60+ Exhibitors to Offer Tastings of Local, Regional Products at Esch2022 Event This Weekend

As part of the ReMix Nature component of Esch2022 - European Capital of Culture, the Upper Sûre Nature Park, Nature Park Our and Nature- & Geopark Mëllerdall (Mullerthal) have joined forces with the municipality of Käerjeng and the ProSud union to organise a festival of taste.

"Au Goût du Terroir" will take place from Friday 30 September to Sunday 2 October 2022 in Bascharage (Käerjeng); admission is free.

More than 60 exhibitors will offer tastings of local and regional products of high quality resulting from artisanal production. National producers will be joined by representatives of other European nature parks and model regions of Italy, Spain, Poland, France and Belgium.

The market stalls present this weekend are mostly local and regional producers, small and very small businesses, where you can still see craftsmanship and proximity to food production in harmony with nature. The end of September and the month of October are challenging times for these producers, because it is harvest time.

The festival will open its doors on Friday at 16:00 and will close at 21:00. On Saturday, the market is open from 11:00 to 19:00 and on Sunday, from 11:00 to 18:00. It will take place across two different sites within the municipality: at the Käerjenger Treff cultural centre and at the production workshop of Luxembourg's Brasserie Nationale (also known as the Bofferding Brewery) in the main street. The two sites are 300 metres apart.

On the agenda are various workshops, culinary shows, wine and gin tastings and more. Places are limited and those who want to participate should reserve their spot on www.gout.lu. Many other activities will take place without prior registration.

The culinary shows will take place in a tent specially equipped for this purpose. As Luxembourg's nature parks are the initiators of the event, one chef per park will be present in Käerjeng. On Friday, Yves Radelet of La Ferme de Drauffelt will showcase his know-how, whilst on Saturday, Kenny DuBourg of L'Endroit in Wiltz will give visitors an overview of the unique concept of his restaurant, where the symbiosis between the sommelier and the cook is the basis of all creation. On Sunday, Ben Weber, owner and chef of Gudde Kascht in Haller, will demonstrate what can be done with regional and seasonal products. For him, it is particularly important that interested hobby cooks in the audience can also reproduce his creations.

At the wine tastings in the exhibition tent, producers from Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Poland will offer small private tastings during which participants can taste about five different wines whilst obtaining information about the winegrowers.

As the aim of this festival is also to make people aware of the importance of local and regional food production and respect for nature when producing this food, a series of thematic workshops are on the agenda. First, Marius Sinn, also known as "Kraut-Kind" (herb child), will teach visitors how to cook with wild herbs. Then, there will be fermentation workshops with BENU asbl, water tastings with H2Only, workshops on food waste and various workshops for children, always focusing on sustainability and nature. The festival will also be the occasion to present a new children's book which will be published by local author and artist Potty Lotty in collaboration with the nature parks.

The Käerjenger Treff will also host Luxembourg's only coal manufacturer, which will produce some 400 kg of coal this weekend, and a bartender will prepare cocktails from products on the market.