Former Navy engineer turns professional forager

A master of reinvention has told how her latest incarnation as a full-time forager - supplying Michelin-starred chefs - was inspired by her granddad, who survived for eight months in the woods, after escaping the Nazis. Drawing on happy childhood memories of nature walks with her grandfather, Dan Szperka, 93, who taught her which wild fruit and vegetables she could eat, Alysia Vasey launched her business, Yorkshire Foragers - collecting a range of 100 different types of wild produce, to sell. Deeply successful, Alysia, 46, of Doncaster, South Yorkshire - a former aircraft engineer, who then studied law and was named 'lawyer of the future' in a national competition - now supplies top restaurants, saying: “I'm not the most typical forager. "I wear sequins and I like to look nice, so, sometimes, the chefs look at me and don’t believe me. "But, when I realised that I could develop the skills my grandfather had passed down, to create a business and help top chefs, it was really special.”
A master of reinvention has told how her latest incarnation as a full-time forager - supplying Michelin-starred chefs - was inspired by her granddad, who survived for eight months in the woods, after escaping the Nazis. Drawing on happy childhood memories of nature walks with her grandfather, Dan Szperka, 93, who taught her which wild fruit and vegetables she could eat, Alysia Vasey launched her business, Yorkshire Foragers - collecting a range of 100 different types of wild produce, to sell. Deeply successful, Alysia, 46, of Doncaster, South Yorkshire - a former aircraft engineer, who then studied law and was named 'lawyer of the future' in a national competition - now supplies top restaurants, saying: “I'm not the most typical forager. "I wear sequins and I like to look nice, so, sometimes, the chefs look at me and don’t believe me. "But, when I realised that I could develop the skills my grandfather had passed down, to create a business and help top chefs, it was really special.”
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DETAILS

Editorial #:
953741806
Collection:
PA Media
Date created:
May 01, 2018
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License type:
Rights-ready
Release info:
Not released. More information
Clip length:
00:06:05:09
Location:
United Kingdom
Mastered to:
QuickTime 8-bit Photo-JPEG HD 1920x1080 25p
Source:
PA Media
Object name:
tvt_pa-30726.mov