Great British Menu chef to create dish celebrating Stalybridge – and you can help

Adam Reid, winner of the Great British Menu and internationally-renowned Chef-Patron of The French restaurant at The Midland Hotel, has been tasked with developing a new celebratory dish that reflects the community, culture and history of Stalybridge.

Chef Adam, from Tameside, has led his eponymous modern British restaurant, Adam Reid at The French, for six years, creating a unique ‘Northern’ approach to dining.

He has also won the Great British Menu twice, most notably with his incredible Golden Empire signature dessert.

As part of the 2022 Greater Manchester Town of Culture celebrations, Adam has been asked to develop a dish that celebrates the unique culture and history of Stalybridge, and the people of the town are being called upon to help create it, by sharing old recipes, food stories, memories and knowledge that can help with its creation.

Adam’s campaign is called Born and Bread. 

“To help with Adam’s research into what the dish might be, we are reaching out to communities in and around the town to ask for their help and to co-design this dish together,” said Steven Dexter from Local, which is leading the project. 

“Maybe it’s your favourite childhood meal, something that can only be made locally at a certain time of year, or a taste that triggers your memory of Stalybridge.

“Whatever it might be, we want to hear your thoughts!”

Adam is working with Tameside Local Studies, Portland Basin Museum, church groups, food and drink businesses in the town, local food banks and an eclectic variety of community groups in order to gather as many ideas as possible from the local community to create an accessible dish for all tastes.

Local have recruited the expertise of Paprika’s placemaking food consultant, Esther Morrison, to work with Adam on the project. Esther specialises in creating and developing food cultures in towns and will be invaluable to the project.

Born and Bread will be addressing questions such as: what recipes do you remember your parents and grandparents making? What food is grown or produced locally? What is unique about Stalybridge and how do we celebrate this through the food offer? How can we make a high quality, accessible food offer during a cost of living crisis?

Your answers and responses can be your thoughts, suggestions or even in the form of  handwritten recipes that can be photographed or scanned, or those food-stained pages of a favourite cookbook. 

“Your contributions can be emailed, posted or brought into the Stalybridge library by 15th August, giving us time to collate the research and let Adam start experimenting in the kitchen!” says Steven.

“Your thoughts and submissions could eventually feature in a new recipe book, which tells the story of Adam’s journey and celebrates the food heritage and future culinary excellence of the town.”

You can mail recipes and information, by 15th August 2022, to [email protected] or post to: Claire Tymon / Steven Dexter at KIN.DER, 1 Arundel St, Glossop SK13 7AB.