Big Cookery Stage
Flavours Unleashed: The Big Cookery Stage Experience
Schedule for Saturday 25th May
Compere: Simon Brown
- 11.00 - 11.30 | SUZY PELTA
- 12.00 - 12:30 | *CHETNA MAKAN
- 13.00 - 13:30 | *ROSEMARY SHRAGER
- 14.00 - 14.30 | ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 15.00 - 15.30 | *ROSEMARY SHRAGER
- 16:00 - 16.30 | SAKU CHANDRASEKARA
Schedule for Sunday 26th May
Compere: Simon Brown
- 11.00 - 11.30 | TBC
- 12.00 - 12:30 | *LAURA ADLINGTON
- 13.00 - 13.30 | *ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 14.00 - 14.30 | *ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 15.00 - 15.30 | ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 16:00 - 16.30 | *ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
Schedule for Monday 27th May
Compere: Simon Brown
- 11.00 - 11.30 | CHIGS PARMAR
- 12.00 - 12:30 | *ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 13.00 - 13:30 | *JURGEN KRAUSS
- 14.00 - 14.30 | *ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!
- 15.00 - 15.30 | CHIGS PARMAR
- 15.30 - 16.00 | *Interview with SANDRO FARMHOUSE
- 16:00 - 16.30 | *JURGEN KRAUSS
The schedule may be subject to change.
* INDICATES BOOKING SIGNING AFTER THE DEMONSTRATION.
Simon Brown
Stage Compere
As an Event Compere, I host cookery theatre stages at food festivals and events throughout the UK, from a marquee in a field to The Royal Geographical Institute in London. Corporate clients have included Tesco, Gaggenau, Kenwood, Kuhn Rikon and Magimix.
I’m a passionate foodie, TV cook, Cookery Theatre Compere and AGA demonstrator who just loves having fun in the kitchen.
I trained as a Home Economist in Manchester and began cooking professionally as a member of the Home Economics team at Miele, the German domestic appliance manufacturer, based just outside Oxford. I spent seven very happy years there, but got itchy feet and decided that I wanted to cook with and inspire a wider audience, so I began giving cookery demonstrations in the UK and Europe and met loads of fellow foodies along the way at exhibitions and food shows.
At the same time I was asked to cook on QVC for the first time and was immediately smitten by the shopping TV bug. So began a long and exciting career on a number of shopping channels, including Granada Shop!, eeZee TV and The Jewellery Channel.
In 2009 I returned to QVC as the regular guest presenter for their exclusive kitchenwares range, Cook’s Essentials. Since then I’ve spent many happy hours on air, explaining the great products I’m using and, hopefully, passing on my knowledge to inspire you to get cooking too.
I live in rural Somerset with my husband and classic 1959 Armstrong Siddeley saloon.
Janusz Domagala or simply “Janusz” as he’s most commonly known, became the instant stand-outstar on 2022’s “Great British Bake Off” when he rightfully declared himself the ‘Star Caker in the Bake week” in episode one.
Having moved to the UK from Poland 11 years ago, the 34 year old baker not only achieved his dream of appearing on the show but also went through to the semi-finals and his popularity with the British (and international) public has only grown along with this journey.
Janusz has a fun, open, colourful view of the world and takes pride in all that he does in his professional and personal life.
A keen LGBT+ activist, Janusz currently lives in Brighton with his partner and their sausage dog, Nigel.
Since Bake Off, Janusz has featured on CBBC’s ‘Saturday Mashup’, was a guest on the Christmas special episode of ‘The Last Leg’ and has appeared in multiple publications including being named one of Heat magazines 2022 ‘Stars of the Year’.
Janusz is a natural in front of the camera and is keen to pursue more media work in television.
His first book, “Baking With Pride” hits our shelves in May 2024!
Giuseppe Dell’Anno
Born and bred in Italy, Giuseppe grew up in a family of passionate bakers, where food was the prime topic of conversation. He has inherited from his dad, a professional chef, the love for everythingcooked or baked. Winning the “Great British Bake Off” in 2021 sparked off his ambition to share hisfamily gastronomic knowledge far and wide.
After contributing to the show’s cookbook “A Bake For All Seasons” in 2021, he published his own, “Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes” in 2022. This went on to become the fastest selling new release on Amazon in December 2022, featured in Waterstones’ The Best Books of 2022: Food & Drink, and waslisted in Diana Henry’s Autumn 2022 Best Cookbooks in The Telegraph. His second book “Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes” has just been published!
