When Stephanie Jeffs first started up Explore Raw as a website in 2012, she didn’t start out with a plan or much of an idea of what it would become. Initially materialising as a fundraising workshop in a friend’s kitchen, the first event was such a success that Stephanie quickly planned more. Now, Explore Raw is running cooking masterclass workshops, pop up events and raw retreats as the company continues to expand. In 2015, she even wrote a cookbook titled ‘Spiralize’ full of cooked and raw plant based recipes.

We spoke to founder and owner Stephanie Jeffs to find out more about her background and give you an insight into the cookery school. How did you go about setting up the Cookery School, and what is your main goal for the school?

Explore Raw Cookery School came from my passion for living plant based foods and my passion for sharing knowledge. I found that there were more raw food classes popping up that were awesome, as the plant based and raw food world was growing, but I was getting frustrated. I knew that I could attend a class that could help me make a raw food cashew cheesecake or play with chocolate. But there was nothing that I could find that could help me truly get a good grounding in the essential ethos of what a raw food diet really means.