Chef Magazine issue 43

THE MAGAZINE FOR CHEFS w w w. c h e f m e d i a . c o . u k

LIVING LEGEND DA N I E L B O U LU D STRESS TA K E I T S E R I O U S LY WE VISIT SOUTH AFRICA A N D C ATC H U P WITH REUBEN RIFFEL

2016

Issue 44

£5.00

LIMITED EDITION

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1000 COPIES

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£100

The chefs appearing in the Chef Book

Jeremy Ford

Martin Nisbit

Frederick Forster

Patrick O’Connell

Sarah Frankland

Jan Ostle

Eric Frechon

Nathan Outlaw

Pierre Gagnaire

Anne-Sophie Pic

Daniel Galmiche

David Pitchford

Chris Galvin

Theo Randall

Andre Garret

Neil Rankin

David Girard

Shaun Rankin

Frédy Girardet

René Redzepi

Brett Graham

Gary Rhodes

Paul Wayne Gregory

Massimo Riccioli

Anna Hansen

Eric Ripert

Matt Hay

Jordi Roca

Paul Heathcote

Olivier Roellinger

Jocelyn Herland

Simon Rogan

Ruth Hinks

Alain Roux

Mark Hix

Albert Roux

Phil Howard

Michel Roux

Daniel Humm

Michel Roux jr

Rachel Humphrey

Mark Sargeant

Gary Hunter

Antony Scholtmeyer

Yoshinori Ishii

Germain Schwab

Margot Janse

Julie Sharp

Tom Aikins

Martin Burge

Mark Jordan

Richard Shepherd

Yannick Alléno

Aiden Byrne

Thomas Keller

Adam Simmonds

Andreas Antona

Michael Caines

Paul Kelly

Clare Smyth

Jason Atherton

John Campbell

Atul Kotcher

Vivek Singh

Kenny Atkinson

Jonathan Cartwright

Nico Ladenis

Yolande Stanley

Sat Bains

Jimmy Chamlong

Eric Lanlard

Adam Stokes

Esben Holmboe Bang

Martin Chiffers

Arnaud Larher

Nathan Thomas

Sarah Barber

Daniel Clifford

Alvin Leung

Phil Thompson

Russell Bateman

Richard Corrigan

Giorgio Locatelli

Mark Tilling

Heinz Beck

Régis Crépy

James Lowe

Ben Tish

Alistair Birt

Luke Dale-Roberts

Thierry Marx

Tony Tobin

Galton Blackiston

Hélène Darroze

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

Cyrus Todiwala

Raymond Blanc

Steve Drake

Colin McGurran

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Benoit Blin

Thierry Dumouchel

Jeremy McMillan

Marcus Wareing

Paul Bocuse

Beverley Dunkley

Nuno Mendes

Marco Pierre White

Simon Boyle

Mark Edwards

Yasuhiro Mineno

Marc Wilkinson

Claude Bosi

David Everitt-Matthias

Ramon Morató

Alyn Williams

Henry Brosi

Andrew Fairlie

Anton Mosimann

John Williams

Jeremy Brown

Peter Fiori

Richard Neat

Martin Wishart

This book is a treasure-trove of great food.

A veritable anthology of some of the world’s best chefs and their recipes including Paul Bocuse, the Roux family, Anton Mosimann and Thomas Keller and many of the new stars of today such as Sat Bains, Jason Atherton and Daniel Humm. In total there are 118 chefs featured in this amazing collection. The photography is a work of art and the recipes are as diverse as the chefs featured.

This book has been produced to celebrate the 40th issue of “Chef Magazine”, a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the magazine. My wish would be that every cook worth his salt should buy a copy, look at it, study it and cherish it.

We have become a nation of food lovers.

Books, magazines, newspapers, television and the

media in general cannot get a big enough “bite” of this phenomenon.

Today I am merely a spectator but I would like to think that I was in the vanguard of this culinary adventure.

Looking back, in the seventies, it was like walking through a dark forest. Though I acknowledge that some of the chefs featured in this wonderful book are at the “cutting edge” of this revolution, it does not preclude me from saying that I cannot endorse some of the excesses.

When you study this book, you will come to realise that contributions of this kind cost precious time and money.

I would therefore like to extend a big thank you to the men and women who contributed so generously.

NICO LADENIS

book available at

w w w. c h e f m e d i a . c o . u k

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Chef 44 / THIS ISSUE On a Knifes Edge

by Andy Lynes

The Ring Master Daniel Boulud by Namai Bishop

From Humble Roots in Thailand

Commissioning a Kitchen

by Josh Simms

INDUSTRY TOPIC

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CHEF TALK

CHEF BUSINESS

CHEF FEATURE

TALK TO THE CHEF

COUNTRY VISIT

MEET THE SUPPLIER

Douglas Mcmaster

by Andy Lynes

South Africa

by Dominic Weaver

UNUSUAL INGREDIENT

The micro-vegetable revolution: Could Rob Baan’s cress combat cancer?

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20 Quinoa A super-food

by Namai Bishop

32 38 46 50

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www.chefmedia.co.uk

Simon Jenkins Life as a Consultant

Have a Cigar my Friend

by Namai Bishop

Obsessed 16 Times

By Namai Bishop

Central Otago

by Jean Smullen

GANACHE

GANACHE

CHEF EVENT

WINE AND DRINK

OUR MAN IN BANGKOK

NEWS

TRIED AND TESTED

57 60 66 68 Omni Blend

by Andrew Scott

Antony Schotelymer

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CHEF MAGAZINE CHEF MEDIA LTD Network House 28 Ballmoore Celtic Court Buckingam MK 18 1RQ Tel: 44 20 7097 1396 DIRECTOR Lesya Grebenuk email: Lesya@chefmedia.co.uk For general enquiries regarding Chef Magazine email: peter@chefmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER Peter Marshall

78 PHOTOGRAPHY Front Cover Dawid Verwey Peter Marshall Geoff Dann Kuma Masahi Steve Lee Francesco Tonelli DESIGNER, ART EDITOR Olga Pomazkova opdesign.com.ua

SALES email: peter@chefmedia.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS Namai Bishop Simon Jenkins Nico Ladenis Andy Lynes Josh Sims Jean Smullen

MICHELIN-STARRED RESTAURANTS A L I S T O F T H E U K A N D I R E L A N D ’ S M I C H E L I N - S TA R R E D R E S TA U R A N T S

 LONDON Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester Jocelyn Herland www.alainducassedorchester.com Gordon Ramsay Clare Smyth www.gordonramsay.com/ royalhospitalroad

ENGLAND The Waterside Inn Alain Roux & Fabrice Uhryn www.waterside-inn.co.uk

 LONDON Darroze at The Connaught Hélène Darroze www.the-connaught. co.uk/ mayfair-restaurantsbars Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Ashley Palmer-Watts www.dinnerbyheston.com Greenhouse Arnaud Bignon www. greenhouserestaurant. co.uk Hibiscus Claude Bosi www.hibiscusrestaurant. co.uk Le Gavroche Michel Roux Jr www.le-gavroche.co.uk Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley Marcus Wareing www.marcus-wareing.com Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library) Pierre Gagnaire www.sketch.uk.com The Araki Mitsuhiro Araki the-araki.com The Ledbury Brett Graham www.theledbury.com The Square Phil Howard www.squarerestaurant. com

L’enclume Simon Rogan www.lenclume.co.uk Michael Wignall at The Latymer Michael Wignall www.pennyhillpark. co.uk/ EXCLUSIVE_HOTELS/ eating_and_drinking/ the_latymer.aspx

ENGLAND Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles Andrew Fairlie www.gleneagles.com

EIRE Patrick Guilbaud Guillaume Lebrun www.restaurantpatrick guilbaud.ie

 LONDON Alyn Williams at The Westbury Alyn Williams www.alynwilliams.co.uk Amaya Karunesh Khanna www.amaya.biz Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at Halkin Hotel Elena Arzak www.comohotels.com Angler at South Place Hotel Tony Fleming www.southplacehotel.com Arbutus Anthony Demetre www.arbutusrestaurant. co.uk Barrafina Nieves Barragán Mohacho www.barafina.co.uk Benares Atul Kochhar www.benaresrestaurant. com Bonhams Tom Kemble bonhams.com Brasserie Chavot Eric Chavot www.brasseriechavot.com Chez Bruce Bruce Poole www.chezbruce.co.uk City Social Jason Atherton www.citysociallondon.com

The Umu Yoshinori Ishii umurestaurant.com

Club Gascon Pascal Aussignac www.clubgascon.com

ENGLAND

Dabbous Ollie Dabbous www.dabbous.co.uk

Midsummer House Daniel Clifford www. midsummerhouse.co.uk Gidleigh Park Michael Caines www.gidleigh.com Le Champignon Sauvage David Everitt-Matthias www. lechampignonsauvage. co.uk Whatley Manor Martin Burge www.whatleymanor.com Le Manoir aux Quat’Sainsons Gary Jones www.manoir.com Restaurant Nathan Outlaw Nathan Outlaw www.nathan-outlaw.com/ nathan-outlaw-restaurant Restaurant Sat Bains Sat Bains www.restaurantsatbains. com The Hand and Flowers Tom Kerridge www.thehandandflowers. co.uk

Fera at Claridge’s Simon Rogan www.feraatclaridges.co.uk Galvin at Windows André Garrett www.galvinatwindows. com Galvin La Chapelle Jeff Galvin www.galvinrestaurants. com Gymkhana Karam Sethi www.hakkasan.com Hakkasan Tong Chee Hwee www.hakkasan.com Hakkasan Hanway Place Tong Chee Hwee www.hakkasan.com Hedone Mikael Jonsson www.hedonerestaurant. com HKK Tong Chee Hwee www.hkklondon.com

Kai Alex Chow www.kaimayfair.co.uk

Tom Aikens Restaurant Tom Aikens www.tomaikens.co.uk

Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs James Knappett www.kitchentablelondon. co.uk

Trishna Karam Sethi www.trishnalondon.com

Kitchen W8 Mark Kempson www.kitchenw8.com L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Oliver Limousin www.joelrobuchon.co.uk/ L’Atelier L’autre Pied Andy McFadden www.lautrepied.co.uk La Trompete Anthony Boyd www.latrompette.co.uk

Umu Yoshinori Ishii www.umurestaurant.com W1 Restaurant Paul Welburn www.guoman.com Wild Honey Anthony Demetre www.wildhoneyrestaurant. co.uk Yauatcha Cheong Wah Soon www.yauatcha.com

ENGLAND

Launceston Place Timothy Allen www.launcestonplacerestaurant.co.uk

5 North Street Marcus Ashenford www.5northstreet restaurant.co.uk

Lima Robert Ortiz www.limalondon.com

Adam’s Adam Stokes www.adamsrestaurant. co.uk

Locanda Locatelli Giorgio Locatelli www.locandalocatelli.com Lyle’s James Lowe lyleslondon.com Murano Angela Hartnett www.muranolondon.com Outlaw’s at the Capital Nathan Outlaw www.capitalhotel.co.uk Petrus Sean Burbidge www. gordonramsay.com/petrus Pied a Terre Marcus Eaves www.pied-a-terre.co.uk Pollen Street Social Jason Atherton www.pollenstreetsocial. com

Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House Adam Simmonds www.danesfieldhouse. co.uk Alimentum Mark Poynton www. restaurantalimentum.co.uk Apicius Tim Johnson www.restaurant-apicius. co.uk Bath Priory Sam Moody www.thebathpriory.co.uk Box Tree Simon Gueller www.theboxtree.co.uk Butchers Arms James Winter www.thebutchersarms.net

Portland Merlin Labron-Johnson portlandrestaurant.co.uk

Bybrook Richard Davies www. manorhouse.co.uk

Quilon Sriram Aylur www.quilon.co.uk

Casamia Jonray & Peter Sanchez www.casamiarestaurant. co.uk

Seven Place Park at St James’ Hotel and Club William Drabble www.stjameshotelandclub. com

Chapter One Andrew Mcleish www.chaptersrestaurants. com

Social Eating House Jason Atherton www.socialeatinghouse. com

Curlew Andrew Scott www.thecurlewrestaurant. co.uk

St John Chris Gillard www.stjohnrestaurant.com

Drakes Steve Drake www.drakesrestaurant. co.uk

St John Hotel Tom Harris 020 3301 8020 www.stjohnrestaurant.com

Driftwood Chris Eden www.driftwoodhotel.co.uk

Story Tom Sellers www.restaurantstory.co.uk

Fischer’s at Baslow Hall Rupert Rowley www. fischers-baslowhall.co.uk

Tamarind Alfred Prasad www.tamarindrestaurant. com

Fraiche Mark Wilkinson www.restaurantfraiche. com

Texture Agnar Sverrisson www.texture-restaurant. co.uk

Hambleton Hall Aaron Patterson www.hambletonhall.com

The Dining Room at the Goring Shay Cooper thegoring.com The Clove Club Isaac McHale www.thecloveclub.com The Harwood Arms Barry Fitzgerald www.harwoodarms.com The River Café Rose Gray www.rivercafe.co.uk

Hinds Head Kevin Love www.hindsheadbray.com Holbeck Ghyll David McLaughlin www.holbeckghyll.com JSW Jake Saul Watkins www.jswrestaurant.com L’Ortolan Nick Chappell www.lortolan.com Lords of the Manor Richard Picard-Edwards www.lordsofthemanor.com

Manor House Hotel & Golf Club Richard Davies www.manorhouse.co.uk

The Mason Arms Mark Dodson www.masonsarmsdevon. co.uk

Morston Norfolk Galton Blackiston www.morstonhall.com

The Neptune Kevin Mangeolles www.theneptune.co.uk

Mr Underhill’s at Dinham Weir Chris Bradley www.mr-underhills.co.uk Northcote Nigel Haworth www. northcote.com Ockenden Manor Stephen Crane www. hshotels.co.uk/ockendenmanor-hotel-and-spa/ dining Old Vicarage Tessa Bramley www. theoldvicarage.co.uk Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen Nathan Outlaw www.outlaws.co.uk Paris House Phil Fanning www.parishouse.co.uk Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Paul Ainsworthwww. number6inpadstow.co.uk Pony & Trap Josh Eggleton www.theponyandtrap. co.uk Purnell’s Glynn Purnell www.purnellsrestaurant. com Raby Hunt www.rabyhuntrestaurant. co.uk Red Lion Freehouse Guy Manning www.redlionfreehouse. com Restaurant Tristan Tristan Mason www.restauranttristan. co.uk Room in the Elephant Simon Hulstone www.elephantrestaurant. co.uk Sienna Russell Brown www.siennarestaurant. co.uk Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor Simon Radley www.chestergrosvenor. com/simon-radleyrestaurant Simpsons Luke Tipping www.simpsonsrestaurant. co.uk Sir Charles Napier Chris Godfrey www.sircharlesnapier. co.uk Thackeray’s Richard Phillips www.thackeraysrestaurant.co.uk The Black Rat Winchester, Hampshire Jamie Stapleton-Burns 01962 844465 www.theblackrat.co.uk The Black Swan Adam Jackson www.blackswanoldstead. co.uk The Cross at Kenilworth Adam Bennett www.thecrosskenilworth. co.uk The Glasshouse Daniel Mertl www. glasshouserestaurant.co.uk The Harrow at Little Bedwyn Roger Jones www.theharrowat littlebedwyn.com

Glenapp Castle Adam Stokes www.glenappcastle.com Isle of Eriska Ross Stovold www.eriska-hotel.co.uk

The Nut Tree Mike North www.nuttreeinn.co.uk

Inverlochy Castle Philip Carnegie www. inverlochycastlehotel.com

The Park (at Lucknam Park Hotel) Hywel Jones www.lucknampark.co.uk

Kinlock Lodge Marcello Tully www.kinloch-lodge.co.uk

The Pass Matt Gillan www.southlodgehotel. co.uk/EXCLUSIVE.../ the_pass The Pipe & Glass Inn James Mackenzie www.pipeandglass.co.uk The Royal Oak Dom Chapman www. theroyaloakpaleystreet. com The Samling Ian Swainson www.thesamlinghotel. co.uk The Sportsman Stephen Harris www.thesports manseasalter.co.uk The Stagg Inn Steve Reynolds www.thestagg.co.uk The Star Inn Andrew Pern www.thestaratharome. co.uk The Terrace (at the Montagu Arms) Matthew Tomkinson www.montaguarmshotel. co.uk/terrace_restaurant The Treby Arms Anton Piotrowski www.thetrebyarms.co.uk The West House Graham Garrett www.thewesthouse restaurant.co.uk The Yorke Arms Frances Atkins www.yorkearms.co.uk Turners Richard Turner www. turnersrestaurant birmingham.co.uk Wilks James Wilkins www.wilksrestaurant.co.uk