Since becoming a full-time baker, Giuseppe has been dipping his toes in a variety of exciting activities, from writing weekly columns for Radio Times to hosting on-line baking classes on global platforms, from baking live on “Steph’s Packed Lunch” (Channel 4) to guest appearances on British and Italian TV.
Giuseppe has over 300k affectionate followers on social media, predominantly UK and US; his food-related posts never fail to capture thousands of views and his live events regularly sell out.
Steven Carter Bailey
Steven Carter-Bailey was a finalist on the 2017 series of The Great British Bakeoff and went on to win the 2019 New Years’ Day special. Friend and regular guest at the Thame Food Festival, Steven has taken his Bakeoff experience and forged his career in food. As a celebrity cake designer, Steven has made some incredible cakes for the likes of Sir Ian McKellan, Jade Thirlwall, and most recently was invited to the BAFTAs with a cake for Rebel Wilson.
Alongside his cakes and bakes, he is a regular contributor to TV and radio, and in 2021 he launched his chart topping podcast, Feed my Curiosity; where he interviews celebrity guests about their food loves and hates.
You can follow Steven and his antics over on Instagram @spongecakesquaretin
Jürgen Krauss
Jürgen was born and grew up in a village near Freiburg in the Black Forest. During his childhood he enjoyed playing with the plentiful tools that were around – his grandpa was a miner, and his father is a master locksmith. At 12 years old he managed to make a noise on his father’s trombone, and he has been playing ever since, in the town band, in specialist ensembles for renaissance music, and more recently in a community big band.
His love of baking started as soon as he could stand, helping his mother when she made Linzer Torte or the many varieties of biscuits for Christmas.
His love of science also started early, he sporadically read a children’s encyclopaedia he had been given for Christmas, dipping in and out at random when he had the leisure. Later he also had a chemistry set, and Physics seemed to come to him naturally at school.
After Abitur and military service, he studied Physics in Freiburg.
The Feldenkrais Method brought him to a course in Lewes, where he met his wife, and he moved to Brighton soon after, where he lives with his wife and son.
Apart from baking and music Jürgen enjoys outdoor activities (hiking, running, swimming), engineering, architecture, and anything that tickles his interest.
Jürgen started making bread in earnest from about 2010, when he was longing for German style bread, and it is his strongest baking skill.
Making bread has taught him to work systematically and with precision, and he used this successfully in the Great British Bake Off. He also applied his sense for flavour combinations, architecture, and engineering to create his memorable bakes.
His fabulous book on German Baking has been a great success and took him to the USA for a book tour.
Suzy Pelta
Suzy Pelta won Lorraine’s Cake Club Competition on ITV1’s ‘Lorraine’ Show with her original cake recipe of a Chocolate and Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting.
Since winning, she has written her first book: Miracle Mug Cakes and Other Cheat’s Bakes (published by Ryland Peters & Small), has been a Food Blogger for The Metro, and works with and has created recipes with many brands including Maltesers, Nature Valley and Taylor & Colledge.
She is a member of The Guild of Food Writers, and regularly demonstrates and presents at Food Festivals throughout the UK including BBC Good Food Show, Thame Food Festival and many more. Suzy has appeared on Waitrose TV and QVC and she contributes to BBC Three Counties Radio as a Food Expert.
Suzy is a Coordinator Food Judge for The Great Taste Awards, is a Flavour & Food Trend Consultant and posts daily snack reviews on her instagram, with her dog Buster as her sidekick!
Suzy lives in London with her 3 teenage children, husband & Buster. Keep up to date with all of her latest news over on Instagram: @SuzyPelta
Alex Hollywood
Alex Hollywood lives in Kent and is a passionate home cook and family food writer with two popular cookery books, My Busy Kitchen and Cooking Tonight, under her belt as well as a devoted following on social media.
Alex’s food is quick simple and delicious. She incorporates flavours from her Scandinavian and French heritage and her ‘waste not want not’ attitude resonates with busy mums across the globe. Her no fuss approach to cooking has garnered her a loyal following on both Twitter and Instagram where she posts videos and recipes on a weekly basis. Her infectious humour and relatability were noticed by TV producers, resulting in her featuring on numerous programmes including ITV’s This Morning, Nadia’s Family Feasts and Ainsley’s Food We Love. Alex has also captivated audiences whilst hosting live cooking demos at the BBC Good Food Show, Hampton Court Palace Festive Fayre, Thame Food Festival and Bradford Upon Avon Food Festival.
