Cooking with the seasons
We teach people how to work with ingredients at their peak. Each workshop connects you to what grows naturally in your region during specific months.
Orange NSW sits in a region with distinct growing seasons. We started Afrinu because local produce deserved better than being treated like supermarket ingredients. Our workshops show you what to do with what's actually available right now.
Why seasonal matters
Asparagus in winter costs three times what it does in spring, and it tastes worse. Tomatoes in June are pale and flavourless. We built our program around a simple idea: teach people to cook what's grown nearby and ready now.
Each workshop focuses on ingredients available that month in central NSW. You learn techniques that work with those specific items, not generic recipes adapted from other climates. The result is better flavour, lower cost, and skills you can actually use when you get home.
All workshops use produce sourced within 80km of Orange, ensuring freshness and supporting regional growers.
Greens and early stone fruit
September through November brings tender leaves, peas, and the first cherries. Workshops cover blanching, quick pickling, and preserving techniques that extend the season.
Small groups, real kitchens
Maximum eight participants per session. You work at a full stove with proper equipment, not watching someone else cook. Each workshop runs three hours and you leave with prepared meals plus printed recipes adjusted for home kitchens.
Root vegetables and preserving
March to May focuses on storage crops and preservation. You learn roasting, fermenting, and making stocks that carry flavour through winter when fresh options narrow.
Siobhan Kearney
Trained at commercial kitchens in Melbourne before returning to regional NSW. Siobhan runs all seasonal workshops and develops recipes based on what's available at Orange farmers markets each week.