JERSEY Ocean House at Atlantic Mark Jordan www.theatlantichotel.com

Knockinaam Lodge Tony Pierce www.knockinaamlodge. com Martin Wishart Martin Wishart www.martin-wishart.co.uk restaurant-martin-wishart/ home Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond Graeme Cheevers www.martin-wishart.co.uk Number One (at The Balmoral Hotel) Jeff Bland www.thebalmoralhotel. com/dining Sangster’s Bruce Sangster www.sangsters.co.uk The Albannach Colin Craig & Lesley Crosfield www.thealbannach.co.uk The Kitchin Tom Kitchin www.thekitchin.com The Peat Inn Geoffrey Smeddle www.thepeatinn.co.uk The Three Chimneys Michael Smith www. threechimneys.co.uk

WALES Crown at Whitebrook Chris Harrod www.crownatwhitebrook. co.uk The Checkers Stéphane Borie www. thecheckersmontgomery. co.uk The Walnut Tree Shaun Hill www.thewalnuttreeinn. com Tyddyn Llan Bryan Webb www.tyddynllan.co.uk Ynyshir Hall Gareth Ward www.ynyshirhall.co.uk

EIRE

Bohemia (at The Club Hotel & Spa) Steve Smith www.bohemiajersey.com

Aniar Enda McEvoy www.aniarrestaurant.ie

Ormer by Shaun Rankin www.ormerjersey.com

Bon Appetit Oliver Dunne www.bonappetit.ie

Tassili at the Grand Hotel Richard Allen www.grandjersey.com/ grand-jersey/tassili

SCOTLAND 21212 Paul Kitching www.21212restaurant.co.uk Boath House Charlie Lockley www.boathhouse.com Braidwoods Nicola Braidwood www.braidwoods.co.uk Castle Terrace Dominic Jack www. castleterracerestaurant. com

Campagne Garrett Byrne www.campagne.ie Chapter One Ross Lewis www. chapteronerestaurant.com House (at Cliff House Hotel) Martijn Kajuiterwww. thecliffhousehotel.com L’Ecrivain Derry Clarke www.lecrivain.com Lady Helen at Mount Juliet Hotel Cormac Rowe www.mountjuliet.ie Thornton’s (at The Fitzwilliam Hotel) Kevin Thornton www.fitzwilliamhotel.com

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I N D U S T RY TO P I C

by Andy Lynes

ON A KNIFES EDGE No one knows why Benoît Violier killed himself. The 44 year old Swiss chef seemed to have everything to live for. Named chef of the year by the Gault et Millau guide in 2013, his Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier, near Lausanne was number one on La Liste, the French compiled guide to the world’s best restaurants, and he held three Michelin stars. He was found dead at his home on 31 January this year, the day before he was due to travel to Paris to attend the unveiling of the 2016 Michelin guide to France.

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| Industry Topic | On a Knifes Edge

Rumours that Violier had been conned by a wine scam and was in substantial debt have been dismissed by his widow who says she can’t explain her husband’s suicide.

Inevitably, Violier’s death has been compared to that of fellow French three Michelin starred chef Bernard Loiseau who shot himself in 2003 soon after his restaurant La Côte d’Or in Burgundy had been downgraded from 19 out of 20 to 17 by Gault et Millau and an article appeared in a French national newspaper suggesting Loiseau might soon have his third star taken away from him.

With no suicide note left in either case, the reasons for the two tragic deaths will probably never be known. That hasn’t stopped speculation about the effect of the intense pressure of the life of a top chef and damaging impact of work related stress on the catering industry.

‘You’ve got to be in a really dark place to put a gun to your head,’ says Daniel Clifford, chef patron of two Michelin starred Midsummer House in Cambridge.

‘You put the stress on yourself. We all have goals, things we want to achieve in

life and we all think we’re better than we probably are’.

Clifford is one of a number of high profile British chefs to have made changes to working patterns and trading hours in order to help make hospitality a less stressful industry to work in and has increased his brigade at the 58 cover riverside restaurant from 7 to 14. ‘We’ve got more time to train the staff and more time to spend with them and to nurture them. The more time you spend with them the longer they stay and the easier it is to

Closing for those lunch services was more to do with balancing the quality of life and work. I’ve got two kids and I don’t want to do five or six days a week anymore and I can’t expect my staff to do it,’ says Bosi. ‘We used to start at six o’clock on a Tuesday morning to make sure we were ready for lunch just to do 25 covers. At the end of the week the team were exhausted and you think to yourself, is it really worth it.

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do my job. Constant turnover of staff is where the stress kicks in’.

Clifford’s fellow two Michelin star chefs Sat Bains and Claude Bosi have taken a different tack and reduced their opening hours. In July 2015, Bains moved to opening his Nottingham restaurant for just four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday, giving staff an extra 48 days off a year with no reduction in salary and at an estimated cost of more than £100k to the business. And in January this year, Bosi stopped serving lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday at Hibiscus, his two Michelin starred restaurant in Mayfair.

‘Closing for those lunch services was more to do with balancing the quality of life and work. I’ve got two kids and I don’t want to do five or six days a week anymore and I can’t expect my staff to do it,’ says Bosi. ‘We used to start at six o’clock on a Tuesday morning to make sure we were ready for lunch just to do 25 covers. At the

According to Hill, the answer to the problem of excessive stress in the kitchen lies within a chef’s own grasp. ‘ You can regulate stress by regulating the menu because the number of dishes and degree of complexity dictate the level of work and stress. But all good chefs want to do the best they possibly can.

They put on a menu what will give themselves a lot of work in order to be better and that inevitably entails a lot of stress.

end of the week the team were exhausted and you think to yourself, is it really worth it. We’re losing about £300k revenue a year but after costs and tax, it’s not that much difference to the bottom line. Everybody’s happy, the team are not as tired and are more careful about what they do so there’s fewer mistakes. It was a good move and I’m sorry I didn’t do it before’.

Others have since followed suit, including Michelin-starred Raby Hunt in Darlington who scrapped weekday lunch services last October and Cornwall-based Red hotels have recently announced plans for a 45 hour, 5 day working week for kitchen staff. But not everyone is impressed by such publicly made plans. ‘It’s rubbed us up the wrong way because we’ve always

been four days a week since we opened 21 years ago but we just haven’t shouted about it,’ says Matt Christmas of Michelin starred Chez Bruce in Wandsworth. ‘Staff work four doubles and have three days off a week. Some like to take them in a row and really unwind and others like to split it and work no more than two consecutive days at a time’.

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| Industry Topic | On a Knifes Edge

We’ve got more time to train the staff and more time to spend with them and to nurture them Shaun Hill of The Walnut Tree near Abergavenny is equally non-plussed. ‘You don’t see any chefs closing on their busiest night which would really alleviate stress because they need to make a living. They close on their quietest night, well, zip-adee-doo-dah. There is another answer, you can employ more staff. If you’re doing the extra business, that should pay the wages.

I would be loath to restrict opening hours because of the occasional quiet night.

I like to keep them exactly the same so customers know where they are’.

Rather than trying to eliminate stress, Hill believes it’s an essential ingredient in a successful professional kitchen. ‘It gives adrenalin and that gets your mind concentrated and your feet moving. There’s obviously a cut off point where you end up like Edvard Munch’s Scream but before that it’s largely positive’ Christmas agrees. ‘ If you’re stressed, you’re under pressure to improve and a lot of the guys embrace that, I certainly did.

There’s definitely shouting at Chez Bruce because its a pressured environment, but only when things go wrong. I know there’s certain other kitchens out there that from the moment you walk through the door your lambasted with nastiness, but that’s more the army mentality where if you’re shouted at from the start of the day you’re not going to think too hard about it during service. I don’t criticise that, it’s just not my way of doing things and some of those kitchens breed great cooks as well’.

According to Hill, the answer to the problem of excessive stress in the kitchen lies within a chef’s own grasp. ‘ You can regulate stress by regulating the menu because the number of dishes and degree of complexity dictate the level of work and stress. But all good chefs want to do the best they possibly can.

They put on a menu what will give themselves a lot of work in order to be better and that inevitably entails a lot of stress’. For Clifford, offering 5, 7 and 10 course menus only has helped address a big driver of stress in the

Midsummer kitchen. ‘I’ve basically got one chef for one dish now. Back in the day when we used to do a la carte I used to do the meat, the fish and the sauce and I would be cooking four starters and probably eight main courses. But to find that type of chef now, those days are over. You can only do what your team is capable of doing. The moment you start pushing the boundaries and doing things that are pushing your staff too hard, that’s when the stress kicks in. We’re still working really hard but we’re not in such a stressful place as we used to be‘.

Bosi has an even more pragmatic solution to overworked staff. ‘I send the kitchen porters in at 3.30pm with hot water and bleach to clean the kitchen. If the chefs are still there, they get wet. The British chef’s mentality is that to work hard means you have to work all day.

The French think that if you stay in the kitchen in the afternoon it means you’re shit at your job. I worked in some of the hardest kitchens in France but you did not stay in the afternoon, because that would mean you didn’t organise yourself in the morning properly. You need to get out, go for a coffee with your friends, look at the ladies in the street. That is normal life, don’t stay in the kitchen’.

The dictionary definition of stress is ‘a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances’. Excepting a hospital emergency room or a war zone, there are fewer more adverse and demanding circumstances to find yourself in than a professional kitchen during dinner rush on a busy Saturday night. So if chef’s are never going to eliminate stress, maybe it’s all about state of mind.

‘I’m in the happiest place I’ve ever been because my staff are happy, I’ve learnt my style so I’m happy with what we cook and the business is making money, so what have I got to be stressed about?’ says Clifford. ‘The only stress is what I put on myself. I’ve learned that I’m not cooking for guide books anymore I’m cooking for customers that come to eat.

It’s about making people happy and giving them a brilliant time. You can compare yourself to other restaurant all day long but you are what you are. The key to it is to have the right people in the right places.

That will make you feel you’re enjoying yourself and that’s what you should go to work to do’.

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LIVING LEGEND

by Namai Bishop

DANIEL

BOULUD THE RINGMASTER Daniel Boulud is unquestionably the Maestro of Manhattan power-dining. He has held this baton for decades, conducting his empire of restaurants with exacting stagecraft. It is apt therefore that Namai Bishop meets the chef in the rostrum-like setting of his personal ‘Skybox’, located in the kitchens of his eponymous restaurant Daniel.

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| Living Legend | Daniel Boulud

The Skybox, a diminutive glass dining space that doubles up as the chef’s personal work space, is perched at the top of almost vertical steps with an ariel-view of the kitchens below. Its no coincidence that a lofty conductor’s-like podium is exactly where Boulud is most at home. His actual home is only a few floors up to be closer to his culinary headquarters – testament to this Chef’s all-encompassing dedication to his craft. A prominent restaurateur and congenial host, he has decades of experience in the art of entertaining guests. Boulud is the consummate ringmaster to a string of power-packed dining rooms from Shanghai to New York, where he first made his mark at the City’s famed culinary ‘big top’, appropriately named Le Cirque.

It was during his tenure as Executive Chef at Le Cirque from 1986 to 1992 that Boulud gained prominence on the dining circuit, receiving the prestigious James Beard Award in 1992 for Best Chef of New York City.

The James Beard Foundation would again recognise the Chef, as he set up his first venture Daniel restaurant in 1993, voting him Outstanding Chef of the Year in 1994 and Outstanding Restaurateur in 2006. By then, Boulud had relocated his own restaurant Daniel to, in what was an aptly theatrical

twist of fete, the very same venue that once housed his old training ground, Le Cirque itself just opposite from his original kitchen at Le Régence at the Hotel Plaza Athenée.

“I’ve been in the same postcode for 33 years! It’s not exactly shabby!”. A Venetianinspired sanctum, the restaurant sits elegantly as the jewel in the culinary crown on the swanky Upper East Side. At Daniel, once again, the great Ringmaster was the darling of Manhattan diners, winning over a host of regulars and scooping a plethora of plaudits including Bon Appétit’s Chef of the Year, one of the top ten restaurants in the world by the International Herald Tribune, Top Table Award by Gourmet, a coveted fourstar rating from the New York Times, Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, and Zagat Survey’s New York City top ratings for the holy trilogy of cuisine, service and decor.

Brandishing three Michelin stars awarded in 2010, and inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame in January 2013, it came as a shock to many that this bastion of the culinary scene lost its third Michelin star in the latest 2015 Michelin Guide. Boulud appeared defiant, not crestfallen, I spoke to him about the loss of the star – as images of stars and the luminaries he counts as clients line the walls of his Skybox.

NEW YORK DINING ACROSS THE DECADES A smooth operator, Boulud has always counted as his regular patrons VIP visitors, politicians, legends of the silver screen. His establishments have always been regarded as the epicentre of the New York’s power-dining and no visit to the East Coast by the rich and famous would be complete without dinner chez Daniel. I asked him how he has seen the NY city dining scene evolve? ”I’ve seen 1980’s, the ‘90, the 2000’s! And today and I’m still as excited as the day I arrived. New York is a very special city; you see the world coming to you here, but there’s also a community of people living in this neighbourhood who treat this area as their village. Upper East side is after all the cradle of wealth in America.” But things are changing and Boulud has finally, expanded his eateries’ dining postcodes as well as dining style. A smart move to diversify the business portfolio, should Wall Street comes crumbling down.

Not the first fine dining chef to have expanded his empire to more casual style eateries, what does distinguish Boulud is a naturally intuitive connection with his urban environment and clientele, that allows their preferences, not his desire, to make culinary statements to propel his portfolio. Its a formula

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that clearly works: Dinex Group, a management company he co-founded, oversees a burgeoning operation of more than 900 employees worldwide. From ‘fine dining a la Francais’ to the French Brasserie, Bistro and Med and Bar style, his strength lies in diversity, as well as being the key to his personal happiness: “I would be miserable if I didn’t have the balance of different types of restaurant!”.

His beaming smile is clearly testament to the success of that diversity.

“Some clients are avid regulars of some of our restaurants but wouldn’t set foot in another of ours! Some for example would consider Café Boulud too ‘Café society’, too high octane! There [at Café Boulud] I could accomplish a bistro, an auberge, a gastronomic ambiance all in one. I remember Joel Robuchon in Paris in the ‘80’s, with just 6 inches between tables, 40 seats downstairs – it was buzzing! There was this extraordinarily high quality of food and service but in an atmosphere that was convivial. For me that’s what I love about restaurants.”

FROM GOURMET GURU TO THE GODFATHER OF GOURMET BURGERS Edging midtown, the theatre area of Manhattan is the district for his more casual restaurant db Bistro Moderne where since 2001, his more accessible dining has proved consistently popular. On the menu: as well as French classics like Coq au Vin and Moules Frites, there is his “Original db Burger”. It is a play on his adopted American home, albeit with a true Boulud elegance: a succulent sirloin burger is filled with sticky braised short ribs, foie gras and rich black truffle parmesan bun. Diners after a more pimped-up-pattie can opt for the “db Buger Royal” that comes slathered in layers of luscious shaved black truffles and super-sized, in line with its hefty $110 price tag. It could be argued Boulud was the godfather of the profuse ‘Gourmet Burger’ craze sweeping across our high streets and across the globe.

This wordly virtuoso regales me with a tale of how his burgers stole the show: “The burger is my tribute to how much I love America.

At the same time I like to tease. Traditionally, the French had misconceptions about US food.

I once got a call from a journalist asking my reaction to a French guy who burned down a McDonalds in Toulouse, as a protest of American cuisine and consumerism. I told the journalist: maybe the French are just jealous they didn’t create the burger in first place! So I

had a cheeky idea to invite the same journalist to come to db Bistro Moderne and taste this Frenchman’s version. He came, tried it, and I served it to another few tables – it was a hit!

That’s how the craze of Gourmet Burger came about. But don’t be fooled, its no ordinary burger. We pay a lot of attention on every aspect: selecting ingredients, the quality of the meat, making sure every element is perfectly prepared. At Bar Buloud in London we’ve just been awarded best burger again – we’ve very proud of that.”

“AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE SO FRENCH!” - A COMMON THREAD TO A DIVERSE PORTFOLIO As a restaurateur, Boulud has enjoyed most traction at this style of casual eatery, leading him to zig zag the entire globe as he expands his more accessible offerings.

