Louise Gorrod

View Original

A LATE AUTUMN SYJUNTA GATHERING

Syjunta: a Swedish concept where a group of people come together to craft and share a seasonal home-cooked supper.

Back in November, Cara Oliver and I hosted an intimate food and craft gathering at Studio 50 - a light-filled event space in Hove - to celebrate the late autumn season. If you’re not familiar with our seasonal Syjunta gatherings, you can read more about them here.

As with all our Syjunta gatherings we kicked things off with a welcome cocktail; for this we served rosemary & charred lemon gin & tonic's, along with rosemary roasted spiced nuts to nibble on. Guests then settled down with Cara to craft their seasonal wreaths using soft single twist cotton and an array of preserved blooms such as pampas grass, statement palms and hydrangeas.

Sitting down together to share our two-course autumnal supper was a chance to get to know our guests a little more and celebrate the wonderful local and seasonal produce that we have on our doorstep at this time of year. We enjoyed a fragrant dill, carrot and chickpea curry with beetroot raita followed by an indulgent chocolate olive oil cake served with fresh raspberries and crème fraîche.

From the beginning we knew that we wanted to give back from our gatherings, so we donated all our profits to our chosen charity for the evening, BHT, to support Archway, a local residential project for people with severe and enduring complex mental health problems.

Again, it was with the support of many organisations and individuals that we were able to hold our event. Our heartfelt thanks must go to the following: Abel & Cole, Original Beans and Studio50. We must also give special thanks to the generous and talented photographer, Sarah Lou Francis, who kindly captured the evening for us and whose beautiful photo’s grace this post.

More than ever, we're looking forward to continuing with and growing our seasonal Syjunta gatherings, once we're in safe times again. If you’re interested in attending our next Syjunta drop me an email and I’ll ensure you’ll be the first to here as soon as a new date is set.