Rachel de Thample
Preserve the Seasons
- Regular price
- £135.00
- Sale price
- £135.00
- Regular price
-
Tax included.
River Cottage's food preservation expert Rachel de Thample teaches you how to capture the best of each season through preserving techniques inspired by the food from River Cottage kitchen garden, orchards and the hedgerows.
With each recipe, Rachel will give you the skills and techniques so you can apply the recipes taught to other seasonal produce throughout the year, making it relevant to you no matter where you are in the world or what season you’re in.
The course starts with the principles of jam-making. You’ll learn all about pectin, its role in setting jam, what sugars to use, as well as how to reduce and swap sugar for healthier jams. Rachel will demonstrate how to make a stunning Roasted Raspberry Jam with less sugar and Marmalade with unusual ingredients using classic methods.
She’ll then take you through chutney-making and talk you through ratios of sugar and vinegar to fruit and veg. You’ll love her take on Mango Chutney featuring River Cottage-grown squash and apples.
She’ll then show you how to make a brilliant Moroccan-twist on Piccalilli as well as a Smoked Beetroot Pickle and a relish using beetroot stalks, as well as other quirky recipes harnessing ingredients that often end up in the compost heap.
You’ll learn the difference between hot-filled pickles, cold brine pickles as well as fermented salted pickles, demonstrated with Rachel’s take on Middle Eastern Torshi.
You’ll then be inspired to embrace the oldest form of preserving food, and arguably the easiest: drying. Learn to make fruit leather, apple rings and dry herbs for tisanes. Rachel will also share her enthusiasm for infusing, demonstrating Rhubarb and Elderflower Gin as well as herb-infused vinegars (and her famous cherry pip vinegar).
This course is fun, informative, wildly inspiring and will ensure your food never goes to waste.
You'll learn:
- food preservation techniques including jam making, chutney making, pickling and drying
- recipes for jam, marmalade, chutney, pickle and dried fruit
- how to preserve food and flavours by infusing
- how to create your own food preservation recipes
The course includes:
- 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Rachel de Thample and River Cottage
- lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
- flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
- downloadable lesson notes
- practical food preservation ideas and recipes (with tutor feedback available)
- access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
- small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas
Independent Cookery Schools Association approved
This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.
Time to complete the food preservation course:
Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 15 hours 5 minutes to complete including:
- Video lessons: 3 hours 5 minutes in total
- Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
- Your gut health recipe assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
- Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
- Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
You'll need:
Your lesson notes will include the full details of the ingredients you'll need, but you will be making preserved food and drinks, so you'll need standard kitchen equipment.
Ready to get started?
Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Rachel on your preservation assignments.
If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.
Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.
Lessons
What You’ll Learn
Explore the lessons and topics covered across the course.
Rachel will show you how to make jam with fruits throughout the season.
You’ll learn about the role of pectin, ratios of fruit to sugar, how to sterilise and fill your jars to ensure success, as well as how to test setting point.
You’ll learn a garden-inspired twist on a marmalade using methods you can apply to classic Seville oranges and more.
Rachel will also demonstrate how to roast fruit for jam and reduce the sugar content.
Chutney is a like a savoury jam – you’ve got sweetness balanced with the tang vinegar. In this lesson Rachel shows you what that ratio is and how to adapt it to make a chutney that you can evolve throughout the different seasons.
She’ll take you step-by-step through making her favourite recipe, an English garden twist on Mango Chutney, as well as a Moroccan-inspired riff on Piccalilli which ebbs into relish territory and Rachel will explain the difference.
Delve deep into pickle-making as Rachel shows you a variety of different methods including hot-filled pickles, cold brine pickles, fermented pickles and more.
She’ll show you how to make her favourite Hoisin Cherry Pickles using a spice-infused vinegar. She’ll then show you how to make Smoked Beetroot Pickles, featuring oak-smoked beetroot (which you’ll also be guided through).
She then ventures to the Middle East demonstrating a fermentation favourite: salt-brined Torshi.
By the end of this lesson you’ll know how to make up your own pickle recipes with either vinegar or salt.
She’ll also inspire you to use up leftovers with Quickles (quick pickles) and relish-making hacks utilising things like beetroot stalks and ginger scraps.
Drying is the oldest and one of the healthiest forms of preserving and you don’t need a dehydrator or any fancy kit.
Rachel will show you how to make 1 hour fruit leathers, dried mushrooms, apple rings and your own herbal teas.
She’ll also inspire you with the art of infusing with tempting tipples like Rhubarb and Elderflower gin and an Amaretto-like Cherry Pip Vinegar.
Learning options
Choose How You Want to Learn
Recommended
Expert
£135.00
A guided learning experience with expert support, feedback and recognised outcomes.
Peer
£45.00
Learn alongside others with a collaborative, flexible learning experience.
COURSE TUTOR
Rachel de Thample
SUCCESS
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Common Questions
Answers to the most common questions about learning with us.
Our online classroom is designed to help you learn from experts in a collaborative, social environment alongside a small group of learners.
Each lesson combines expert-led videos with optional assignments, giving you the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned and share your work with others. You can take part in ongoing discussions, ask questions, exchange feedback, and learn from a community of like-minded people from around the world.
By learning together in a small, supportive group, you benefit not only from expert guidance but also from shared ideas, perspectives, and experiences—helping you stay engaged and retain what you learn.
You can start your course at any time within 12 months of purchase. Once you begin, you’ll have lifetime access, so you can revisit lesson videos and notes whenever you like.
Courses are designed to fit around your schedule, allowing you to learn at your own pace. Each lesson video is typically 30–40 minutes, and we recommend around an hour for each assignment.
Both Peer and Expert options give you full access to the course content, including lesson videos, downloadable notes, assignments, and a collaborative online classroom with up to 20 learners. You’ll also have lifetime access to revisit the material at any time.
The Expert option includes everything in Peer, plus personalised assignment feedback, direct messaging with your expert tutor, and a certificate of completion.
With the Expert option, you can interact directly with your tutor throughout the course. You’ll typically have one week per lesson to ask questions and receive feedback on your assignments, with as much interaction as you need during that time.
Your tutor access begins when you enter the classroom and follows the course schedule (for example, a four-lesson course usually runs over four weeks). If you need more time or support, our team is here to help.