He launched a sister db Bistro Moderne in Vancouver, before another branch debuted at the mammoth Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

His Café Boulud eatery has seen a second opening, this time in Florida, the sleek Maison Boulud à Pékin was launched in Beijing China, with another Maison Boulud in Ritz-Carlton Montreal as well as dbar lounge at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. DBGB Kitchen & Bar, a buzzing brasserie shook up the hipsters’ hangout of the Lower East side New York City; also in the city the bistro-style Bar Boulud is proving popular in the heart of the tourist hub at the Lincoln Center.

At Bar Boulud the Chef takes his cue from the wines of France.

“I talked to my Sommelier about doing wine bar anchored with the food of Lyon. So Bar Boulud was about creating a wine-centric restaurant, all about the great wines of Bugundy and Rhone with my native Lyon and its food as a linchpin in middle. Charcuterie is the anchor there. It’s really an art, as now Charcuterie is mostly all factory made, rather than by artisans.

We are seeking to revive that art. Yes, Italians have a heritage of it, but that craft is more about cured Salumerie. In France we also have terrines, patés and we also work with out of the box combinations like a French-Moroccan lamb tagine paté.” A more recent brand to launch is Boulud Sud. Having trained with Roger Vergé in Cannes no less, the South of France is still very close to Boulud’s heart, although Boulud’s version is, typically, wider in scope. He told me “I love Provence, but only doing Provencal food was not enough. So I wanted to do a more

diverse Mediterranean restaurant to reflect the diversity of the culinary influences. There are connecting wires, where Moroccan can live with Italian, French, Spanish - I have family in Spain, I love the Med. Similarly, the wine list there draws on the culinary landscape, with wines from France, Italy, Corsica, Lebanon, Greece – a wide range we don’t apply anywhere else. It’s an opportunity not to be so French!” he laughs.

I ask the Frenchman what the common thread was that tied his diverse portfolio. “They are all French cuisine but French in America!

I’m a Frenchman who’s cosmopolitan when it comes to cooking. London is another city that’s cosmopolitan too, but not as much as here in New York. Every cuisine is represented by migrants but also now by ethnic talent that America, and specifically NY produces. Most Americans have their roots in another culture, or home tradition. The ethnicity in our kitchens

is diverse – our staff include Spanish, Greek, Asian, African so it creates a melting pot. We talk about food and its a learning curve. Sometimes staff bring in their own food, with an interesting spice, or seasoning, a texture or taste which is unexpected. We play with that to create our style, which is French dishes but with a different dimension, a resonance.”

The diversity of his dishes as well as his establishments is ironically what has kept Boulud so successful. With all his casual eateries, the focus is on French traditional classics with what he calls “A twist to known dishes. Sometimes, the menu goes even further.

For example, at Café Boulud we have a more

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| Living Legend | Daniel Boulud

distinct menu: as well as the regular classics, there is also a ‘Seasonal’ section, a vegetarian section called ‘Le Potager’, and a menu we call ‘Voyage’, featuring dishes inspired by South America, Spain, Asia, Vietnam, Mexico. For example, I had a Mexican chef at Café Boulud and we had made suckling pig, with the a pig’s head left, we poached it into a pork broth with vegetables that was so delicious we’ll do it again this winter when the weather is cold.

We always focus on how dishes are made traditionally but we add a personal style – it’s more of a statement of internationalism. A cross pollination of culture and cuisine. So with Café Boulud, and Boulud Sud you have this convivial experience and in contrast at Daniel, we want to continue with an excellence which is not ostentatious, not pretentious but

I would be miserable if I didn’t have the balance of different types of restaurant!”. His beaming smile is clearly testament to the success of that diversity. highly professional, so we spend a lot of time on the service levels. The setting too dictates the style: the volumes are more imposing, so like [Daniel Humm’s] 11 Madison Avenue restaurant or [Eric Ripert’s] Le Bernadin, you feel you are like in a Grand Table, unlike the intimacy of say Café Boulud. The food too at Daniel is more sophisticated but not fussy. It’s driven by ingredient and layers of texture and taste. The menu at Daniel is very different as it reflects our curiosity of seasonality, herbs and freshness. We cultivate the idea of balanced dishes, we need dimension of nature and texture on a plate. In certain dishes we play with more exotic ingredients that are not traditionally used in the repertoire of typical French cuisine. As with all my restaurants there is always a sense of tradition in preparation. I don’t like to be too playful

with food or provocative, but try to make it delicious & sensual.”

RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS In 2010 the Bar Boulud brand ventured across the pond to London, opening inside the magnificent Mandarin Oriental Hotel Knightsbridge, marking with great acclaim this Lyonais chef’s first foray back into his homeland of Europe. Boulud’s roots lie deep in traditional French cooking: he was raised on his family’s farm near Lyon, France - the culinary heartland of gastronomy. Amongst the glamourous photographs I see in the Skybox, a simple black and white shot of his family’s humble eatery in Lyon takes pride of place. It is a poignant reminder that despite the glitter of Manhattan’s dynamic dining scene, Boulud is a Chef of tradition and substance. At just fifteen, working in France, Boulud worked hard to earn his first professional recognition as a finalist in France’s competition for Best Culinary Apprentice. He went on to count Roger Vergé, Georges Blanc and Michel Guérard no less, as his culinary mentors. Under such exacting, traditionalstyle tutelage, he earned his stripes and stars soon followed, culminating in Boulud being awarded the remarkable award of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur awarded in March 2006 by the President of France in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of French culture. Considered by many as a worthy ambassador of French cuisine, in 2008, the great doyen Paul Bocuse asked Boulud to establish a structure for the selection of the Bocuse d’Or Team USA, who along with culinary greats Thomas Keller and Jérome Bocuse together form the Board of Directors of the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation.

“I’ve know Bocuse since I was 14! He’s not an official Godfather to me, but I am his grandson’s godfather!” Boulud stops to show me an personal photo, this time directly from his personal cell phone: a touching image of the ‘family’: Paul Bocuse and his family, including Boulud’s infant godson “Petit Paul Bocuse” alongside Boulud’s own new family addition: a 20 month son. “We were all in Orlando together for Christmas – and I’m wearing my Paul Bocuse apron!”. Boulud, wrapped in his Bocuse apron strings apparently holds Bocuse never too far away from his heart – quite literally.

“I’m in contact with him every day. Paul has followed me all his life. When I started in US, he would stay at The Westbury hotel where I worked at the Polo Lounge.” Boulud reaches

over to unhook another photograph from the Skybox wall to show me: “Here is Paul Bocuse, and our gang [the jolly band includes Roger Verger, and Alain Chapel] celebrating his 60th birthday; now he is 89, so that picture was 29 years ago!” he pauses in revery “It was taken at Plaza Athenée where I worked, and he went to dine at Le Cirque after – it was him who told the owner ‘you should hire Boulud – he’ll be a better chef for you’.” Not surprisingly, the great father of French cuisine is rarely wrong and thereby Boulud’s star was all set to rise.

It’s a mutually positive relationship: “Bocuse asked me for two favours: show how America can do better in the Bocuse d’Or competition and win a podium place for USA. I’m pleased to say I’ve fulfilled his wishes!.

I’ve been involved for eight years and finally in January 2015 Philip Tessier [35, Executive sous chef at The French Laundry] won silver against 24 countries. We’ve just made the selection for 2017: Matthew Peters executive sous chef at Thomas Keller’s Per Se is training for 2017 – we’re aiming for gold! We have a lot of colleagues in industry supporting us and a culinary council of 40 chefs in America. It’s an exciting challenge.” Surely Boulud’s penchant for the podium will ensure success.

Boulud is an advocate of young chefs and puts his money where his mouth is. “We also have a grant of $12,000 for young chefs aged 22-27 years old to do a ‘stage’ in another city in another country, so last year we gave about ½ million dollars and this year ¾ million dollars grants to support young chefs. We have 28 candidates this year.”

FAMILIAR FRENCH WITH A DISTINCTLY AMERICAN ACCENT “I love French cuisine for tradition, technique & balance & precision. Also for its balance with wine. So we will never create a dish that is too acidic, or powerful where it would clash with the wine. Whilst the food always comes first, we have a tradition of drinking wine with food so dishes are generally made to be appreciated with beautiful wine.

With our wine pairings we suggest wines for each dish. Also, in the French tradition we have a sense of cooking whatever is grown around you.

In France, a Chef goes to market every morning.

He will focus on that ingredient, in season at that time, or then goes back to classics. In New York, the many suppliers come to you, literally!

USA is very practical when it comes to sourcing ingredients”.

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He reels off examples of his ingredients sourcing “I can call for mushrooms from Washington State at 6pm, when it’s still 3pm there. They know what they’ve harvested that day – the very next morning it’ll be with me. No middle man, no distributers. So the freshness is there. Same with our meats from Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut. My seafood from Maine – the fisherman know more or less what they will bring in that day and are in radio contact with boats, so again I order my fish live and get it direct the next day.

The sheer size of orders for this city makes the economies of scale workable, so they can afford to ship like that. We have access to the wholesale market as well as direct access to suppliers. We have more sourcing choices, so for example with seafood, NY being by the ocean, we can remain local, with the richness on our coast from Maryland to Canada and Maine from where we get a lot of live produce like sea urchin, scallop, lobster, so we try to use a lot of those. But there are also planes coming daily from Tokyo! We’re very lucky here!”.

Local ingredients - as well as local tastes – are the elements that have influenced Boulud’s Francais a la Americana cuisine. Decades of experience have made Boulud perfectly adept at identifying his customers’ preferences and delivering, with US style service standards, just what the customer ordered. And in the unforgiving environment of the NY dining scene, where the customer is always right, that skill is what sets this fine Chef apart. It’s been instrumental as he slowly and steadily expands his interpretations of casual French dining to an international clientele. You won’t find this chef behind the bunsen burner cooking up radical flavour combinations. Instead, he takes a steady approach, serving familiar and accessible versions of French fare to his slick city dweller clientele. Boulud is not only a great Chef, he is also a seasoned restaurateur, a generous showman and whilst he may have upstaged his training ground Le Cirque, for the international arena, Boulud still continues to play to his audience with aplomb.

Boulud’s philosophy: don’t stay Static for the Sake of Stars I ask him: has his food absorbed energy and the dynamism of city? Is he spontaneous with his menu?

“Yes!” he exclaims “The menu always changes - It’s a living thing thing!” Clearly like the city he has embraced, there is nothing static about Boulud and his culinary approach. In fact, it may just be that lack of regularity that cost him

his third star. Michelin Guide director Michael Ellis cited “a lack of consistency” as the reason for stripping Boulud of his third star.

I ask the Chef if his approach in the kitchen has been effected by the loss?

“I’ve always liked spontaneity and no one can take that away from me. I used to be much freer in deciding my menus. There was a time I used to dive into the kitchen and cook impulsively, because I know my customer and wanted to do something special. But I’m now running Daniel in a much stricter doctrine than I used to. Now the menu is calibrated, structured, calculated. I’m more cautious now. I used to do eight Plat du Jour at Daniel! Sometimes we had 5-6 soups on the menu: an explosion of pea, tomato, corn! Now, I barely do even one. I’ll look to my other restaurants to download that creativity and experimentation. Now at Daniel,

want a table for 10 or 12 people. Before I would accommodate that, but now I must say no.

That’s my biggest challenge: to say no and not worry about the consequences.”

He continues “Its a commercial game: in France, three Michelin stars guarantees 30% more business, but in US, it means 30% less revenue cause you have to cut down [customers]. With 2 star there was more business, and I never wanted to raise prices – it’s a balancing act and my balance worked for 20 years. Today I can afford to do things I couldn’t do 10 years before because I have invested in my team and my restaurants so today I’m more financially secure. We are controlling our business better, we’ve raised prices and cut down on volume greatly. Now I can do 60 less covers every day and this will make them better.”

yes, it is more important to be consistent. Yet, I maintain that ‘soul’ when cooking is more powerful than keeping a menu static just for the sake of being consistent. I know chefs who don’t change their menus for years, as that’s what make them famous and the formula works for them. With us, we care about evolving and staying relevant with our time, yet we don’t want to loose our roots. Sometimes there is conflict with my chefs, especially when we change certain classic dishes on the menu.

For example, one day I’ll say this popular dish: no more! There will be a riot amongst the customers too but I say they should come in for something else too. In that sense, stars aren’t important: as a Chef I have no regrets towards my customer. I’m only regretful for the impact [of the loss of star] on my team. I wasn’t trying to gain stars for myself. Yes, we’ve made decisions in the light of the loss. We know how to say no now. In NYC we enjoy having good customers, those who often spontaneously

So what’s next for Boulud? “I want to keep on top of my game with what I do - my team and I are motivated. I am not defeated. I have a new strategy and customers are never duped – they can compare from a myriad of restaurants, food and service. So now, my biggest pleasure is to keep in touch with my fellow 3-star chefs and to ensure they’d better be better than me, cause I’m not going in reverse! I always say, I have been in NY long enough – I’ve been through nine New York Times food critics – they just come & go. I’m still standing! My power lies in cooking.”

The veteran certainly has layers to his personality and it seems each restaurant hybrid, each variation in his strategy reflects his nuances: adept at adapting to the vibrancy of an ever-evolving city, this Chef knows well how to shed his skin - like the layers of an onion (though not one to make us cry I venture!) “Yes an onion absolutely! I am a Lyonnais after all – onions are at the heart of everything we do!”.

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CHEF BUSINESS

FROM HUMBLE ROOTS IN THAILAND It sounds for all the world like a film script – the impoverished young Thai girl who heads to the big city to make her fortune, meets the man of her dreams and then sets up a business which becomes a multi-million pound success story.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and that’s certainly the case with the Thai

Leisure Group, a fast growing, imaginative company which is on course to become the UK’s leading Asian food chain.

In little over 10 years the group has steadily grown, rolling its various brands out to cities and towns across country where they have been met with delight.

It’s all a far cry from the company’s

humble roots – starting in a tiny village in Northern Thailand.

Kim Kaewhkraikhot, 48, grew up in poverty, losing her father and brother at a very early age. That put an enormous strain on the family and Kim and her mother had to use all of their resources to survive, fishing in the local river to find food to eat.

19 “We were so poor we couldn’t afford shoes,” said Kim. At the age of 15, she moved to Bangkok getting a job in a garment factory. Despite her tender years the spirit of entrepreneurship was evident.

“I realised that I didn’t have to make money for other people and I set up my own garment business,” she said.

Kim’s real passion however was food, having learned traditional cuisine from her mother she soon realised that this was something she wanted to explore.

With that in mind she set up her own food stall in the bustling streets of Bangkok, making the traditional Pad Thai to a secret recipe which fast brought her endless customers and the accolade of the best street food provider in the city.

And that’s where she might have stayed, if a Yorkshireman call Martin Stead who was on holiday in Thailand hadn’t had an urge for some authentic food one evening.

He went with his friends in search of the traditional Thai dish Pad Thai, coming across Kim’s stall and being blown away by the dish which was created with the fresh produce she collected on a daily basis.

It was the start of a fledgling relationship which continued for a number of years until Kim finally made the move to the UK in 1999.

“I worked in a Japanese restaurant when I first arrived, first as a kitchen porter and then I moved into the kitchen,” she said.

“Then I went to a Thai restaurant in Leeds and worked there.”

Both Martin and Kim had a vision about introducing the UK to real Thai food and in 2004 with a bank loan and some financial help from friends, they opened their first restaurant – Chaophraya in Leeds.

“Our aim was to create a really luxurious, fine dining restaurant serving authentic food, with the inspiration coming from the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok,” said Kim. The restaurant was an instant success, giving the couple the confidence to roll out the chain into Manchester and Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The eateries are equally as well known for their stylish surroundings as their great food. Lavish fixtures and fittings, terraces and amazing attention to detail have all become watchwords for the brand.

The couple began to realise that casual dining could also benefit from an authentic Thai flavour and so launched their ChaoBaby chain, offering the same standards of food but in many of the country’s leading shopping

centres, including Manchester’s Trafford Centre and intu Metrocentre.

One part of Kim was always keen to go back to her roots, to bring to a wider audience the real Thai street food which helped to launch her career.

And so Thaikhun was born – a restaurant which recreates the hustling, bustling setting of the Thai streets with an amazing menu of fabulous dishes, including Kim’s famous Pad Thai.

Thaikhun branches can be found across the country –as far north as Aberdeen through Glasgow to Nottingham, Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford.

