A Festival of Cured Meats, Friday 28, Saturday 29, Sunday 30 October, 11am – 8pm [6pm Sunday]

Charcuterie and company
A Festival of Cured Meats organised by QEDLondon
Friday 28, Saturday 29, Sunday 30 October, 11am – 8pm [6pm Sunday]
Southbank Centre Square, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Free Admission
THE MARKET
This first ever UK celebration and exploration of the world of charcuterie, taking place on Southbank Centre Square from Friday 28 – Sunday 30 October 2011, will bring together a rich diversity of artisans, importers and enthusiasts.
The central feature of the event will be a market offering a diverse range of cured meat products: hams, sausages, terrines, pâtés, blood puddings and the like.  Traditional and new wave British products will be complemented by a contrasting selection from Europe – Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Portugal – and also further afield. Products from the versatile pig will predominate, but beef, lamb, venison, duck and even exotica will stake their claim to cured delicacy status.
The overall emphasis is on quality and an opportunity to taste and discover. The majority of traders will be geared up to selling product in any quantity to take home for further sampling or a discovery session with friends. A number will provide hot and cold ‘street food’ to eat on the spot, complemented by a covered InTent2Eat marquee. Stalls offering artisan breads, condiments, beers, wines and soft drinks will facilitate feasting.
THE EVENT TENT
Lindy Wildsmith, cookery teacher and author of the much lauded Cured: salting, drying, smoking, spicing, potting, pickling and raw and Marc-Frederic Berry, aka ‘Le Charcutier Anglais’ will be two key attractions in a packed programme of free access tastings and workshops in the Event Tent designed to illuminate everything from the joys and toils of DIY home charcuterie, through the blood and guts of traditional puddings, to a comparison of the finest cured bacons and matured hams – not forgetting drinks to match. 
David Natt of QED London, who has nurtured the project for many months, comments:  “This timely event will reflect the growing British enthusiasm for making the most of our superb meats through curing, preserving but above all creating a new wealth of flavours.
It is also a chance to compare the world’s finest, with the likes of Culatello di Zibello and Jamón ibérico bellota going head to head. There will be something for everyone; charcuterie has always provided both working man staple and gourmet luxury.”