14th May 2026 • The HERALD • Page 51 v THE HERALD - Proud to be part of your community v FOOD FOR THOUGHT 14-Year-Old Dexter Olejarka To Be Youngest Chef To Ever Appear At Alresford Watercress Festival Festival goers are in for a treat when rising star of the Hampshire food scene, 14-year-old Dexter Olejarka takes to the stage at this year’s Alresford Watercress Festival on Sunday 17th May as the youngest ever chef to perform in the 22 years of the festival. is passionate young chef with a air for bold avours and imaginative cooking is making a name for himself in the local food scene, creating dishes alongside his father in the Crane Feasts Food Truck, inspired by American barbecue and global street food. Dexter has loved cooking virtually since he was in nappies and certainly since he could sit in a Bumbo chair on the kitchen side and help his mum, Karen, to mix cake batter. It became a real passion for him from about the age of ve. With the family business involved in various areas of food production from bespoke patisserie and confectionery to savoury menu components and product development for bespoke batch production, it was perhaps inevitable that Dexter would have an interest in food. But it was a er having spent lockdown watching the ‘Chef’ movie and multiple cooking shows and competitions, that he made his passion a reality and suggested the family add a truck to their food empire. e Crane Feasts food trailer has allowed Dexter to explore his love for cooking and to experiment with preparing foods using fresh, foraged ingredients. Dexter rst foraged for wild garlic with his dad Greg, and seeing how much he enjoyed it Karen booked him onto a mushroom foraging course for his birthday - and he’s never looked back. He’s keen to forage for watercress and the festival committee is looking to ful l this dream by organising for him to pick fresh watercress on the farm before his turn on the cookery stage. For some younger palates watercress can be too strong and peppery but Dexter loves bold avours like this and enjoys learning how to pair them to bring the best out in each ingredient. At the Watercress Festival he intends to cook lamb shoulder, pickled shallot and watercress pesto bringing his trademark energy and enthusiasm to the dish, all made with the freshest possible ingredients. Dexter’s culinary heroes include Michelin Star chefs, Adam Smith and Steve Drake and who knows, he may follow in their Michelin Starred footsteps one day. For now, this teenager who is fast becoming recognised as one of Hampshire’s most exciting culinary young talents aims to ‘just be a great chef with a reputation for creating good food and coma-inducing meals.’ Dexter will be on the Cookery stage at 11am at the Alresford Watercress Festival on Sunday 17th May. He will be introduced by Natasha Dochniak from Hampshire Fare, who is hosting the Cookery eatre for the rst time this year. For more information visit: www.watercressfestival.org 14-Year-Old Dexter Olejarka The Big Eat Festival e Big Eat is returning to Royal Victoria Country Park, from 23rd May–25th May, a er securing headline sponsorship from family owned and awardwinning motor group Snows Toyota for the second year. e free-to-attend festival is a celebration of local food and talent with all the pro ts being donated to local food banks. ere will be live music and entertainment for all ages to enjoy - including a silent disco, a petting zoo and a dog show. For more information visit: https://thebigeatfestival. co.uk Wine legs—those streaks that form on the inside of your glass—don’t reveal a wine’s quality, but they do tell you something about its alcohol level, sweetness, and the physics happening in your glass. Wine legs form due to the Marangoni e ect, a scienti c phenomenon involving the evaporation of alcohol. When you swirl wine, alcohol evaporates faster than water, creating a di erence in surface tension. is causes the liquid to climb up the glass and form droplets that slowly slide back down, creating those mesmerising streaks. Many people believe thick, slow-moving legs indicate high-quality wine, but this isn’t necessarily true. Wine legs primarily tell you about alcohol content and sugar levels. Wines with higher alcohol content or residual sugar will display more pronounced, slower-moving legs. A crisp Sauvignon Blanc with lower alcohol might show thin, fast legs, whilst a forti ed Port will display thick, syrupy streams. e viscosity you observe can also hint at the wine’s body and texture. Fuller-bodied wines with higher glycerol content tend to produce more dramatic legs. However, legs alone don’t determine quality, avour pro le, or whether you’ll enjoy the wine. Next time you pour a glass, observe the legs as part of the overall tasting experience, but remember they’re just one small piece of the puzzle. e true test of any wine lies in its aroma, taste, and how it makes you feel with each sip. Understanding these visual cues can enhance your appreciation, but your palate remains the ultimate judge. Ready to explore wines with varying characteristics and discover your preferences? Visit: www. watersidewines.com to browse our carefully curated selection. Understanding Wine Legs: What They Really Tell You from Waterside Wines Set Back To East Boldre Village Hall Refurbishment In the last issue of e Herald we reported on the progress of the East Boldre Village Hall refurbishment project, which was making great strides forward. Sadly a er the issue had gone to print, the Village Hall was subject to considerable vandalism. e recently installed re alarm cables and electrical wiring were damaged, as were water pipes which resulted in a ood and tools were also stolen from the site. e builders (Westmade Ltd) and the village hall team have been working hard to rectify the damage but this is a serious setback for the works programme in terms of both time and cost. With an already tight budget due to the escalating costs of building materials this will have a serious impact. erefore any donations would be gratefully received to help get the project back on track and get the Village Hall t for the community to use once again. If you are able to make a donation towards the project please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/charity/ eastboldrevillagehall
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