For Martin the plan for the years ahead is simple - “40 restaurants in 40 months.”

Despite employing more than 600 people with a £30m turnover, the company has an almost spiritual approach to its business.

Monks come and bless every new opening

and despite now being a huge operation, at the end of every new development the company still remains true to its original concept – food from the heart.

Thai Leisure Group is a group of restaurants and bars that is owned jointly by Kim Kaewkraikhot and Martin Stead. Kim was a chef and she ran her own small restaurant in Bangkok. Kim’s food was renowned in the local neighbourhood for its fantastic flavours. Kim was committed to finding the freshest produce available and she could be seen out-and-about each morning scouring the local market stalls carefully selecting her ingredients.

Kim operated a basic menu but her forte was in developing dishes of the day using the ingredients she could source. As Martin learnt more about Thailand so he began to see an opportunity and to set about creating a vision.

That vision was to bring authentic Thai cuisine and genuine Thai hospitality to the UK.

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C H E F F E AT U R E

by Josh Simms

COMMISSIONING A KITCHEN As a chef to get to design your own kitchen is a dream - and I’ve got to do it twice now,” says Chris MacCormick, chef at Zebrano (Houndsditch, London), which last year underwent a major overhaul to become a fine dining venue. “What I learned from the first one I practiced here - little things like how doors swing, storage issues, understanding how a group of chefs use a space. And I have to say I’m really happy.

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| Chef feature | Commissioning a Kitchen

At least, he is now. He confesses to being an “old school gas man”, so took some convincing to swap over to an electric cooking suite. But Jayson Ball of Salix, the kitchen consultancy that managed the design and installation persuaded him to do so as just one of the improvements that can be made given a total refit. He cites the benefits, for example, of providing diners with the view of the kitchen, rather than an open kitchen - “they’re over as far as I’m concerned,” he says - which allows for more efficient extraction and noise suppression while also catching the diner’s eye. The

position of various stations, he adds, is as much to provide guests with an element of theatre from prep to plate, as it is to allow the streamlined assembly of a fine dining plate, which may have maybe 16 elements.

But the starting point for any such fit is much more basic that one of those. “We start by asking what the food type being served is and then how many covers - and we push for the number of covers because that’s where the revenue is,” says Ball.

“That means the kitchen design has to be compact. Frankly anyone can take most of the space in a restaurant and fill it with

a kitchen. That in turn means making the kitchen as efficient as possible”.

To this end Salix introduced dual purpose stations and gave each section its own refrigeration, for example. But further efficiencies were provided by a change over to multi-use equipment that not all chefs are immediately comfortable using: the use of induction tops (suitable for holding, resting and cooking dishes), water baths, plancha grills, combi-ovens, rationals and, cooking aside, the more humdrum issue of proper ventilation systems for example - “because that improves the working

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But the starting point for any such fit is much more basic that one of those.

“We start by asking what the food type being served is and then how many covers - and we push for the number of covers because that’s where the revenue is.

environment for everybody, right down to the bottle washers,” says Ball.

A key issue likely to arise in any new fit will be the question of largely doing away with ovens, for example (which helps with heat management), and moving to what is considered by many to be cleaner, more controllable, cooler and, most importantly, much cheaper all-electric cooking - cheaper

both in terms of energy costs but also maintenance/repair/certification costs. “And that’s a factor when you’re fitting a piece of equipment that needs to go on operating maybe 20 years,” argues the aptly-named Stephen Hobbs, director of Grande Cuisine, the company that bespoke-built the “not uncommonly priced” £75,000 cooking suite for the Zebrano - and the man who, in order to

get it into Zebrano’s building, had to facilitate the manufacture of the suite in two parts, then have it welded together on site.

“Some chefs are ready to take a leap of faith. Others aren’t convinced and take a belt and braces approach - they want to keep just one piece of gas kit,” says Hobbs. “It’s an evolution in thinking about the relationship between cooking and equipment for better

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| Chef feature | Commissioning a Kitchen

Not everyone has bought into this idea of making kitchens smaller and more efficient.

Some kitchen designers want to put everything in a kitchen to cover themselves regardless of whether it’s needed, and some chefs want as much possible in there too.

efficiencies - you may have large open burners only used during prep work in the morning, but largely redundant the rest of the day. Or a conventional oven, rarely used, the cost of which will cover two-thirds of the cost of a convection oven, which can be used for different styles of cooking all day. It’s all about doubling up, ranges with fewer elements that can do more. It’s not about spending most but wisely.” Certainly the cost-savings of such devices are given serious consideration when

you’re putting in a £400,000 kitchen. But it’s also a reflection of changes in fine dining on a more macro scale: simpler dishes less dependent on sauces and reductions, for instance, which means there is less need for pan work. It also, crucially, helps to future-proof any design for a future fine dining operation on the site, one perhaps producing a very different menu.

“Not everyone has bought into this idea of making kitchens smaller and more efficient.

Some kitchen designers want to put everything in a kitchen to cover themselves regardless of whether it’s needed, and some chefs want as much possible in there too,” says Ball, who notes how a modern kitchen is increasingly seen as a valid recruitment tool. “Chefs have to be flexible - they’re aware of the tech but often need its value explained to them. The owner paying the bills wants to keep costs down of course. Sometimes the designers are stuck in the middle...”

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Small wonder chefs are typically invited to see the entire kitchen laid out in a factory setting to get a feeling for it and to raise any potential niggles before it is actually fitted. That can prove crucial to the whole process typically being completed in around 10-15 weeks, from start to finish, the availability of clients to sign off stages allowing.

“You need to be able to get a feel for kitchen and the equipment before you’re

committed to it,” MacCormick argues - and since he’s the man who will be using it that is all important. “But you also need to keep up. If you end up having to train everyone you work with anew, or only use one appliance, then it’s a waste of money, so being part of the planning is essential.

But a new kitchen can also change the way you think about your cooking, in a good way. It challenges you and makes you a better chef in the long run.”

As the owner of Artisan Consulting and a former client of the Zebrano brand owners while I was managing catering operations for a large investment bank I already had a long standing working relationship with Cevat and Don when they asked me to join them in the design, build and delivery of a new fine dining venture in the city, we had a fantastic location on Houndsditch that was in essence a black canvas, there were always doing to be challenges in designing, installing and operating a kitchen in the basement of a former nightclub so the indroduction of Salix was instrumental to getting this space right, a choice that never let us down with the kitchen equipment and install meeting the need perfectly Recruitment of an experienced chef with city experience was very important and it was a pleaseure to be able to introduce Chris MacCormick to the business The restaurnant has been open for a few months now and the business continues to recieve rave reviews and feedback, I will be watching this restaurant very closley in the near future as I am sure it will go from strength to strength in the coming months, it was a real pleasure to have been so involved in its conceptual development and delivery and wish it every success. Dean Tracey Dean@artisan.consulting

FROM 0 TO 200 °C IN JUST

2

1/2

minutes

OR LESS. HOW FAST IS YOUR BRATT PAN?

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F R I M A . YO U A R E T H E C H E F

30

| Chef feature | Commissioning a Kitchen

Winterhalter is first catering equipment manufacturer to attain Carbon Footprint Label Carbon Trust hails big step forward for caterers wanting to “know and show” their green credentials While energy saving is a headline story, drivers like corporate social responsibility, consumer demand for sustainability and concern around carbon emissions are leading major foodservice operators to focus on the big picture – how to reduce their impact

Zebrano has a VarioCooking Center 211+. This modern, multifunctional cooking appliance can replace boiling kettles, large pots, bratt pans, fryers and griddles, saving 30% or more space in the kitchen. It has a 100-litre capacity pan and a footprint measuring 1164mm(w) x 914mm(d) x 1100mm(h).

It’s super-fast too – four times faster than conventional cooking appliances – the pan can get from 0 to 200°C in two and a half minutes.

For even speedier cooking the 211+ has a pressure cooking feature that can cut cooking times for products such as casseroles, soups and stocks by 50% or more. It can sear 12kg of meat in four minutes and pressure cook up to 40kg of meat per hour.

Stock can be made in two hours, veal jus in four.

FRIMA’s VarioBoost heating system ensures that heat is transferred evenly all over the unit’s pan base so there are no hot spots.

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The 211+ is ideal for chefs who need to cook fast and want consistent, quality results. It’s quick to clean between different cooking processes – only taking about two minutes to switch from, say, cooking meat casserole to preparing custard. info.uk@frima-online.com

on the environment and underline their green credentials.

Commercial kitchens are significant consumers of energy and other resources. While energy labelling under the Ecodesign Directive will tell buyers how energy efficient a piece of equipment is, it won’t tell them its lifetime costs. Or its carbon footprint. In order to make a truly informed decision, and to enhance their environmental credentials, foodservice operators will need to know these figures – which is where the Carbon Trust’s expertise in footprinting comes in.

Winterhalter is the first catering equipment company to achieve carbon footprint certification through the Carbon Trust. This has been supported by the development of a new tool, meaning that buyers can use a simple calculator to compare the lifetime carbon footprint and expected energy costs of any Winterhalter model, based on their anticipated levels of actual use.

“This is a big step forward for any foodservice business that wants to know and show its impact on the environment,” says Dominic

Burbridge of The Carbon Trust. “Companies understand better than ever before that when purchasing equipment they need to take into account the total life cost, including its energy efficiency, which allows them to make meaningful comparisons as to the real value of their investment.

“Winterhalter’s initiative in obtaining certification and developing a whole life tool will also be a big help to foodservice operators that want to reduce their own carbon footprint, as they can take action based on the warewasher figures from the calculator.”

RATIONAL is the Chef’s Choice 2016 winner in the Best Combi Oven category and the Best Equipment Brand, too.

In 2014 RATIONAL underlined its market-leading position with the launch of its latest combi oven – the SelfCookingCenter® 5Senses. This RATIONAL combi oven is the first intelligent commercial cooking appliance that interacts with chefs. It gets to know the way chefs work so that, together, with their combi oven they will deliver the best possible cooking results.

Instead of using numerous cooking appliances at the same time, chefs can now cook everything in just one metre square of space with the SelfCookingCenter® 5Senses, replacing up to 50% of standard appliances and reducing the kitchen footprint by at least 30%.

The RATIONAL SelfCookingCenter® 5Senses combi oven shows which foods can be cooked together on the iLevelControl display.

With iLevelControl chefs can specify what they want to prepare. iLevelControl monitors each rack individually ensuring consistent results every time. In addition, according to the load quantity and how often and for how long the door stays open, iLevelControl intelligently corrects the cooking time and even lets the chefs know.

Chefs can test drive the 5Senses combi oven at a RATIONAL CookingLive demonstration. They take place every month at over 120 venues across the UK, so there is sure to be one happening near you. Led by chefs who are experts in the latest combi oven technologies and techniques, participants can cook with the RATIONAL and sample the results. To attend a demonstration call 01582 480388 or visit www.rational-online.co.uk

32

TA L K TO T H E C H E F

by

Andy Lynes

DOUGLAS

MCMASTER Even before Silo opened it’s doors in Autumn 2014 in Brighton’s bohemian North Laine area, the restaurant had generated a flurry of newspaper articles. The reason for all the column inches about the 50 seater restaurant, cafe and bakery was chef Douglas McMaster’s ‘pre-industrial food system’ and zero waste philosphy achieved with the help of a £22k composting machine, plates made from recycled plastic bags, electrolysed oxidized water for cleaning instead of chemicals and local, sustainable and foraged produce delivered in reusable containers.

33

34

| Talk to the Chef | Douglas McMaster

Raw aged venison flank tartar is one of our strongest dishes of all. We serve it with fermented cabbage coleslaw, raw sprouts and a dill emulsion. I don’t do the traditional shallots, capers and Worcestershire sauce because the coleslaw has so much punch to it, it’s like eating horseradish but with deeper winey flavours from the ferment

In a little over a year, McMaster has made a roaring success of his boldly ethical venture, serving up to 400 people on a Saturday from breakfast through to dinner and garnering rave reviews in the national press from the likes of Giles Coren who called it a ‘a brilliant, sexy, local, planet-conscious place’.

‘I want to show that this model can work in the market, you just have to adapt and reconsider how things could and should be done,’ says Nottinghamshire-born McMaster, whose impressive CV includes St John Bread and Wine in London, Noma in Copenhagen,

Faviken in Sweden and Attica in Melbourne, as well as the title of BBC Young Chef of the Year.

In addition to milling ancient varieties of wheat such as einkorn and amaretto in the restaurant for Silo’s superlative 48 hour sourdough bread, McMaster makes his own butter, yoghurt and curd and has any number of ingredients fermenting in his basement prep kitchen, including red cabbage which he might serve with slow cooked Jerusalem artichokes and blue cheese.

Vegetables are central to McMaster’s style of cooking. At dinner, he currently offers two four course tasting menus, ‘Omnivore’

which includes meat and fish and ‘Herbivore’ which is entirely created from what McMaster calls ‘plant food’. A recently concieved swede dish demonstrates the chef’s outside the box thinking.

‘We salt bake the swede to 80ºC so it’s al dente then cut it into sheets on a Japanese vegetable slicer. We put loads of lemon thyme and rapeseed oil on the sheets and then roll them up into a roulade. In service, we cook slices of the roulade on the plancha at a high heat-the depth of caramelisation is just unreal. We cook trimmings from hen of the woods mushrooms in mineral water

35

36

| Talk to the Chef | Douglas McMaster

at 80ºC for an hour (the flavour is like soy sauce) and serve the warm stock with the swede. It’s so basic but it’s incredible’.

Although McMaster sees his menus looking even more towards vegetables in the future (‘I love the idea of a vegetable dish with a meat sauce or broth or serving lardo with vegetables as a way to accentuate their flavour’) one of his current favourite dishes is uncompromisingly carniverous.

‘Raw aged venison flank tartar is one of our strongest dishes of all. We serve it with fermented cabbage coleslaw, raw sprouts and a dill emulsion. I don’t do the traditional shallots, capers and Worcestershire sauce because the coleslaw has so much punch to it, it’s like eating horseradish but with deeper winey flavours from the ferment’.

McMaster buys in whole fallow deer from Knepp, a 3500 acre ‘re-wilding project’ in West Sussex that raises herds of wild cattle, deer and pigs (and ponies) and will get through two whole beasts in a weekend.

In an unusual move, he’ll serve vension as both a starter and a main course on the same four course menu. ‘People always moan that they want a different choice of meat but if I were to have on for example

pheasant and venison at the same time there would be too much waste’.

Instead, Mcmaster creates contrast by using very different cooking methods on the different cuts of meat. For example, her might roll and tie the venison shoulder, breast and belly and cook it in a two per cent venison stock brine at 58ºC for 48 hours. ‘It’s a technique I picked up when I was working at Quay restaurant in Sydney and it’s just like eating butter. We’re making something that other people would use for staff food into something quite beautiful’.

Although McMaster’s cooking style owes something to his mentors, he’s very quickly evolving a culinary identity and a lexicon of ingedients including Alexanders, seabuckthorn and pine that’s all his own. ‘I would like to think that I’m not copying anyone. The food is a refelection of the ideas which are based on fundamental, ecological principles. I don’t want to be too conceptual about it but I like the idea of organic farming systems where everything is considered in a natural cycle. I find that really inspring and I want to represent that on a plate of food by accommodating what’s abundant and available’.

One locally abundant ingredient is seaweed, which McMaster serves pickled with

beetroot and apple? ‘There’s a level of serendipity involved with that dish. I boiled some apples to serve with porridge for the breakfast menu. My chef Dan had pickled some seaweed and left it on a spoon for me to taste it and I tried it together with the apple and it tasted like Starburst sweets’.

With a small team of eight to run the seven day a week, all day operation, McMaster has a lot on his plate and for the moment is content to focus on moving Silo forward.

However, he is setting aside some time to consult on a sustainable cycle cafe and wedding venue in the Kent countryside and will cook at chef Matt Orlando’s ‘Amazing Pig Out’ feast in June at his restaurant Amass in Copenhagen. ‘Matt flew over with his head pastry chef to check Silo out then flew back to for dinner service at Amass. I was so honoured’.

But McMaster does harbour longterm ambitions to expand the Silo concept. ‘London would be the definate. We’re not good enough yet, London’s a ruthless market and we’re just too inconsistent. I’ve been offered two really good, big spaces in London but I want it to be so slick and organised. It will happen but it might just take another two years’ .

