Flavours from Othona and the World

Saturday 3rd August-  Saturday 10th August 2024

Space is available on this event

Welcome to a week at Othona where we get a flavour of Othona with good Othona food but also experience flavours from elsewhere!  It's Olympics time, so we will keep an eye on what is happening in Paris and enjoy some French cooking from our summer resident French cook.  We will also have a Lebanese flavour amongst other cuisines.

We have a special guest presenter, Marjory Szurko, who has a passion for the cooking skills and flavours of food over the ages in England. She has given many practical demonstrations as well as writing a book.

Phil, our resident chef, will share some of his culinary secrets, especially his wonderful breadmaking.  Meanwhile there will be the usual Othona summer activities, Chapel, swimming, games, relaxation and of course the duty list!

Marjory Szurko studied English Literature at the University of Manitoba in Canada, and the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and is married to husband Christian. After her degree, she qualified as a librarian, and took up the post of Librarian at Oriel College in 2002. There, she discovered a small recipe book amongst a special collection of books presented by an alumnus of the College called Stephen Furness.
The book had been compiled and edited by Stephen and his sister Mary from the recipes of their mother and her guests over the years in their country house in Yorkshire.
Marjory thought it would be great fun to choose some of the sweet recipes for herself and other members of
the College to bake and present as a College event, in order to recreate the kind of atmosphere described in
the book. Many of the Staff and Fellows of the College joined with her to contribute baked goods for the
event, and the first in a series of ‘Edible Exhibitions’ was held at Oriel in December 2002.
There were eight ‘Edible Exhibitions’ in all at Oriel College, including recipes taken from cookbooks reaching back to the foundation of Oriel in the 14 th Century – Marjory was excited to be able use her knowledge of Middle English in such an unusual way. Not only did attendees at these exhibitions learn how the historic dishes were made, but they could also eat the exhibits!
At the last of the Edible Exhibitions, several people suggested that a publisher might be interested in an account of these occasions, and to her surprise and delight, Marjory found that the first publisher she contacted (Prospect Books) wanted her to write for their ‘English Kitchen’ series, and the book Sweet Slices of History came into being in 2018.
Since then, Marjory has given talks about the food of past centuries, and has baked samples of sweet dishes from historical recipes for guests to taste.

Arrivals: from 3pm Saturday - first meal is dinner at 7pm

Departures: Saturday morning 11am

Cost: We have two rates for adults £350 (Basic Rate) or £437 (*Benefactor Rate), if you would like to camp then the rates for adults are £262 (Basic Rate) or £350 (Benefactor Rate). If you are able to afford the Benefactor rate this helps to support the work of Othona and enables us to support those who are struggling to afford to come by providing bursaries. Normal child rates apply (Child Rates), if you are bringing two or more children then the eldest goes free. 

We may be able to offer a bursary if needed. Please contact us to find out more.

*(Find out about our Benefactor Rate)