Sustainable dining at Bristol Cathedral’s Gaia art installation
Posted onOn Thursday 17 October, Berry Blue provided a sustainable three-course meal for Bristol Cathedral’s ‘Here with you Dinner’.
The dinner was centred around a powerful art installation called ‘Gaia’ created by Luke Jerram. The artwork is a view of our planet seen from space and was created to evoke a renewed sense of responsibility for our home planet Earth.
The dinner was not only to celebrate the artwork but to also raise essential funds for the Cathedral’s Access for All project, a project that aims to create a new level of access for people experiencing mobility issues to enjoy more of the Cathedral.
We were delighted to be invited to cater for this special event. We wanted to design a unique menu that drew on the night’s themes around sustainability and minimising waste, whilst creating something truly delicious. The dishes we chose highlighted ‘nose to tail’ eating, in which nothing goes to waste, and local seasonal produce, which minimises food travel miles and use of single use plastic.
Our menu design incorporated some of the vegetables, fruit, edible flowers and herbs grown at our farm, including one of the very first dishes created by the owner of Berry Blue- the pumpkin samosa. We were so passionate to be part of this event as it truly represented many of our values and the reason the owner, Louise Brown, started the company. We also showcased some of the amazing English wines.
We also chose to work alongside Allens Catering Equipment Hire as their contemporary products helped to match the ambience of the event and because of their environmental credentials. They share our beliefs that we have a responsibility towards the environment and are committed to minimising the impact of their business activities upon it. They endeavour to lead and influence the catering and events industry in this respect.
This is reflected in how carefully they consider the materials and longevity of all new packaging for their hire items. As well as their aim to minimise packaging and reuse all protective containers and boxes used to transport orders.
Our sustainable menu
Drinks reception
The Cathedral Garden Cocktail
A cocktail using Bristol Cathedral’s Chapterhouse Gin, home grown cloudy apple juice, homemade elderflower cordial, fresh mint and edible garden flowers
Road Green Sparkling wine
Award winning, this is a bright clear sparkling wine. Pin head bubbles arise from the pressing and lees ageing. It has a beautiful crisp, clean character on the palate. There is a hint of orchard fruit character and a well-balanced finish
Non-alcoholic
Sparkling elderflower and mint
Canapés
Roasted pumpkin and cumin seed samosa with spiced pear chutney
Creamed Somerset goats’ cheese and chive cone, truffle and crisp onions
Ham hock terrine with coarse grain mustard, piccalilli puree, watercress and sourdough croute
Wine
Balfour 1503- Hush Heath Estate, Kent
Phoenix 2022 – Poulton Hill Estate, Poulton, Cotswolds
Starter
Tian of Bibury smoked trout, beetroot and fresh horseradish, Bath Blue croute or,
Tian of roasted aubergine with pepperonata, vegan parmesan crisp
Main Course
Confit pork belly, crispy bon-bon of pig’s cheek, boulangère potatoes, apple sauce, crackling, crispy Cathedral sage leaves and rich cider jus
or,
Wild mushroom and roasted shallot wellington, truffle and mushroom bon-bon, boulangere potatoes, mustard sauce
The Orchard and Hedgerow Dessert
a trio to celebrate English Autumn fruits
Spiced apple crumble, damson and blackberry cheesecake, and poached pear served with sharing jugs of calvados custard 
Much of the produce used in this menu was grown at our farm in the Cotswolds. This was everything from the apples, pumpkin, pears,damsons, blackberries, beetroot, herbs and edible flowers. We pride ourselves in taking positive sustainable steps of not using any pesticides or plastic packaging on the farm.
Other locally sourced ingredients included the smoked trout from Bibury, blue cheese from the Mendip Hills, goat’s cheese from Bagborough, meat from North Nibley in Gloucestershire, and fruit and vegetables from Pershore.
Off the back of the event, we were thrilled to receive some fantastic feedback from Martha Lewington, Development Director at Bristol Cathedral:
“Thank you so much for such a wonderful dinner! We’ve had lots of feedback from guests about just how delicious and amazing the food was. Everything looked wonderful and the whole team were really slick and professional. It was quite something to witness just how efficient everything was handled with serving food to so many people all at once! I was so pleased with the evening and I’m so grateful to Louise and Katie for all of the support throughout the event planning process. Please pass on my thanks to the team and the chefs.”
Thank you to Bristol Cathedral for giving us this wonderful opportunity to showcase our sustainable and locally sourced food.
If you’re interested in creating a sustainable menu for your next event, get in touch today: https://berry-blue.co.uk/contact-us/