37

Candy Beetroot, Pickled Dulse and Apple

By Douglas McMaster

INGREDIENTS

METHOD 1.

portions · 3 Pippin apples · 4 golf ball-sized candy beetroots · 100g dulse (red sea lettuce) · 20g molasses sugar · 50g apple cider vinegar · 50g water

2.

3.

Steam beetroots until the core hits 95ºC. Peel by hand, keeping the beetroot’s natural shape. Place in an oven at 65ºC for 10 hours. If the dulse has been packed in sea salt, de-salinate by rinsing for about 5 minutes in running cold water being careful not to wash all the salty flavour away. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and water and pickle for about 10 hours.

Juice two of the apples. Dunk the dehydrated Beetroot ‘prunes’ into the juice as soon as they come out of the oven.

At the point of service, core and cut the remaining apple into slices as thick as your

4.

little finger. Gently warm beetroots and apple juice to 75-85ºC then add the apple slices and warm for 90 seconds until they are tender but not overly soft.

Warm four shallow bowl plates. Place one beetroot in the centre of each plate, then arrange around the apple slices, divided equally bewtween the four bowls.

Adjust athe pple juice if necessary with a drop of lemon juice. It should have a lip smacking sweet and sour effect. Spoon two tablespoons of the juice into each plate and finish by draping 25g of the pickled dulse over each dish.

38

COUNTRY VISIT

by Dominic Weaver

39

SOUTH AFRICA Reuben Riffel has told his story many times and he jokes that every time he does, some detail will inevitably get forgotten, or a new anecdote added. As one of South Africa’s best-known celebrity chefs, restaurateurs and food media personalities, he is a poster boy for the new post-apartheid era and is often interviewed. But the attitude that has driven every one of Riffel’s five restaurant ventures comes through every time.

40

| Country visit | South Africa

In a short break between breakfast and lunch services at his eponymous restaurant in the heart of Franschhoek – and preceded by a dinner service at The One & Only in Cape Town the night before – Riffel describes the influences that shaped his no-nonsense approach to food.

Riffel was raised on a small Franschhoek livestock and fruit farm in the Western Cape and surrounded by culinary stimuli from the outset. His mother worked in a restaurant and would bring leftovers home for Rueben and his 11 siblings, while his aunt was also one of several enthusiastic cooks in the family.

“I was very taken with the flavours in this food,” says Riffel, “I grew up with these big, bold umami flavours and spices and you inevitably want to incorporate the flavours you grew up with. There is certainly nothing subtle about our food.”

He joined the Franschhoek wine estate restaurant Chamonix as a waiter and graduated quickly to the kitchen where he learned from classical chef Christoph Dehosse. The experience taught him kitchen fundamentals, but at the same time consolidated his love of straightforward cooking that incorporated local ingredients and big flavours.

“At this time I used to love the fusion food that Australian chef Neil Perry was

doing, I loved the combination of flavours,” he says. “Jean-Georges too, who was also doing fusion too at that stage at Vong.”

To Riffel, fusion doesn’t mean changing recipes beyond recognition. He says: “I don’t

I grew up with these big, bold umami flavours and spices and you inevitably want to incorporate the flavours you grew up with.

There is certainly nothing subtle about our food.

want to do overly complicated stuff and with that in mind, while I add my own take I don’t want to alter the food. You can easily lose the essence of what a classic dish like a bobotie is if you mess about with it too much.

Boldly single minded about his favourite ingredients, he enthuses about parmesan cheese, citing a favourite Nobu spinach salad that uses it alongside soy sauce, yuzu, truffle oil and crispy garlic in the dressing, and talks about adding parmesan to pomme puree when Reuben’s first launched 12 years ago, to the delight of customers.

Fruit, too, has been a big influence: “I grew up eating fruit and my mum always used fruit in her cooking,” he says, “When I was growing up we used to have around eight or nine varieties of fruit growing around our house. When my mum cooked there was always fruit involved somewhere, in the savoury dishes too, all over the place. Our grapes and our nectarines are particularly good. I am proud when I see how these guys operate. The growers care so much for their products. If you want to talk about passion, that’s what I see when I am amongst these people. I think the quality is of a very high standard and that makes me proud.”

The thriving food scene - in South Africa in general and around the Franschhoek valley in particular - means it’s easier than ever to source locally. He never uses imported fresh produce and sources seasonal fruit and vegetables from local areas, including Stellenbosch, Paarl and Robertson. “As

41

chefs, we look towards Europe or America and there’s some ingredient that chefs love and it becomes available in South Africa.

That’s fine, I don’t have a problem with those kind of ingredients. But whereas we used to get things like duck and chorizo from abroad we can now buy those things locally – and they’re also very good quality,” he says.

Looking for such specialist and often niche suppliers was one of the changes that Cape Town’s One & Only allowed Reuben and his team when he opened at the Victoria & Albert Embankment based hotel in 2011 after the closure of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant.

“They made too much fuss about me taking over from Gordon Ramsay. I wasn’t, I just took over the space,” says Riffel. “It was a difficult time, it was after the football world cup and things were quiet and restaurants weren’t doing that well. And it’s a difficult space, it has a massive restaurant.

So what we do now is a bit more rustic, simpler. We focus on what they never did before and use smaller suppliers. We’ve been lucky enough to get them to buy from smaller suppliers. It’s difficult but the quality is very good.

“This is the only urban One & Only, in a city, the others are all resorts. South Africa is different, it’s a whole different experience.”

Five years on Riffel has signed another fiveyear agreement with the hotel.

Aside from tailoring his approach to the specifics of individual ventures, it is staffing that causes Riffel the biggest headaches.

“We’re all struggling with chefs,” he says.

“There’s not a hell of a lot of money in it. You

They made too much fuss about me taking over from Gordon Ramsay. I wasn’t, I just took over the space

work bloody hard. And some guys feel you have to break someone down to build them up. I don’t think it works like that any more.

“People become lyrical about how passionate they are about food but sometimes when you enter the industry it can kill your passion. You need to have

a passion about the food but also have a passion for the industry for that tough kitchen environment, for working together, for the adrenaline, all that kind of stuff. If you only have a passion for taking 30 minutes to put things together on a plate, you’re not going to make it there, that’s a different story.”

The chef shortage is at odds with South Africa’s high rate of unemployment, says Riffel. “I have to pay someone a big salary to come from outside of town to be able to live in Franschhoek but yet there are a lot of people that are available and local.

We haven’t gotten around in this country to developing apprenticeships, something to help these guys help us.

“It’s a tough industry, not just from a business point of view but in terms of the actual work and the expectation and because it never ends. I’ve tried to stay on my own course you know. I’m not a big fan of food crits, bloggers and so on. I try to just do what I want to do. I want to please my customers, I don’t necessary want to please bloggers and the guides and I’ve tried to step out of that. We do our thing. It’s difficult to explain exactly but our food is definitely not South African food in a box – that’s too limiting. We’ve got amazing ingredients.

That’s what it’s all about.”.

42 | Country visit | South Africa

A TASTE OF SOUTH AFRICA THE GROWER: STEPHAN STRAUSS AT SANDRIVER FARM Stephan Strauss, farm manager at Sandriver Farm, part of Le Roux group, takes a large handful of earth from his orchard and inhales deeply. You can actually smell the quality of the soil, he says, and this makes the Wellington area of South Africa’s Western Cape incredibly well suitable for growing stone fruit: peaches, nectarines and plums. “We farm with sunlight,” he says, “and we convert that into fruit.”

Previously a teacher of maths and science, Strauss has both the knowledge and the head for numbers that essential for growing large volumes of great tasting fruit to send to the UK and other destinations. Since the farm was set up in 1996, two years after the end of apartheid, there has been an ongoing search that has seen the farm’s technical team experimenting with different heights and widths of fruit trees, extending the season with new varieties and resisting the temptation to overly mechanise the growing process. The result is a larger crop of delicious red, black and yellow plums, produced more efficiently and with a season that now means plums are available to send to the UK between November and even into June.

Strauss says with hard work like this, the farm is capable of producing plums with brix levels (the standard measure of sweetness) that are two points higher than average.

Ideal climate and soils, hard work and relative proximity to the UK (at 11 days, almost two weeks’ s hipping time less) means South Africa has developed a reputation for the taste and product quality that supermarkets and caterers need, and a growingly important place over Chile, during the UK winter and spring.

THE NEW GENERATION: PICCIE GROBLER OF THANDI AND JOSEPH HENDRICKS OF KAAPSCHÖN “This is the best country in the world,” says Piccie Grobler, farm manager at Thandi fruit farm in Elgin, one of South Africa’s BEE (black economic empowerment) projects. Initiatives such as these have been driven by the South African government to educate and give management and ownership opportunities for black workers and others disadvantaged under apartheid.

Enthusing about the opportunities that these projects have given, Grobler, who joined as manager five years ago, describes the 40-hectare apple and pear farm. Thandi was one of the first BEE farms, set up in 1996 on forestland donated by local retired neurosurgeon and wine Farmer Paul Cluver (who remains a shareholder) and the South African government.

Bureaucracy always presents obstacles to the farm, says Grobler, but the farms is doing well, supplying UK supermarkets and other destinations through local exporter Kromco and like other BEE projects playing an important role in empowerment and development in the country. He says: “People are learning new skills here all the time. Thandi is very much a training centre for workers in the region.”

Nearby in Grabouw, another different kind of BEE project is run by Joseph Hendricks, who owns and manages the 150-hectare apple and pear farm, Kaapschön. Hendricks, who started out as a hawker, buying and selling fruit on the local market, fully owns the company and has set himself the ambitious goal of becoming South Africa’s first black grower, exporter and packer by 2020.

He has bold targets for growth and sees particularly good prospects for growth in new apple varieties such as Sundowner, Rosy Glow and Royal Beaut.

43 43

THE CHEF: MAC MCKIBBIN, THE HICKORY SHACK After his wife encouraged him to make them move, chef Mac McKibbin traded in the high pressured kitchens of high end Miami hotels for serving customers on the airy sunlit veranda of The Hickory Shack, off Viljoenshoop road in the Elgin region of the Western Cape.

McKibbin’s creole-style menu features lunch platters of local meats, including pulled pork, spicy chicken legs, jalapenos wrapped in bacon and juicy brisket, smoked in a wooden shed outside the restaurant for several hours. Served with various salsa and slaws as well as sticky barbecue and hot chili sauces, he is cooking food that he hopes will transform a stop off roadside eatery into destination in its own right.

A QUICK GUIDE TO SOUTH AFRICAN FRUIT PLUMS

APPLES

• Laetitia, an orange-yellow

• Granny Smith, a bright green colour

flesh with a melting texture and a bright red skin • African Delight, a dark red-purple coloured skin plum with a yellow flesh and a sweet taste • African Pride and Songold,

apple with a firm and crunchy flesh • Cripps’ Pink, a slightly oblong apple and attractive pink colour with a crisp and sweet flavour • Royal Gala, a refreshingly sweet flavoured apple, distinguished by it’s subtle red stripes and small size

a yellow flesh plum with a fine texture and a bright yellow skin

PEACHES AND NECTARINES • Peaches: Excellence, San

PEARS • Forelle, a golden yellow skin pear with bright red blush and a very sweet and juicy flesh • Bon Chretien, a fragrant and sweet taste pear with a smooth texture

Pedro, Transvalia, Earligrande,

and a green skin that turns

and Novadonna

yellow as it ripens

• Nectarines: Alpine, Mayglo, Fantasia and Margaret’s Pride

• Packham’s, a light green skinned pear of a medium to large size and an uneven shape with a creamy-white flesh

AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR AS AN APP

download on iTunes and android

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46

MEET THE SUPPLIER

Koppert Cress

47

THE MICRO-VEGETABLE REVOLUTION: COULD ROB BAAN’S CRESS COMBAT CANCER? ‘Look,” he says, stroking the wispy tendril of a pea plant. “It’s so beautiful. It brings tears to your eyes.” There are perhaps few people in the world who could be so moved by one small plant among many thousands in a warehouse. But Rob Baan has good reason. From Hackney to Hawaii, chefs, caterers and cocktail specialists look to the bespectacled Dutchman for his botanical discoveries and innovations.

Baan has been the catalyst for many food trends over the years, including micro herbs and pea shoots (pick them up in your local Tesco and Morrisons). But you probably haven’t heard of him or his business. He deals directly with the trade – if you can call celebrity clients such as chef Ferran Adrià mere trade – and Koppert Cress, which he took over in 2002, grows more than 60 weird and wonderful ingredients: Sechuan Buttons, for instance, a yellow flower bud that numbs the tongue; and BlinQ Blossom, a plant whose sparkling leaves appear encrusted with crystals. Bestsellers include more than 30 varieties of micro cresses: tiny, nutritious seedlings packed with flavour (some ready just a few days after germination). All of which makes it hard to resist the temptation to call the 59-year-old the Willy Wonka of edible plants.

It’s a drizzly, flat, grey afternoon when I arrive at his high-tech headquarters in the Netherlands. Inside vast greenhouses, though, the energy-saving LED lamps illuminating his crops render the light an unearthly pink. “I couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams it would become as big as this,” he exclaims, before inviting me to follow him on foot as he makes a whistle-stop tour of the site in an electric wheelchair (he’s recovering from a minor operation). Whizzing along, he shows me

vast greenhouses where his 200 employees cultivate the cresses on an epic scale: Koppert Cress extends over 10 hectares of plants. They are grown without soil, rooting into moist squares of a felt-like substance made from cellulose then sold as a living product, by the punnet.

In the bustling pack house, conveyor belts shift 65,000 large boxes of these products every week – enough to pimp up more than 13 million meals, which are eaten the world over, in restaurants, bars, even in-flight meals. Baan’s commercial empire includes partnerships with seed farms in the Gobi desert and extra greenhouses in the US, Japan and Turkey.

“I’m a doer,” he declares, as he shows off some of the sophisticated technology

typical of Dutch horticulture and integral to his success. “We are a very profitable company so we can afford to take risks.

I think we can be energy-neutral. That’s my dream.” That pink glow is the result of hundreds of LEDs studded in the greenhouse roof, bathing plants with a blend of red and blue light at a tenth of the cost of conventional lighting. To further slash energy use, Baan helped to pioneer a “heatharvesting” system for the greenhouses. “I think I drove everybody crazy,” he chuckles.

“But it works.” During the summer, special machines suck up trapped hot air and pump it through a heat exchanger, where it warms up pipes filled with water. This water is then pumped deep underground to store

49

the heat until winter, when, with a quick flick of a switch, the process is reversed and the energy is used to warm up the plants – saving Baan millions in electricity bills.

Through the glass, we watch a coach crunch to a halt. Baan is hosting a delegation of UN ambassadors from Africa and Afghanistan to exchange views on food safety and security. This is part of the entrepreneur’s educational mission: to change the way the world thinks about food and its relationship to health.

“This is going to be the new future,” he says, plucking a seedling with his fingers.

“The green pharmacy.” He shows a slide from his presentation: 30 per cent of cancers, he claims, are caused by “incorrect food”. With heart disease and type two

travelled and ate his way around the world, building a network of contacts that would prove invaluable at Koppert Cress.

“The first country I worked in was England,” he recalls, with a shudder. “I was shocked by the food – horrible, horrible.”

A keen cook from the age of six, Baan has always been obsessed by food. During work trips in the early 1970s, he brought back samples of paprika from Eastern Europe for his friends. In Korea in the 1980s, he was treated to a banquet with 100 dishes, many prepared with wild mountain vegetables – flavours and textures unknown in the West.

“Korean food was really the eye-opener.”

Years later, the most intriguing of these plants became Koppert Cress products, grown from unmodified seed or cuttings. These were

group of chefs from Britain, who have spent the day touring the site and tasting dishes in the demonstration kitchen. “Food is evolving very fast at the moment,” observes chef Bjorn Moen, one of the group, who is setting up a restaurant in an old milking parlour in Devon. Moen says he’s investigating modern techniques for extracting and intensifying plant flavours – with a centrifugal spinner, for example.

A short drive away, in Rotterdam, chef François Geurds, another client, is a master of this art of flavour intensification. The holder of two Michelin stars, he previously worked as sous chef for Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck. His recent creations include lobster with a verjuice emulsion, smoked butter and Salty Fingers – a Koppert Cress

diabetes rampant in the West, Baan wants developing countries to learn from our mistakes. “Livestock is ridiculous, particularly in poor countries,” he believes. “It looks like wealth but it’s poverty. You destroy nature.

You destroy food. You have a very poor return of investment.”

