INTERNATIONALLY-renowned food writer Sandor Katz - named by the New York Times as one of the 25 most influential cookbooks of the last 100 years – visits Penzance on Wednesday, May 13 to host a community feast at the Gardeners’ House.

Co-hosted with Newlyn Fermentary, the Ten Mile Fermented Feast will celebrate Cornwall’s rich food heritage using fermented and foraged ingredients sourced from within ten miles.

US-based Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation, has taught traditional fermentation practices at workshops around the world. Newlyn Fermentary is a small-batch producer named Food Brand of the Year at The Food Lifestyle Awards 2025; its house kimchi received two stars at the Great Taste Awards.

The feast menu features foraged herbs, magnolia kimchi, local Dexter beef, cultured butter, fermented lions mane, Cornish earlies, sea buckthorn sorbet, forced rhubarb and more – with Danny Garland of The Old Coastguard in Mousehole running the kitchen for the evening. Ticket options include a four-course private dining experience and community feast table.

The event is part of a month-long exploration of Fermentation, Foraging and the Field - three interwoven themes that ask timely questions about how we grow, source and share our food at a time when global food systems feel increasingly fragile.

Look out for Rooted, an exhibition of contemporary portraits of Penwith growers, farmers and producers, which opened on Friday and runs throughout May alongside archival material from the Gardeners’ House, including a retrospective of the Women’s Land Army.

A special Gardeners’ House Produce Market on Saturday (May 9) will offer visitors the opportunity to buy directly from local suppliers.

The Gardeners’ House charity opened in June 2025, with £2.2 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and a £896,000 Penzance Town Deal grant to help bring the former gardeners’ house in Morrab Gardens back to life.