Food writer Rachel de Thample — who started out working with Marco Pierre White and Heston Blumenthal — recently began running jam sessions with two friends in the kitchen of her local pub. People from the area are asked to turn up bringing with them whatever food they can find within walking distance of the venue in Crystal Palace. So far they have made honey blood-orange marmalade with Crystal Palace honey and medlar jelly using medlars collected from a single tree. Next up should be cocktail syrups using local herbs and spices followed by London loose leaf herbal teas using peppermint, lemon verbena, fennel, rose and jasmine.