So what explains Baan’s zeal? “It started with my father,” he explains, leaning back in his chair. In the final years of the Second World War, the Netherlands endured a widespread famine called Hongerwinter (hunger winter). Baan’s father, the youngest of 11 children, was k separated from his family. He survived by catching rabbits and picking wild plants from the beaches and forests – skills he passed on to his son. “I learnt respect for nature,” he says. “I never had this worry of picking something from the wild and putting it in my mouth.”

Fast-forward four decades and Baan was enjoying a successful career in the seed industry, culminating as a manager of Asian markets and overseeing the work of 1,500 employees. For more than 20 years, he

often sourced from the wild then meticulously trialled and tested in the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1987. In those days, it grew only four micro cresses and Baan saw the potential in expanding the range, first joining as a director then buying the company outright in 2002.

Some of his discoveries have proved trickier than others to bring to market. In China, Baan had noticed children selling bundles of leaves by the roadside. These were tree seedlings with an unusual, nutty taste – but trees take much longer to produce seed, which is also harder to collect.

To solve the problem, Koppert Cress now helps fund schools in the area. In exchange, pupils forage for the tree seeds for a fortnight every year, and Koppert gets its precious seedlings. Other discoveries were made closer to home. Cressabi, a peppery plant similar to wasabi, was found growing as a weed no further afield than the canals near his greenhouses.

Back at Koppert Cress, more potential customers have appeared in the guise of a

product with a subtle saline flavour. In his food lab, stuffed with gadgets, Geurds twists open glass kegs of homemade gins for me to sniff, including Thai green curry flavour, distilled using Koppert Cress herbs.

So, where next for Baan? South Africa, Iran, Iraq and Armenia are high on his list of countries to explore. At his headquarters, he is investing €7m this year to upgrade greenhouse capacity. And he is grabbing every opportunity to evangelise the nutritional benefits of cresses and their potential role in modern healthcare.

Tests have shown, for example, that one seedling of his BroccoCress contains the same amount of sulforaphane, a so-called “anti-cancer” compound, as a whole head of broccoli.

As he stands up to leave, I can’t resist the urge to defend the food in Britain. After all, Baan was so scathing about the meals he ate, all those years ago. “It’s so much better,” I say. “You should try again.” He answers without hesitation: “I know. Maybe I helped in that.”

50

UNUSUAL INGREDIENT

by Namai Bishop

QUINOA A SUPER-FOOD This ancient grain has recently been revived as a thoroughly modern ingredient: it has quickly become a leading staple in the growing trend of “super-foods”.

Increasingly, consumer and chefs are incorporating healthier ingredients into dishes to satisfy the growing appetite for healthy meal choices.

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As the original power food, it was first cultivated over 3,500 years ago in the Andes region of South America, who relied on it as their main food staple. Packed with nutrients including iron, B-vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, vitamin E, fibre and protein. No wonder the ancient Incas called it “The Grain of the Gods”. Now, whatever you call it (despite some confusion, it is officially pronounced “kinwah”) it’s undeniable that this humble grain is being increasingly championed as a powerful alternative to common protein sources. So much so that even NASA feeds it to it’s astronauts, saying “No single foodstuff can supply all the essential nutrients necessary for life, but quinoa is the closest to any food in the vegetable or animal kingdom”.

In general, Chefs are increasingly looking to replace traditional proteins (meats, poultry, fish) with vegetables and grains. The unique advantage of using quinoa in their place, as James LivingstoneWallace (of Quinola Mothergrain, one of the main importers of the product) explained to me is: “Quinoa is known as a “whole protein” in that it shares a unique enzyme structure comprising nine essential dietary amino acids along with key vitamins and minerals that make it the most similar to meat protein that is available. It’s also a great substitute or grains, that is easily digested and gluten free.”

With over 1,000 varieties available, we are only just starting to discover the vast varieties of this super grain. Much like with rice, when 20 years ago most people were only familiar with long grain, Chefs and consumers now can select from a plethora of types that are widely available, from brown, Basmati to “risotto”. Currently, a commonplace quinoa variety is the standard grade Bolivian white quinoa, which some describe as having a slight bitterness. More refined flavours are found in the quinoa of Peruvian provenance, from where now two-thirds of all imports hail. The Peruvian grain derives it’s superior flavour thanks to the careful organic processing methods, ensuring more even grain consistency, improved texture and flavours. Peruvian grade includes the creamy taste of the white grain, the nutty red varietal as well as the premium ‘caviar’ of quinoa, the crunchy black grain. The latter two are more expensive given the yield is lower, due to

the growing conditions; farmed at 4,000 metres high, temperatures regularly dip to below 0 degrees, this crop harvesting is more limited.

Overall however, quinoa still offers a highly affordable menu option for most kitchens. As James explained: “It takes acres of land to farm just 1kg of meat and only a small proportion for quinoa harvesting. That has an enormous environmental cost in terms of a carbon footprint, as well as monetary cost. What we are doing is providing an affordable option for consumers, and chefs. At the same time, this is a Fair Trade product, and we provide our Peruvian suppliers a minimum price guarantee to ensure their sustainability, even despite the recent enormous price fluctuations.”

It is encouraging to see increasingly suppliers and consumers are looking at food cost in terms of true value: environmental, social and nutritional value, all without compromising on quality. The UN has recognised this when it named 2013 International Year of Quinoa for the “nutritional, economic, environmental and cultural importance” of this key ingredient.

These sentiments were echoed by the Ambassador of Peru, who hosted a lunch I attended at the popular Peruvian restaurant Coya to showcase recipes using the grain. As one of Peru’s main export staples, Peruvian

farmers, mostly in poor rural area, provide most of the world’s supplies.

“These farmers rely on exports, which just in the last year have doubled in the UK. The growth in demand for quinoa is having an important social impact, and one we are keen to support. After all, we consider the noble quinoa, along with Pisco Sour [cocktails] part of our National Flag!” said Ambassador Carlos de la Peunta.

He also regaled us with a tale to do not only with the high quality of the product, but also the quantities needed “In Denmark, we were hosting an important state dinner, and seeing quinoa being cooked in the kitchens, I insisted to the Embassy Chef to cook more - little did I know a little yields a lot - the pots were overflowing! A classic case of too many Chefs!”

During the hosted lunch, it was this dichotomy that was most palpable: a humble grain given refined treatment by the young chef at one of London’s most plush Peruvian restaurants - a rural ingredient, appearing on the menu in a cosmopolitan hotspot - an ancient grain, given a new lease of life.

“Here we use quinoa in a variety of ways. I use it plain, grind it into a flour to coat and deep fry, use it in soups, salads, fritters and even in desserts”.

The following recipes show the sheer versatility of this truly super food.

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| Unusual Ingredient | Quinoa A super-food

Quinoa Power-Packed Lunch INGREDIENTS portions This salad is full of great flavours and good-for-you ingredients that guarantee a healthier lunchtime to sustain you throughout the afternoon. It’s made with black and red quinoa mixed with roast sweet potatoes and red peppers, with spinach or watercress, tasty feta cheese and pomegranate seeds. · 150g black quinoa · 150g red quinoa · 2 tsp vegetable stock powder (or 1 vegetable stock cube) · 500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks · 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks · 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tbsp lemon juice · 200g pack feta cheese, drained · 100g pack pomegranate seeds

METHOD 1.

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan oven 180°C, Gas Mark 6.

2.

2 Rinse the quinoa in a sieve, then put it into a saucepan with the stock powder or crumbled stock cube. Add double the volume of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

· 4 generous handfuls

the roasted vegetables and lemon juice, then leave to cool. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

of young spinach or watercress · Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3.

4.

3 While the quinoa is cooking, put the sweet potatoes and peppers into a roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil.

Roast for 20-25 minutes, until tender.

4 Drain any excess liquid from the quinoa, then tip it into a large bowl. Add

5.

5 When ready to pack up, spoon the quinoa mixture into 4 lunch boxes, top each one with broken-up chunks of feta cheese and the pomegranate seeds, then a handful of spinach or watercress. (This will help stop the leaves from wilting, and you can mix everything together at lunchtime).

6.

Cook’s tip: You can roast the sweet potatoes and peppers the day before – then just cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

© Jérôme Bryon / Les Gens de l’Atelier

Two traditional ways of making praliné, but only one way of guaranteeing customer satisfaction.

Nutty Notes and Intense Caramelized Flavour, two new ranges of Valrhona pralinés In Partnership with:

email: sales@classicfinefoods.co.uk telephone: +44 (0)20 7627 9666

For over 90 years, Valrhona’s caramelized pralinés have been made with the utmost respect for traditional artisanal methods, as well as expert sugar baking techniques: sablage and caramelization. Now Valrhona offers a new line of pralinés that reveal opening up new horizons in pastry-making creativity. valrhonapro.com valrhonatv.com

From the creators of ‘Chef Book’ outstanding recipe books for the Professional Chef This book is a treasure-trove of great food. A veritable anthology of some of the world’s best chefs and their recipes including Paul Bocuse, the Roux family, Anton Mosimann and Thomas Keller and many of the new stars of today such as Sat Bains, Jason Atherton and Daniel Humm. In total there are 124 chefs featured in this amazing collection. The photography is a work of art and the recipes are as diverse as the chefs featured.

This book has been produced to celebrate the 40th issue of ‘Chef Magazine’, a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the magazine. My wish would be that every cook worth his salt should buy a copy, look at it, study it and cherish it.

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www.chefmedia.co.uk/collections/books

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GANACHE

Life as a Consultant

Consultancy Meaning: a professional practice that gives expert advice within a particular field

SIMON JENKINS I am still very hands on, even though I don’t physically run the clients’ pastry kitchens. I consult, and feel it is important to lead from the front, and not from an office somewhere just handing out paperwork to be followed.

Patisserie – 7 months ago I made a career decision to start up on my own as a Pastry consultant and advisor.

So far it’s been great and even better than I ever expected!

It was a little nerve-wracking at the beginning, having to ask myself the questions: ‘who will take me on?’ ‘What can I offer them?’

‘How do I approach people to potentially use my skills?

From previously having worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and 5 star hotels in various roles throughout my career, to now working for myself I have found work is now a very different affair, and it demands you take on a different approach.

I am still very hands on, even though I don’t physically run the clients’ pastry kitchens.

I consult, and feel it is important to lead from the front, and not from an office somewhere just handing out paperwork to be followed.

You need to be in the kitchen physically showing the guys and letting them see what is going on and exactly how to do things, this is important to me.

In the past, the main focus to my positions would have been consumer or diner-led to exceed expectation in line with the business. Now they are client-focused, primarily ensuring any new idea or creation first fits the client style and brief, then secondly also ensuring consumer expectations are met or exceeded therefore delivering exactly what the client expects for their discerning clientele. This is one more step in the process than I have previously been used to, but as long as you understand your clients’ businesses and are on the same page in the first place with the brief then it will work out successfully for all parties. If I were to take the approach of wanting to implement my own style of cookery on their menus then this would be the downfall of my business. Therefore I always listen to the brief and execute accordingly, using my skill base and knowledge to deliver dishes or entire menus and the accompanying training to the clients’ expectations and in particular to ensure that I match their food style.

This is something which makes each project a success; knowing how to understand and deliver on expectations.

Generally a brief is set, and you fulfil it within an agreed timeline, working closely with the Executive Chef or General Manager, making sure you are working in line to the requirements as efficiently as possible.

You also have the other side to the job, it’s not just being creative.

With every new idea or creation has to come all the relevant supporting documentation. I provide clear recipes, specification and SOP sheets so I leave every business with clear guidelines, methods and procedures which will enable there to be consistency of delivery of dishes at all times after my consultancy brief is complete.

What I offer working in a consultant capacity may mean working in several different ways, depending on what is required. From adding creativity to a restaurant a la carte, an afternoon tea or any other menu, at the same time having to be conscious of food cost and kitchen GP, to adding structure and or elements of direction into a pastry kitchens, to training and developing the team. These are all elements which I would naturally do as an Exec Pastry Chef, however now I use my skill base in other ways across several businesses to fulfil the brief.

It brings challenges, pressures, and deadlines like any other role; one of the most difficult things which I find is needing to switch from business to business having to get refocused with each project.

On the flip side there are lots of rewards to, seeing projects come to fruition and leave a project knowing there is a stronger pastry dept that’s been created, this is a great achievement. But the great thing about working for myself is that no two days are the same, each day is different and you have the opportunity to guide and enhance pastry kitchens in varying properties in such an influential and positive way, training and helping the place to run more efficiently and effectively and hopefully also more creatively.

I generally work on a couple of projects simultaneously; currently I am working on a couple of patisserie projects across a weekly basis and also a hotel project which takes up several days per month.

It’s great to be able to work so diversely over different and individual projects; it keeps me sharp and really at the pointy end of my continuing career.

Simonneiljenkins.co.uk

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| Ganache | Life as a Consultant

Rhubarb, thyme, ginger

By Simon Jenkins INGREDIENTS portions 3 DAYS IN THE FRIDGE RHUBARB PATE DE FRUIT · 100g Rhubarb puree

· 55g Trimoline

· 35g Caster sugar

· 4g Super Neutrose ) mix

· 1g Fresh Thyme

· 5g Caster sugar ) together

· 1.75g Agar agar ) mix

· 30g Grenadine

· 2.5g Caster sugar ) together

YOGHURT GEL · 80g Water

· 5g Sosa yoghurt powder · 125g Natural yoghurt

· 25g Raspberry puree · 38g Rhubarb stock

METHOD

· 15g Caster sugar · 3.5g Pectin Jaune · 85g Caster sugar · 25g Glucose THYME CREAM · 125g Whipping cream · 15g Caster sugar · 40g Fresh egg yolks · 3g Fresh thyme, roughly chopped FRIED GINGER · 150g Fresh peeled Ginger · 500ml Vegetable oil POACHING STOCK · 300g Pink Yorkshire · Rhubarb (thin, pale, root, skin) · 450g Water POACHING LIQUOR · 150g Rhubarb stock · 10g Caster sugar · 25g Grenadine · 1no. Used vanilla pod RHUBARB RIBBONS Medium size Pink Yorkshire

RHUBARB PATE DE FRUIT 1.

Place the purees, stock, and vanilla into a saucepan 2. Dissolve all together, and heat to 60c 3. Mix the pectin Jaune with the small sugar 4. Sprinkle in to the warmed mix and whisk continuously 5. Boil for 2 minutes 6. Add the large sugar and glucose, dissolve and reboil 7. Simmer, and cook until 103c 8. When cooked, remove from the pan, and cool and reserve THYME CREAM 1.

Place the cream in a saucepan, with the chopped thyme 2. Bring to the boil, and remove from the heat 3. Cling film and leave to infuse for 10 minutes 4. Mix the yolks and sugar together, pour on the infused liquid mix well and then pass through a chinois 5. Pour into a pan and heat slowly to 40c 6. Pour into cling filmed moulds at 40g each and bake at 84c 3 bar fan for approx. 30-35 minutes, or until set 7. Remove from the oven, cool and place in the fridge to set

rhubarb sticks at 12 cm long · 35g Caster sugar · ½ no. Vanilla pod, seeds only RHUBARB SORBET · 600g Pink Yorkshire Rhubarb · 30g Caster sugar · ½no. Van pod, split · 2.5g Fresh Thyme · 150g Glucose

FRIED GINGER 1.

Take the peeled ginger, and cut into a very fine Julienne 2. In boiling water blanch, for 30 seconds, remove then refresh under cold water 3. Dry very well, on a jay cloth, or paper 4. Heat the oil to 150-155c 5. Add the ginger and cook until the bubbles stop

6.

Remove using a holey spoon, and drain on paper, changing 2-3 times

POACHING STOCK 1.

Place both ingredients into a pan 2. Bring to a slow boil, and simmer for 20 minutes 3. Remove from the heat, rest for 10 minutes, then pass through a Chinois 4. Use as required POACHING LIQUOR 1.

Place all the ingredients into a sauce pan and boil lightly 2. Pass through a chinois 3. Reserve until required TO POACH THE RHUBARB 1.

Take only the thick Yorkshire Rhubarb 2. Cut into 9cm lengths, and remove the skin 3. Place 7 x sticks into a medium size vac pack bag 4. Add 100g liquor, vac pack completely twice with no sealing, then the third time vac pack all the way, and seal 5. Place in a water bath at 60c for approx.

30-35 minutes 6. The Rhubarb should be cooked, but with texture, remove cool in an ice bath 7. Cut to ¾ cm size pieces for serving RHUBARB RIBBONS 1.