Laura Adlington
Laura Adlington was the stand out star of The Great British Bake Off in 2020. Viewers fell in love with her sense of humour and positive outlook, as well as her messy baking.
Since appearing on the popular show, she has amassed an incredible social media following on her Instagram channel and launched a brand new podcast all about body confidence which won the British Podcast Award. Her followers love checking out her plus size fashion finds and hearing her body confidence tips.
Laura is keen to help people of all shapes and sizes feel good about themselves and talks honestly and openly about mental health and body image. Her podcast Go Love Yourself launched in January 2022 and within two weeks made it into Apple’s top 20 chart. It won a Silver ARIA Award in 2023 and has been nominated for a 2023 British Podcast Award.
Her debut book ‘Diet Starts Monday’ comes out in January 2024 and is available for pre-order now.
Chetna Makan
I was born and brought up in a small town in Central India called Jabalpur. I then moved to Mumbai to train as a Fashion Designer in NIFT. After my college, I worked in Mumbai for a few years before moving to the U.K. in 2004. I have always been interested in food and cooking and have been greatly inspired by my mum’s cooking who has taught me everything I know about flavours.
After having my 2 children I found my interest in baking grow, it was a perfect way for me to relax and found it very relaxing. I am a creative yet meticulous baker and find baking a perfect outlet for my creativity.
Trying out new techniques and challenging myself is what keeps me going. Being on Great British Bake Off 2014 has been an amazing journey and has given me the confidence to try new combinations of flavours. I will always cherish this experience and the time I spent in the tent with my fellow bakers.
Soon after the show, I started work on my first book which is all about Indian flavours in some very western bakes. The book is called ‘The Cardamom Trail’ and was published in 2016.
After that, I went on to write my second book called ‘Chai, Chaat and Chutney’ which is all about Indian street food from the 4 corners of India. I wrote this book after intensive research into the 4 cities of India to find some of the most delicious street food. This book was published in 2017.
My third book ‘Chetna’s Healthy Indian’ is all about the food I cook at home for my family. It is the quick, delicious and healthy recipes we enjoy to balance out all the cakes I bake. This book was published in 2019.
Rosemary Shrager
Rosemary endeared herself to the nation when she took part in ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here’ where she proved she could cook just about anything, anywhere. Most recently Rosemary has appeared as one of Chef/Mentor’s on ITV’s Cooking With The Stars. In professional kitchens, she has worked for Pierre Koffman at Tante Claire in London, with Jean-Christophe Novelli and as head chef at Moyns Park, the home of the Mountbatten’s. Rosemary has written numerous cookbooks, but her latest books are her cosy murder mystery series including The Proof in the Pudding and The Last Supper.
When she is not teaching, Rosemary spends her time developing new recipes, working on television projects and providing her expertise to private clients. Her passions include food in general and imparting her knowledge and skills to others as well as sourcing new food products especially those that are organic.
Chigs Parmar
Chigs was born and bred in Leicester. A proud East Midlander with a passion for adventure, travel and food. His love of food came from his childhood where he would often help his mother prepare a feast for family gatherings.
Always active, it was the UK Covid Lockdown of 2020 that had him seek out a new hobby and drew him to baking. He swiftly gained confidence and his bakes evolved rapidly from the basic to the sublime… A year later, and after words of encouragement from friends and family, the self-taught baker applied and subsequently featured on “The Great British Bake Off 2021”, reaching the final no less! He attracted a huge following during the show with his down to earth and relatable personality. Chigs was also recently seen on “The Great British Bake Off’s New Year’s Special 2023”.
Chigs’ passion for food continues to grow – a regular on the food festival circuit, he has built up a large Instagram following as he continues to inspire others to pursue new interests and do something they are passionate about.
Having lost his father at a young age he was over the moon to be announced as an ambassador for Cruse Bereavement Support, a charity helping those come to terms with loss and last year he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the organisation.
