Award Winning Cookery School
Reconnecting people with their food
Vale House Kitchen is the bespoke country skills and cookery school situated in the village of Timsbury 8 miles southwest of Bath. We offer all the traditional cookery courses you would expect from a cookery school but have the added dimension of teaching skills such as fishing, shooting, foraging and butchery and have a real field to fork philosophy running through our courses.
The heart of all we do at Vale House Kitchen – join us for everything from baking bread and sourdough to making jam, preparing fish and getting to grips with game. We have some of the most passionate, award winning experts to help guide through your day so that you can take new skills and techniques away with you.
Traditional country skills and unbeatable small-batch, handmade goodies – learn all you need to know about keeping bees, how to press and brew your own cider, bake a sourdough loaf and preserve some fruit so you have jam to go with it. Sometimes the old ways are still the best, and a lot of fun too!
Making the most of meat from field to fork! Butchery Courses (invaluable for keen cooks, as well as those raising their own meat) from lamb to pork, venison to game; Smoking & Curing Masterclasses for preservation & flavour, and how to cook over coals on our fantastic BBQ Course.
Breadmaking for everyone! Our Introduction to Breadmaking Course is perfectly pitched for beginners, whilst keen home bakers will enjoy our in-depth courses on subjects like sourdough and festive loaves.
Our field courses are a breath of fresh air - learn the art of keeping bees or how to tempt a trout when fly fishing. We also offer cider making in our orchard, along with foraging and shooting courses in the beautiful Somerset countryside.
Great British game is sustainable, high-welfare, healthy and delicious! We cover everything from shooting to butchery to making the most of game in the kitchen, on courses every foodie will enjoy.
Traditional skills and techniques to harvest and preserve nature’s bounty for enjoyment throughout the year! Foraging walks and cooking with wild ingredients, preserving fruit and vegetables, and smoking & curing meat for delicious charcuterie.
Making the most of delicious fresh fish, from lake to plate! Learn how to catch your own with a day out fly fishing, join us for a fish cookery course with brilliant local chef Kieran Lenihan, or do both with our two-day Fly Fishing Experiences.
Vale House, Timsbury, Nr Bath
“I found it great fun, fab host, great teacher, good group and a wonderful learning experience. I will be back.”
Course Member - Fish & Fly Fishing Experience
“Thought it was excellent all round, good pace of teaching and a good balance between doing things and eating.”
Course Member - Chef Skills
Our award winning tutors
Vale House Kitchen is a bespoke country skills and cookery school situated in the village of Timsbury 8 miles southwest of Bath. We offer all the traditional courses you would expect from a cookery school but have the added dimension of teaching skills such as fishing, shooting, foraging and butchery.
Elderflower Vinegar
This is something we make every summer (and then we use the berries to make a hedgerow vinegar in the autumn!!) Its simply delicious and really raises any salad dressing to the next level – do give it a try!…
Broad Bean Hummus
A fabulous tangy twist on the classic hummus! And a perfect way of using up your Broad Beans! Ingredients 400-500g broad beans 1 clove of garlic 1 large tbsp tahini (you can also use peanut butter) Couple of sprigs of fresh…
Hummus
Hummus Something that we absolutely love and when you make it yourself it seems to be gone in seconds!! It’s really quick and easy – a few people asked for this recipe so here it is… 1 can of chickpeas,…
Bacon
Heres a simple and foolproof Bacon Recipe. We make a lot of bacon here at VHK – in fact i don’t think we’ve bought bacon from a shop in a very long time, mainly because if you make your own…
Sausages
We’ve been thinking of putting this recipe up for a while and after our recent Pig Butchery Course there were a few requests so here it is. Its always a fantastic thing, making your own sausages. We like to use…
Mincemeat
As Christmas rapidly approaches its always good to get some prep done way in advance. The glorious thing with mincemeat is that it actually gets better with age and will last up to a year in a jar, so its…
Wild Garlic Pesto
Wild garlic is one of those delightful plants that makes spring foraging a real treat. We use it for all sorts of things here at VHK – soup, soda bread, even preserving it with salt, but this pesto recipe is…
Labneh
We always make this quick and simple cheese on our Festive Smoking and Curing Courses. It is a Steve Lamb classic. Labneh is a strained yoghurt cheese with a compact, spreadable texture and a slightly sour yoghurt flavour. All that…
Pheasant Curry
Pheasant Curry This tasty pheasant curry is a great way of using up pheasant thighs that you often have an abundance of as you head through the season. Its always best to cook the thighs with the bone in, but…
Baked Pheasant Goujons
Here’s a quick, simply and absolutely delicious pheasant goujon recipe. You can use almost any cut of pheasant (or partridge for that matter). If using partridge use double the amount of meat in the recipe below. It’s also a great…
July Newsletter
Link to our July newsletter – Introducing our new tutor Pam ‘the Jam’ Corbin…. highlighting our new Beekeeping Course and sharing a delicious Broad Bean Hummus recipe!! Please take a read here….…
David Flatman Article – Bath Life July 2024
A wonderful article by David Flatman, Ex Bath and England rugby player, and now top respected TV pundit. We’re very lucky to get a chance to catch up with ‘Flats” fairly regularly…
Bath Life Article – Vale House Kitchen July 2024
Fantastic to see Vale House Kitchen and the journey Bod Griffiths took along with his wife Annie to establish it. We’ve attached photos of the article, but if you want to read…