Mix the sugar and vanilla together and pass 2. Cut the small side off a pre sized rhubarb stick 3. Using a peeler make ribbon strips 4. Lightly season with the sugar mix, on both sides 5. Place in a vac pack bag, and seal tight 6. Leave to “cook” for up to 1 hour, remove and use

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RHUBARB SORBET 1.

Place the Rhubarb, first sugar, vanilla, and thyme into a thick bottom pan 2. Saute gently until cooked, and broken down 3. Add the sugar and glucose and dissolve 4. Remove from the heat, place 200g into a smaller pan sprinkle in the Super nuetrose mix and whisk until smooth, then boil for 1 minute 5. Mix back into the original rhubarb base 6. Add the grenadine and lemon juice, then blend until smooth, pass through a chinois

YOGHURT GEL 1.

Place the water, first sugar, and fresh thyme into a saucepan 2. Heat to 40c, the sprinkle in the agar mix, whisking continuously 3. Bring to the boil, and cook for 1 minute 4. Pass through a chinois into a suitable size bowl, and set for 2 hours in the fridge 5. Blend in a blender, with the yoghurt powder until completely smooth 6. Add the yoghurt, and blend for 20 seconds only

60

GANACHE

by Namai Bishop

HAVE A CIGAR MY FRIEND CACAO COLLECTIVE EVENT BY CACAO BARRY CIGAR CHOCOLATE TUILE CREATED BY HIDEKO KAWA AT SWEETARTLABORATORY

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TANTALIZINGLY CLOSE TO VALENTINES DAY, FEBRUARY 15TH WAS A HOT DATE NOT MANY PASTRY CHEFS AND CHOCOLATE PROFESSIONALS WOULD WANT TO MISS. IT WAS THE DAY CACAO BARRY LAUNCHED, IN THE SEDUCTIVE SURROUNDINGS OF THE 5-STAR LANGHAM HOTEL, ITS TONGUE-TANTALIZING NEW PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS A STIMULATING NEW PLATFORM FOR CHEFS TO CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER. NAMAI BISHOP WAS TO REPORT ON THE EVENT, AS THE ARRAY OF CHOCOLATES WERE TASTED, THE CHAMPAGNE FLOWED AND THE LOVE DID TOO AS TOP CHEFS MINGLED FREELY.

62 130 chefs, from the most prestigious venues in London and beyond, gathered to explore new Cocoa Barry chocolate varieties, new recipes presented from industry high-flyers and to exchange ideas with each other.

The chocolate taste tour swept across the globe to the backdrop of several presentations and tastings. The first from Joost Lindeman (Senior Global Brand Manager) who introduced the new chef ideas exchange concept “CacaoCollective”. A brand new website http://www.cacaobarry.com/en-GB/cocoa-cacaocollective?switch=Y takes you on a virtual journey, by virtue of documentaries, images, recipes and blogs to the very origin of chocolate. Interviews with leading experts and even the farmers themselves, provides a unique insight into the assortment of varietals, helping to get you closer to the very source of chocolate and how the provenance effects flavour. The CocoaCollective also tackles the important issue of educating consumers and professionals alike about the social, agricultural, economic and scientific backdrop of cocoa growing in diverse cocoa growing regions, from Peru to Vietnam, Madagascar to Mexico. Cacao Barry has always prided itself on its close connection to the origin of its beans to ensure it creates sustainable links from kitchen to farmer.

By becoming involved in every step of the sourcing and production process, Cocao Barry ensures it sources only the best beans and this is particulary perceptible in the Single Origin Range, such as fro example Tanzanine and Venezuela launched last year form a remote region of Brazil. Later this year the company is organising a once-in-a-lifetime trip that will see a group of Chefs visit the actual plantations in Tanzania, with guided tours of the Biolands and explanations of the growing process of cocoa and the workings of a cooperative. Chefs can thus come one step closer to the product and the growing environment, that often provide an invaluable source of inspiration for how they eventually go on to use the product.

Langham Hotel’s own Cherish Finden brought over 20 years of international experience to her work that covers the full gamut of pastry on offer at the hotel, from desserts in its dining rooms to the famed hotel afternoon tea that won her the prestigious Tea Guild’s “Top London Afternoon Tea” award in 2010 and “Service of Excellence 2013” for three consecutive years. I had come across Cherish previously in her native Singapore at a food festival, but here in London’s West End, Cherish flew the flag quite literally, in a whimsical display that featured bunting, hanging glass baubles and whimsical ribbon tied lollipops. No sticky-sweet stick concoction however, Cherish’s version used a flavour profile she has become famous for: Umami and savoury notes using Asian ingredients, such as dashi, wasabi and pandan leaves. Cherish was using her own creation, the Or Noir chocolate, produced to mark the 150th anniversary of The Langham. “I always wanted to make a chocolate, so 18 months ago, we started and this is the result. I wanted to make a chocolate everyone could enjoy, from kids to adults and this dessert is a reference to that.

There’s savoury, with salted caramel and a chocolate centre to a meringue shell and the crunch of popcorn sprinkled around the lollipop – summer’s on the way after all!”

63 I aksed her about how Or Noir is to work with “The cocoa content is high so it doesn’t taste as sweet; there’s only 28% sugar so its well blended and using dark chocolate gives a caramelised taste & nuttiness.”As Chef Ramon Morato global Creative Director for the Cocao Barry brand told me “In the kitchen the chef is a star but he is only the last in the chain! Behind scenes there’s a lot of work, from the farmer to the chain of R&D, through to production. We are privileged guys using these products – but the real hero is the farmer. That’s who we we are taking visibility to and that’s why Cacao Barry has Fair Trade certification. Then there are the people inside factories, then the test chefs – there’s a whole chain and lots of people day-to-day cooking the Miracle of Chocolate! Today is important because we’re not only launching a brand new chocolate we’re also introducing a new platform: the CocoaCollective which invites chefs around world to share knowledge. It’s an open community for world chefs where we invite the curious looking for information about plantations, products, people.

The website is free to join and on it there is a wealth of information, including 12 videos filmed around the world that give you a glimpse inside the plantations themselves. In addition, there are seasonal recipes from Chefs around the world – and we’ll keep adding to them! It’s a dynamic resource, an open community for all people. 20 years ago the industry was closed, people were guarded, like they were with their recipes - today we are in an era that values sharing. The next stage is to share trips to the plantations, creating experiences where for example Chefs will get to work for a week with the farmers themselves and to collaborate with co-operatives. That will give Chefs a better understanding of behind the scenes. It’s about gaining a deeper understanding of the context of the products we work with - an opportunity for Chefs to be inspired.”

Chef Moarato’s own work, showcased at the event, was itself inspired by the origins of the Single Origin Chocolate: Explore Haîti 65% Origine Dark Couverture that was being launched at the event. The Chef described how he was prompted by the flora and fauna of Haiti to create his pastry tributes to the island. These included a play on the nickname for the island “Pearl of the Caribean” that featured a nutmeg crumble, coconut granita and foam, pineapple, ginger, fennel, yogurt and an unctuous Muscovado sugar veil jelly atop the sphere of chocolate pearl. Another dessert, featuring a colourful candy butterfly decoration was inspired by Haiti’s fauna and fauna and naming the dessert after Haiti’s most rare butterfly the chef joked: “It must be the first time an entremet has been called Abaeis Nicippiformis!”. Ramon also created a special chocolate drink using the chocolate, inspired by the Caribbean rum bottle, a chocolate bar, inspired by the shape of the island and a ‘travel cake’ inspired by a Caribbean wood pier. His Haiti Finger Food as he called it, available to taste on the day, used the notes of mango and citrus, naturally present in the Haitian chocolate bean. Inside, a cream of passion fruit, orange – and for extra tang, the non-native yuzu - enhanced the citrus flavours of the chocolate. The cocoa sablé made with a touch of hot pepper and topped with a twist of fresh cracked pepper gave an extra taste of island spice. This top Barcelona-born chef, winner of many accolades not least the Prize for the Best World Book 2007 on Chocolate awarded by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, certainly knows his craft and the taste was as uplifting as the jovial atmosphere in the tasting room as Chefs milled from tasting station to station. Another tasting station came from Hideko Kawa (owner and consultant at SweetArt Lab.) who presented a Cigar Chocolate Tuile made with single origin Venezuela, that cleverly reflected not only the smoky, powerful tobacco-like aroma and taste of the origins range couverture chocolates, but also played on the fermentation process, in which tobacco leaves are left to shade and cover the beans, whilst Venezuelan locals sit back after the

64

harvest, chomping on real cigars. Hideko added to the ganache inside, a cheeky splash of bourbon whiskey, that classic accompaniment to cigars, adding a depth of flavour balanced with a yuzu marmalade and a filling of coffee flavoured whipped ganache cream, using Venezuela origin chocolate. Hideko’s experience in Heston Blumenthal’s creative kitchens where she worked as head pastry chef clearly rubbed off in the dessert’s eye-catching creation, that bore in its design a direct semblance to a real cigar complete with an ‘ash’ of Amber cocao powder – all in all, a smokin’ hot hit amongst the Chef tasters!

Not to be outdone, Hakkassan Group’s Sarah Frankland (head pastry chef at award-winning Yauatcha) is no stranger to the inspiring couverture in Cocao Barry’s range as she has been avidly studying its uses over the last 2 and a half years. “In each menu we use another one of the many couverture and discover a different match in order to create a new dish.

For example, for Yauatcha’s signature dish, Raspberry delice I marry the fruit with Madrifolo, or Alunga with toasted rice, Mandarin with Saint Domigue and the most popular dessert, the Chocolate pebble the Alto el sol in different applications and textures.”

Sarah told me how she has previously worked with Alunga milk chocolate from the Purity from nature range, but not with the dark chocolates. “I’m always looking for different ingredients to work with to enhance and expand my knowledge and that of my team.” she said. For her creation with Inaya Lulo, she started with a sample of Lulo (naranjilla) puree, a citrus fruit from South America. “It had an intense acidity, like passionfruit. It was a perfect combination, the lulo balancing the intense Cocoa and bitter notes of the Inaya that highlighted and intensified its floral notes. It’s about balancing the layers of flavour and texture, to invigorate as many of the taste receptors on the palate as possible to give a full and rounded taste experience. The Inlaya Lulo touches the four main taste receptors: sweet, sour, bitter with a touch of salt.”

Inaya 65% Dark Chocolate Couverture forms part of the “new generation” of chocolate with a pure and intense taste of cocoa, thanks to the unique Q fermentation technique that This Chocolate has a low fluidity which makes it ideal for applications like mousse, cremeaux and ganache. It was thus the perfect choice for Sarah’s composition, that used

in the base, layers of chocolate jacode sponge, Lulo cremeux and layers of Cara Krakine. “On top, I piped Inaya Lulo cremeux centred with Lulo confiture and topped with a light Inaya mousse.”

TASTE AND LEARN As well as sampling finished desserts from the experts, attendees could ‘taste and learn’ the complex techniques Cocao Barry has developed to extract the best of the beans’ aromas and tastes.

As Paul Hoff, technical and R&D manager, explained, like a fine wine, so many elements can interfere with chocolate taste, that it is vital to strictly control each step of the production process. His interactive presentation ran through every key step in the production process and illustrated, using samples made especially for the audience taste-test, how from fermentation to refining, each step relies on Cocao Barry’s honed technical expertise. Guests tasted the notable difference between a rough and unscented chocolate from Ecuador, made from beans that had been poorly fermented and roasted, in stark contrast with a chocolate made with beans properly fermented and roasted, that released a fruity aroma and tasting notes. The importance of proper roasting was also demonstrated: roasting at too low a temperature does not yielding sufficient aromas; too high and the beans produce a chocolate that is bitter and sour. Next, then the conching, where if under done, the chocolate is over sugary and too much over works the compounds, eliminating the vital taste of the chocolate. Finally during the refining process in which the particles of the chocolate are reduced down to create the chocolate’s rich smoothness, great care has to be taken to properly ground to avoid a granulated texture. In conjunction with each stage, the guests sampled themselves the enormous variation in flavour, texture and aroma if just only one of the elements is not properly balanced.

It is no wonder the skill and craft used to extract the beans’ aromas and tastes are what has kept the company at the top of its game, amongst professionals and consumers alike for more than 170 years.

CIGAR CHOCOLATE TUILE WITH SINGLE ORIGIN VENEZUELA CACAO BARRY BY HIDEKO KAWA AT THE SWEETART LABORATORY THE STORY BEHIND THE CREATION CONCEPT IDEA 1.Tasting Samples First I tasted all the origins range dark couverture chocolate samples, which include Tanzanie, Venezuela, Cuba, Saint Domingue, Ghana, Fleur de Cao. Those origins range couverture chocolates have exotic and smoky characteristic aroma and include rich, distinctive, unique flavors with well-balanced powerful cocoa taste.

2. Imagination I specially picked up smoky tobacco like taste and aroma in the Venezuela origin dark couverture chocolate, which is very unique and exotic. I closed my eyes and could imaginatively project a landscape in Venezuela, which people are smoking cigars after they harvested chocolate beans in a plantation or tobacco leaves shade and cover the chocolate beans during the fermentation, in my mind.

3. Concept decision Although as you know Cuban cigars are very well known, I found Venezuela origin couverture chocolate has more tobacco like taste than Cuba origin. I thought that the combination of Venezuelan origin couverture and cigars are perfect match. I decided to use the Venezuela origin dark couverture chocolate for my cigar chocolate tuile.

THE STORY BEHIND THE DECISION OF THE FLAVOR PARING 1. Searching Cigar flavors I searched the cigar flavors to achieve the perfect flavor paring with the Venezuela origin dark couverture chocolate. Cigar flavors include plants, herbs, spices, minerals, fruits, nuts, honey, coffee and others.

2. Selection of the flavor I selected some of the flavors, which are Chocolate, Coffee, Citrus, Honey , from the searched cigar flavors.

Also I add a flavor of bourbon whisky, which is great to accompany the cigars.

THE DESIGN OF THE CIGAR CHOCOLATE 1.Shell: · Chocolate tuile ( with Amber cocoa Powder to highlight the taste of the Venezuela chocolate) · Inside coated with the Venezuela origin dark couverture chocolate.

2.Filing: · Coffee flavored whipped ganache cream using the Venezuela origin chocolate. · Yuzu marmalade (citrus flavor paring) · Bourbon and Venezuela chocolate ganache with hint of honey

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CHEF EVENT

by N a m a i B i s h o p

OBSESSED 16 TIMES Nigel Haworth has done it again: He has successfully curated one of the UK’s most highly rated food events on the UK annual calendar. Namai Bishop was at Obsession to bring you all the action from the kitchen as 16 top chefs from around the world each take up residence for one night only in Northcote’s revered kitchens

DEEP ROOTS TO HIGH FLYER Nigel Haworth is a man loyal to his roots.

Having trained at Accrington and Rossendale Catering College, the chef travelled only a few miles to Langho’s Northcote, where he still remains to this day. Steady in his professional path, as well as his cuisine, it is just that consistency that has led to his uniform success.

Back in 1985, within only a year of taking up his post as head chef, he was won the Egon Ronay Chef of the Year Award, and just a year later, earned a Michelin star – one that he has successfully retained for a mammoth 20 years!. This year has been another great year for Northcote, winning Lancashire Life Hotel Restaurant of the Year as well as the people’s choice prize as Best Restaurant Outside of London at the Food and Travel Reader Awards 2015. In addition, its Obsession culinary event

2016 saw Northcote attract more top chefs on more sold-out nights than ever. I asked the Chef Patron about how Northcote manages to retain its appeal and just keeps growing.

“We’ve been here 30 years but we’re not stuck in the past, we continue to look to the future. We’re always striving to improve and offer something new to customers, as an entire offering. We have fresh additions to our team, namely Craig Jackson as New General manager and Head Sommelier Tamas Czinki [who now an Advanced Sommelier, finished in the top 10 in the UK Best Sommelier Competition, third in the Imbibe Sommelier Challenge and semifinalist of the UK Best Young Sommelier]. In our kitchens, along with executive head chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, [named Restaurant Chef of the Year by Craft Guild of Chef’s Best Chef of the Year in 2008] We’re also focusing on nurturing young talent.”

ANOTHER GREAT YEAR FOR NORTHCOTE AND ITS YOUNG CHEFS Northcote’s reputation for breeding promising young talent was indeed enforced this year as its Junior Sous Chef, Danny Young, won the fiercely fought title of North West Young Chef of the Year and went on to compete at the prestigious Craft Guild of Chef’s Young National Chef of the Year that took place at The Restaurant Show in London’s Olympia.

