Southbanquet: a feast of sustainably sourced food

Londoners are invited to the Royal Festival Hall’s Riverside Terrace for two ethically sourced “Southbanquets”.

Former River Cottage chef Tom Hunt is to cook for 500 on the evenings of both August 31 and September 1 using food from sustainable sources.

Nine pigs fed on Abel & Cole organic vegetable waste will be butchered for the £15-a-head dinners, to be savoured in the open air with views of the Thames. Every part of the pig from nose to tail will be used to emphasise a no-waste message, with cheek chops, heart kebabs and chorizo from the shoulder. Herbs from the Southbank Centre’s own rooftop gardens will go into a salsa that the public will be invited to help make, while salads, including for vegetarians, will include summer leaves from community gardens in north London.

“It will be a serious challenge,” said Hunt. “It’s the biggest sit-down meal I’ve done. But it’s an amazing venue and it’s just going to be fun.”

During the day, other free food events will include bread baking using south London-grown heritage wheat threshed and winnowed on site with the Brockwell Bake Association, and Konditor & Cook will bake a 2,000-portion cake for visitors to help decorate.

Organiser Clare Patey, who has produced public feasts on Southwark Bridge, said: “London’s relationship with food used to be much closer, with livestock being driven across the bridges. Now the separation is greater. It’s about exploring that. But it’s also about the whole social act of people eating together.”

Southbanquet, Riverside Terrace, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX, Aug 31-Sep 1, southbankcentre.co.uk