Dates For Your Diary

So when will we be cooking this year and what will we be doing?

Well this weekend sees the last of the 'odd' experimental work that we've been doing, the last opportunity to get out the scales and thermometers in front of the public for the rest of the year. The aim is to finish off stuff that we started on the December weekend (I said I'd tell you about it later, so I will.....later!) and to record as much data as we can whilst roasting meat in front of the fire as well as in a modern oven to compare the two methods. There'll also be a lot of 'behind the scenes' work involving freezing experiments to see how well certain dishes freeze and what stage is best to cook them to for this purpose....no we're not going into the ready meal business although it's a thought, it's all to do with a future project that requires more food than we can probably cook in one day.

After that it's all Henry, Henry, Henry....where the whole Palace will bask in the revamped look that it is currently receiving all ready for the celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne......including the newly re-paved Base Court; progress is coming on, this is what it looked like at Christmas.....

All of this will involve the kitchens cooking pretty much along the lines of a Christmas event day for quite a lot of the year and with the whole aim being immersion in a Tudor Palace for the members of the public.......so no modern kit then.

Dates that you'll be able to see us in action are:

March 7th-8th
April 10th-13th Easter Holiday
April 18th & 19th
May 2nd-4th Bank Holiday
May 23rd-25th Bank Holiday
June 20th-21st
July 25th-26th
August 22nd-24th Bank Holiday
September 26th-27th
October 24th-25th
November 28th-29th
December 26th-January 3rd Christmas Cookery (a bumper 8 days you lucky people!)

The observant will notice that this changes from our regular first weekend of the month slot for the non holiday events to a last weekend of the month slot.....this is to ensure a more even balance of events throughout the calendar and to give you all a better opportunity to come and see us in action.

June the 20th & 21st is one of the big events as it's the weekend that the Royal Palaces will be celebrating the anniversary of the coronation of Henry VIII. There will be a flotilla of boats travelling from the Tower of London to Hampton Court on the Saturday, bringing the 'Royal Party' to the Palace, where they will dine in the Privy Gardens.....which is where we come in (and the freezer too if all the plans and testing work out!)
There will be games on the river on the Sunday as well and many, many other things to see over that weekend....I'd pop that one in the diary if I was you.

There will be plenty of other things happening throughout the year too, just check the Historic Royal Palaces website for details as the year progresses.