Zalena Vandrewala

Zalena Vandrewala is the founder of Rose Petals and Rice which teaches people how to make true flavoursome homemade Indian dishes originating from her roots. It was born out of the joy of feeding people.

I first started cooking by my Mother’s side at 9 years old. Starting with the basics, making a faultless cup of tea was first on the list, followed by learning how to slice onions as thinly as possible– a skill every Indian worth their salt aspires to perfect!! A love of all things food was born and in particular, a love of cooking and eating food from the culture I was born into - Parsi.

Parsi food stays very much true to its original Persian roots but draws heavily on Northern Indian influence combining middle Eastern and Indian flavours to make beautifully tasting dishes. Her passion is to show you the real taste of Indian food & promises you won't have tasted anything like this before!!!

Chorchaba Harper

Raised in the deep south of Thailand, Chorchaba learned early on that food was taken very seriously in the family home as it was in every other Thai household. It is a sense of pride to any Thai person to be thought of as a good cook by his/her peers.

So began a life based around cooking. As she grew older she moved to Bangkok and helped out every day in her mother’s locals only restaurant. Although there was a menu no one took any notice of it preferring to order the food cooked to their particular taste. This proved excellent training for Chorchaba as she quickly learned how small variations in ingredients could make a difference to the taste of a dish.

I learned how to cook more and more dishes until I had an extensive repertoire of recipes on which to build a career. I will take you through my youth and memories of Thailand by showing

Chris Nelson

You’ll often find former military man Chris outdoors putting you through your paces in our outdoor kitchen. Following a Chef career that saw him working at the likes of the renowned Chester Grosvenor he went on to establish a speciality sausage and charcuterie business supplying the very establishments he previously cooked in.

Whilst you can make sausages and develop your cooking skills indoors with him, whenever he can you’ll find him grilling, baking, smoking and roasting on our barbecue terrace, cooking over the embers of our five foot fire pit or nurturing the flames in the wood fired oven.

Connie Oriolo

Coming from a family of great cooks and a country of fantastic ingredients, it is no wonder that Pastry Chef Connie combined the two and found herself cooking professionally.

Her journey took in restaurants and hotels in England before landing in Cheshire to head up the pastry kitchen in one of the counties most renowned hotels. As if that wasn’t enough her own business Luscious Morsels provides innovative canapes, petit fours and personalised wedding favours.

As if that too wasn’t enough she also joins us at Harthill to share her knowledge and passion for patisserie.

Paul Chatten

Following his classical training Paul began his journey at Craxton Wood Country Club and then went on to work in establishments such as Grosvenor House, Kettners and Unilever. Eventually he moved into educating and inspiring future Chefs which he describes as his most rewarding years.

Paul now enjoys his retirement travelling and eating his way around the world. He has never put aside his passion for cooking and passing on skills, and joins us throughout the year on a variety of courses including wood fired cookery and his lovely French patisserie day.

Norman Musa

In addition to cooking in his Manchester restaurant Ning, Norman has a London based supper club and two restaurants in Malaysia. He frequently runs master classes, cooking demonstrations and pop-up cookery schools at many of the UK's top foodie events but always ensures he is firmly on the Harthill calendar!

Born in Penang, the food capital of Malaysia Norman is self-taught and was mentored by his late mother; he has featured extensively in the British and Malaysian press, on TV and at food festivals.  His books have been sell outs on both continents, fuelling the interest in Malaysian food in the UK which he continues to be an ambassador for.

Tom Morrison

Having worked in the corporate world for most of his career Tom decided to follow his dream of moving to the countryside to become an artisan producer. Inspired by the surrounding countryside and seasonal produce Tom uses traditional methods to produce hand cut chutneys, jellies, curds and jams.

Holding two great taste awards, he cooks only small batches in his trusted maslin pan carefully watched over by him in his south Cheshire kitchen situated just down the hill from the school. Weekends are spent at the many farmers markets he attends proudly selling his produce and sharing stories with his many customers. Tom joins us when the seasons are right to take us through some classic preserving methods.

Fungalpunk Dave

Fungalpunk Dave is a master at fungal identification and a legend in promoting British Punk music - hence the name Fungalpunk! The beautiful and diverse countryside around the school is ideal for a walk and talk trying to spot fungi and other wildlife.

Dave gives very entertaining and informative walks and challenges himself on each occasion to identify dozens of varieties.

James Woods

James Wood is a professional and experimental wild food forager based in Cheshire. He explores the vast range of uses that wild foods can offer to our modern diet and is forever looking to incorporate foraged ingredients into our regular dishes, from adding rose hips to chilli and making meat rubs from hedgerow seeds and roots.

He brings foraging and cookery classes in a fun, explorative and easy to understand way ultimately promoting the safe use of wild foods in everyday life.

His aim is to give you confidence to go out and pick wild edibles with reassurance in the future, as well as giving you a brilliant taste experience and memorable day.