Saku Chandrasekara
Saku lost no time in winning hearts with her infectious giggle and sunny personality on 2023’s “Great British Bake Off”, earning an uncharacteristic (some might say!) early hug from one of the judges and bowling a googly to one of the presenters. She was also given the title of ‘the nation’s sweetheart’ by the programme’s viewers.
Moving to the UK with her husband from home in Sri Lanka in 2003, Saku taught herself to bake. Her natural flair for baking flourished when she became a mum, after setting up home in Herefordshire. Fitting baking in with her work as an intelligence analyst for the local authority was a challenge, but Saku’s love of the traditional flavours of her Sri Lankan heritage won through to the treats in the school lunchboxes she rustled up for her two children.
Visiting family in Sri Lanka means a chance for Saku to augment her prized stash of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg, which lend that unique creativity to her baking endeavours and put the vegetables from her own veg patch, to welcome use, especially as she cooks from scratch. The strong Sri Lankan influence defines Saku’s baking and cooking, allowing those delicate and fragrant flavours to shine through.
Alongside being a big foodie, Saku’s passions are her family, cricket and her garden. Saku is planning a book to showcase those prized Sri Lankan recipes in both baking and cooking and relishes any opportunity to show her enthusiasm for melding UK produce with Sri Lankan spices
Sandro Farmhouse
Sandro Farmhouse won the hearts of millions of Great British Bake Off viewers back in 2022, and is now the latest Bake Off star to share his baking secrets with eager fans. Good Vibes Baking is a celebration of the joys of baking, and is infused with Sandro’s colourful personality and bags of charm.
Image © Liz Haarala Hamilton and Max Haarala Hamilton
Tristan Welch
One of the most celebrated chefs in the UK with an impressive, inspiring CV, glittering with Michelin-starred restaurants and high-society watering holes, Tristan Welch is renowned by his peers and patrons for authentic recipes with sumptuous flavours prepared with a flourish.
After a childhood in Cambridgeshire happily spent growing his own vegetables and cooking at his parents’ side, while still a teenager Tristan heard Chef Gary Rhodes speak at a food festival and pestered him for an internship. He was offered a day’s trial at the Michelin-starred City Rhodes restaurant in London in 1997 (which soon after won a Michelin star), and so impressed the team that he landed a job as a commis chef there, prepping piles of spinach and sacks of potatoes every day.
In 1998 he left to join the double-Michelin starred Le Gavroche under Michel Roux Junior, where he worked for nearly three years and won the Award of Excellence from Britain’s Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, which recognises talented young chefs. To progress his career, Michel Roux then recommended him to Alain Passard’s triple-Michelin-starred L’Arpège in Paris.
Tristan then earned his first Head Chef role at Glenapp Castle – the award-winning five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel in Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a Michelin-starred restaurant. During his two years there, the restaurant went on to win three AA Rosettes, Hotel Chef of the Year and, in 2003, the prestigious Gordon Ramsay Scholarship Award.
In 2004 Tristan moved back to London to be Head Chef for Chefs Marcus Wareing & Gordon Ramsay’s prestigious Pétrus at The Berkeley Hotel in Mayfair. Pétrus was awarded two Michelin stars in 2007 and the Harden Guide’s Best Restaurant Award in 2008, among many more accolades that followed.
In March 2008, Tristan re-launched Launceston Place, a restaurant in London’s Kensington, where his modern British menu won Best Restaurant of the Year at the annual Taste Awards and the Time Out Awards, as well as Best Wine List from Tatler’s Wine Awards and the Spectator’s Wine Awards.
In 2014 he left with his wife and young family to Mustique, where he was Head Chef at the island’s celebrated Cotton House Beach Café. Here he was headhunted by the team at University Arms in Cambridge, who lured him back to England to become Chef Patron of Parker’s Tavern, the hotel’s restaurant, which opened in 2018.
Tristan regularly appears on television, most recently as a judge on Master Chef. In 2009 he was a finalist on the BBC2’s Great British Menu and appeared on the show again in 2010. He features regularly on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and The One Show; The Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen; Channel 4’s Drop Down Menu; Food Network USA and Food Network UK, as well as BBC London Radio.
Tristan frequently writes for the British press, where his recipes feature in newspapers such as The Times; The Telegraph; The Independent; Metro; and magazines including Delicious; Olive; Sainsbury’s; Men’s Health; and GQ, which nominated him one of the UK’s Top 100 Most Influential Men.
