishes are focused on supporting healthy people living on a healthy planet, using Eden-grown produce wherever possible and reflecting the stories told within the exhibits on site.
A Cornish home cook getting ready to submit her recipe is Sarah Moore, who is Chair of Trustees at Friends of Bude Sea Pool. The largely volunteer-run space has become a community hub, with more than 200 people giving up their time to ensure the pool continues to provide people with the chance to spend time outdoors, exercise and connect with each other. Bude Sea Pool has held an annual Big Lunch since 2010, with Sarah always on hand to bake hundreds of her special scones to share out at the waterside event.
Sarah said: “I’m excited to be sharing my scone recipe as part of The Big Lunch Recipe Search. Scones are a classic for a reason and they always go down a storm at our annual Big Lunch, where I like to serve them with my homemade rhubarb jam. Easy to make and always perfectly fluffy, you can’t go wrong with this recipe– as long as you serve your scones jam first, of course!”
Top chefs are supporting the initiative, including Dame Prue Leith, Ainsley Harriott and Bake Off’s Briony May Williams.
Dame Prue Leith said: “The Big Lunch Recipe Search is more than just a way of finding and rewarding the people behind the UK’s best home recipes. It is an invitation to people everywhere to join in with The Big Lunch and share food and friendship together. It is a chance to celebrate the recipes that we love sharing with others and the special role that food plays in strengthening relationships, celebrating who we are, our passions, culture and traditions and that sense of belonging where we live.”
Home cooks who submit the recipes that they feel bring people together are in with a chance to have their recipe featured in a Big Lunch online cookbook and shared at thousands of Big Lunch events up and down the UK this June. Submissions will be reviewed by the team behind The Big Lunch alongside chefs and supporters, and five finalists will be

able to join a special invite-only Big Lunch event in May, with one home cook in with the chance to take home a bumper hamper of goodies to help with their own Big Lunch event.
Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Director for The Big Lunch, said: “The Big Lunch has always been about sharing food and making new connections - and with this new evidence confirming that people agree food tastes better when we eat it together we have the perfect excuse to get in the kitchen and make a dish to share! This recipe search is about finding new and inspiring dishes to try together, so add your dish to a growing recipe bank of shareable favourites and come together to feed community spirit with The Big Lunch on 7-8 June!”
In the coming months, the Eden Project team behind The Big Lunch will be popping up around the UK to host food sharing moments, with opportunities for people to bring their recipes along to share friendship and good conversation.
The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project made possible with support from the Pears Foundation and partners Co- op and Greene King. It’s the UK’s annual celebration for neighbours and the biggest community-led fundraiser, bringing millions of people together in a nationwide act of friendship in June every year since 2009. Her Majesty The Queen has been patron since 2013.
To find out more and share your favourite recipes go to www.thebiglunch.com