That competition is proving to be a bolster for young chefs nationwide, offering contestants the opportunity to connect with important industry figures and allowing young chefs to rapidly progress their careers. As David Mulcahy, Vice-President of the Craft of Chefs said “Young National Chef of the Year is a fantastic platform for young chefs and the experience alone

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As Patron Chef, Nigel takes a role in business decisions at both the restaurant and hotel side of Northcote and as he told me

The Festival of Food & Wine in California back in 2000. I was cooking with amazing chefs like Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller and Alice Walters. On the last day, I was having lunch at [Thomas Keller’s restaurant] The French Laundry and was so wrapped up in the festival talk that I missed my flight! It obviously struck something in me, and when I (finally!) got home, I decided to hold a similar festival in

Their teams were busy preparing for that evening’s tasting menus, with wines expertly matched by Tamas and Managing Director, Craig Bancroft from Northcotes . Certainly Chef Hidaeki Matsuo’s menu proved a challenge for pairings and the selections proved as eclectic as the nationalities of the Chefs themselves. To match the unusual flavour

“The key to our success is that improvements in what happens in the kitchen are reflected throughout the entire property.

We have invested in the infrastructure of the hotel with new rooms, extended the private dining room, added a Chef’s Table as well as an exciting new cookery school.”

It was at the cookery school that I came across some of the top international chefs taking part in this years Obsession event. Held annually, the event puts the North of England firmly in the culinary spotlight as it brings to Northcote, a revolving roster of international talent. “It all came about when I attended

UK. Chefs come from far and wide with their teams. They are free to get stuck into our kitchen and just cook whatever they want.

The kitchen doors just keep on swinging! For 16 nights a different chef and their team in our kitchen.It’s all one big melting pot: Chefs, food lovers, locals, people from far afield – the whole lot. It’s a But don’t get me wrong, our team all work tirelessly to pull it off.”

I spoke to South Africa’s Peter Templehoff and Japan’s revered three Michelin starred Hideaki Matsuo during the daytime Chef’s Masterclasses that preceded the evenings gala dinner.

profiles of Sansho pepper paste, Kabura raddish and Angkor pepper covered a spectrum of wines, from Australian Semillon, a Californian Pinot Noir and Sake were presented. That dinner brought a cuisine, and techniques from far away Osaka, a destination that would otherwise be close to impossible for many attendees to visit, right to Britain’s shores. That is the true value of Obsession: a festival of flavour from top international chefs from around the world, welcomed right into to hearts and kitchen’s of the Best of British talent.

ensures that they begin their career in a high.”

Danny came runner up - by just one point!

Watch this space, Danny may well be next!

VISITING STELLAR CHEFS

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WINE & DRINK

by Jean Smullen

CENTRAL OTAGO

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An Irishwoman travels to the other side of the world to meet a compatriot, who is not only a broadcasting legend but managed, in his spare time, to pioneer wine making in a region best known for fruit farming and sheep rearing . Does this sound far fetched? Of course it does, but remarkably it is true.

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| Wine & Drink | Central Otago

Alan Brady emigrated from Ireland to work as a television journalist in Dunedin; communication was in the blood, his father, also a journalist published newspapers in Northern Ireland. In the early 1980’s Alan bought a disused cottage and some land in Gibbston near Queenstown. The original plan was to build a holiday home, where he could relax with the family. He decided one day, as a hobby, to try his hand at planting some vines. After a shaky start involving a lot of experimental plantings, he realised Pinot Noir was the grape to go for. By this stage, broadcasting was increasingly playing second fiddle as Alan taught himself to make wine and immersed himself in the wine business.

Alan set up three wineries; the first, the now iconic Gibbston Valley Winery is today one of the best known. With a fine dining restaurant and tasting rooms, it has become THE stop off point for the many tourists who visit Queenstown. In the mid 1980’s at a dinner party in London, Jancis Robinson tasted one of Alan’s Gibbston Valley wines, she was so impressed she immediately send a fax to congratulate him. He still has that fax today, now framed in pride of place. As well as creating one of the first commercial wineries in the region, Alan also built the first “cellar” in Central Otago, blasting into the volcanic rock to create a cool underground space to store and age his wines.

Following “retirement” Alan sold Gibbston and set up a second winery, Mount Edward. After a few years building another successful winery, he eventually sold Mount Edward on. Today, his third venture, Wild Irishman is a relatively small but thriving operation producing 300 cases per annum, all of which is pre-sold on allocation to local customers.

At 80, I suppose the time has come to slow things down, though I doubt if that is going to happen anytime soon.

Alan and the other Central Otago mavericks who include, Rolfe and Lois Mills at Rippon, Verdun Burgess and Sue Edwards at Black Ridge and Ann Pinckney at Taramea put winemaking in the region on the map, while creating an iconic world class wine style, Central Otago Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir is not new to the region or the country, it was first planted in Central Otago in 1864 by Jean Desire Feraud, a Frenchman whose aim was to create a Burgundian style wine. According to Alan Brady the potential for Pinot Noir had been recognised as far back as April 1895 when the New Zealand Government invited Italian viticulturist Romeo Bragato to assess the regions potential. At a public meeting Bragato confirmed that “there was no country on the face of the earth which produced better Burgundy grapes than were produced in Central Otago and in portions of the North Island”.

In the last decade, Central Otago has grown from a handful of experimental vineyards to become the third largest wine region in New

Zealand (1,932 hectares). In 2014 Central Otago was second only to Hawke’s Bay (4,774 ha) and Marlborough (22,907 ha) in terms of its wine production.

There are now over 100 producers and growers in the region, though most are relatively small producers. To make it even more interesting, Nick Passmore a wine journalist who writes for Forbes, has just voted Central Otago’s 2006 Amisfield RKV Pinot Noir, the best New Zealand wine EVER! Not a bad accolade for a wine region that was, until relatively recently, virtually unknown.

Wines are produced in four very different sub regions, Gibbston, Cromwell Basin, Wanaka and Alexandra. Located on the 45th parallel (45 degrees south) it is the world’s most southerly wine region. At over 450 metres about sea-level Central Otago vineyards are New Zealand’s highest and it is the only New Zealand wine region to have a continental climate.

The key to the success of Pinot Noir grown here are the high sugar and acidity levels which result in a style of Pinot Noir that is perfumed, rich and supple. The Cromwell Basin, a sub region beyond Gibbston lies to the lee of the Pisa Mountains. The Clutha River flows south into a man-made dam called Lake Dunstan. Here, on the road to Wanaka, is the growing town of Cromwell. In 1862 gold was discovered here by Irish miners, bringing an influx of several thousand prospectors, mostly Irish and Chinese. Cromwell is notable for its Irish street names; the Chinese legacy exists in nearby Bendigo where the newly planted vineyard sites are on all hillside called Chinaman’s Terrace.

Hayden Johnson, is one of the new breed of Central Otago wine pioneers . Hayden lived and worked selling wine for a number of years in the UK and Ireland. On his return fourteen years ago, he bought some land on Chinaman’s Terrace. Tarras Wines (named for the nearby town) have put this small sub vineyard region on the map.

Hayden works with, Anthony Worch a winemaker from the Alsace region in France; together they have created a world class wine. The key to it that their Pinot Noir is grown on limestone and sand soil, formed from schist. The Chinaman’s Terrace is north-facing and that means the fruit ripens earlier; as we sat on the hillside tasting the wines, verasion (the ripening of the grape) was very much in evidence and much further advance than in the wineries the across the lake in Lowburn.

The 2009 Tarras Wines The Canyon, (which is only produced in selected vintages) was awarded a Trophy at the International Wine Challenge in London in 2013. 500 cases were produced that year and Hayden believes that the wine is about structure. Having tasted the 2009 I found it had a wonderful minerality, backed by lots of sweet black fruit.

Beautifully smoky it was an incredibly seductive Pinot Noir with enormous ageing potential. In 2014 they also produced The Canyon (800 cases this time); it too has potential though I found it slightly more austere than the ripe lush 2009 vintage. We also tasted the 2007 vintages of The Canyon which showed the potential these wines have to develop. Tarras Wines are available in the UK through Charles Mitchell Wines in Manchester www.cmwines.com Steve and Thea Farquharson, were working in the UK as IT professionals. Yearning to return home to New Zealand for a lifestyle change they decided to look for the ideal spot in Central Otago to make wine. In 2002 they found a superb site in Cromwell. However, before the grapes were planted, a number of trees needed to be felled and cleared, one of these trees had quite a history. The ancient tree commanded a place in local lore as a lovers’ rendezvous, and therefore had been given the name of the ‘Wooing Tree’. Of course, the Wooing Tree was saved and the problem of coming up with a vineyard and wine label name was also solved.

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The family owned and operated single vineyard site specialises in Pinot Noir and also produces a Rosé, a still Blanc de Noir ‘Blondie’, and Late Harvest ‘Tickled Pink’. The first vintage from the site in 2005 resulted in a stunning Pinot Noir, which won the Open Red Wine Trophy at the Air NZ Wine Awards. Wooing Tree wines are available in the UK through Seckford Agencies. www.seckfordagencies.co.uk Mark Mason and his partner Michelle Crawford of Quest Farm epitomise the modern pioneering spirit of the producers from the Cromwell Basin. There is a very strong sense of camaraderie among all the wineries in the region. They work together in close association with a common purpose and passion.

Mark Mason and his brother David founded the enormously successful Sacred Hill winery in Hawkes Bay in 1986. By 1999 Mark wanted a break, so he jumped ship in search of snowfields to ski. Down in Central Otago 8 km from the skiing he found an overgrown farm that had lots of wild briar roses, no power and limited water. However, there were warm north facing slopes and a complex range of soils, so starting with a small bulldozer he singlehandedly built what was to become 18 different vineyards on a range of different slopes, and what is now the highest vineyard in New Zealand. Sixteen years later Quest Farm goes from strength to strength.

Mark is a complete maverick, he makes the wines using a friends facilities. Michelle tends the vineyards, a qualified viticulturist she has a passion for what she does and it shows. The winery has practiced sustainability and their first organic fruit was produced in 2009.

Mark and Michelle are producing cutting edge wines. Innovation is the fundamental principal of their wine range. We started the tasting with the 2014 Alpino Vin Gris, a white Pinot Noir with approximately 3% Pinot Gris added; the wine was dry with a lovely texture and a fresh acidic lift. I was also very impressed by the 2014 Quest Farm Pinot Gris, 63,000 Pinot Gris vines have been planted and all are totally organic.

This was New Zealand Pinot Gris at its very best a rich rounded style all the weight oiliness of the grape backed with a lovely fresh acidity and wonderful aromatics.

Mark likes to partially ferment using old barrels from a field blend which includes some Viognier, this adds a wonderful floral note to the wine, he also adds texture through lees ageing. Quite simply these were spectactular white wines. The reds were equally impressive, the 2012

Quest Farm Home Vineyard Pinot Noir is their signature wine, made from a single vineyard this wine showcases Mark Mason’s winemaking style.

The rose hip briars still grown on the hills and Mark feels their proximity to the vineyards influences the growing grapes and bring a perfumed quality to the final wine. The 2012 vintage showed the hallmarks of the terroir of his farm. This was Pinot Noir with attitude and character, soft, seductive but with a perfumed floral character. He didn’t make a Home Vineyard in 2013, the vintage was too dry for him. 2014 will be the next Home Farm vintage and it is due for bottling in Spring 2016. At time of writing it is believed that Quest Farm wines will soon be available in the UK via Direct Wines. Akaruna in Bannockburn was founded by Sir Clifford Skeggs, the 47ha vineyard is devoted to Pinot Noir (70%), Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling. They started production in 1999 and now also produce an impressive range of sparkling wines. The sparkling project involves the legendary Tony Jordan who blends the range for them. I was particularly impressed by the 2010 Akaruna Brut which has had four years on its lees, it is remarkably honied on the nose and the wine’s balanced acidity is a hallmark of their sparkling wine style. The Akaruna range is distributed in the UK by Liberty Wines. www.libertywines.co.uk Mount Difficulty dominates the skyline of the Cromwell basin. Here along Felton Road (also the name of a winery) you will find 40 ha of vineyards in Bannockburn beside the Kawarau River which runs into Lake Dunstan from the north. The winery was started by South African born Robin Dicey, who first planted vines here in 1992, today he still lives in a small house on the estate with his wife.

His son Matt Dicey runs the winery now, working with winemaker Grant Taylor to produce an impressive range of wines. They produce some very good quality white wines made from Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. They also make a superb sweet wine the 2014 Nobel Riesling. The 2013 Roaring Meg Pinot Noir is designed for everyday drinking and has a lovely softness and a spicy finish. However, their flagship wine the 2014 Mount Difficulty Bannockburn, is the real star; the premium fruit for this is sourced from a selection of vineyards and made from a blend. This is a wine with a good firm tannin structure, more robust and masculine in style the quality of the fruit just shines through, this a wine with remarkable compexity and an elegant perfumed finish.

Mount Difficulty is distributed in the UK by Ellis of Richmond www.ellisofrichmond.co.uk

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OUR MAN IN BANGKOK

ANTONY SCHOTELYMER My career as a chef has had two phases. The first for 18 years was as a restaurant chef working in at the time some very well respected and high profile establishments in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia. The second phase was when I joined hotels, still as a Chef de Cuisine but with much higher and loftier goals to achieve. I left Australia in 2002 to the pressure cooker hotel life in Asia and haven’t returned except for family reasons.

I joined the Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok on October 2011, a dream had come true as I was finally in my dream destination in a renowned hotel. My goal was to be a successful Executive Chef in a key Asian city. How do I measure this? Or more importantly, how am I measured on this? Through financial results, guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction, passing probations and contract renewals. If any one of these fails then you are usually doomed.

I had to deal with many challenges which are usually human related. What I have realized after working in many different countries is that everybody is the same. There are very good, good and not so good people on different levels that you always have to deal with and manage. Most people don’t like change even though they say they do. After all you are employed to make change and not do what the previous chef or chefs were doing and this is usually when you run into challenges and resistance, which can sometimes and did get very nasty. Thailand is the land of smiles………..on the surface anyway.

So after four very good years at the Sukhothai and with third contract on the table ready to be signed, I like to think I passed. I had a lot of support along the way and you soon work out that it’s very important to make the right relationships with the right people. Politics always plays a big role in hotels and sometimes achievements mean little. My achievements were many. Designing and renovation of the whole main kitchen, achieving food cost budgets, excellent results with hotel wide quality audits and guest satisfaction with the food offerings, as well as many successful promotions with visiting two and three Michelin stared chefs.

WHAT NEXT? The Okura Prestige Bangkok is part of a Japanese branded company originating in Tokyo in 1962 and with my passion for

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Japanese food and ingredients the position of Executive Chef in this challenging property seemed to be a no brainer of a decision. The position being offered also gave me the opportunity to step back into the kitchen with a more hands on role with the opportunity to head Elements restaurant on the 25th floor of the hotel with a new concept and direction.

The concept that I decided on was “French cuisine with Japanese influences” as I wanted a style of food different to other restaurants in Bangkok and more importantly one that would reflect the hotels heritage. I didn’t want it to be thought of as a Japanese restaurant but able to provide a different style of cuisine to our guests from the two other restaurants we have in the hotel. With an open kitchen it also enabled me to use and be able to show off interesting ingredients such as fresh wasabi grated at the table and katsuobushi, dried and smoked bonito shaved freshly to finish dishes with.

The hotels two other outlets are on the 24th floor with the signature Japanese Kaiseki restaurant Yamazato. Helmed by Chef Shigeru Hagiwara who hails from Tokyo and has been with the Okura brand for over 35 years. Chef Hagiwara has his ingredients flown in from Tsukiji market almost daily. The freshness and quality of the ingredients are for me inspirational and an opportunity to learn from a true master……….…..who directly reports to me!!! The quality of each dish he prepares is matched by his attention to detail in the preparation and presentation. I spend time in his kitchen, watching and talking to him. It is a relationship that is built on respect, for the chef and his passion. Hagiwara touches every dish that leaves his kitchen. Nothing is allowed to leave without his final

touch, a glance, a wave of his hand, his final approval. His kitchen is a study of focus, discipline and concentration. All 21 of his chefs work in harmony and silence which is conducted by the master himself.

Up & Above is our all day dining venue serving a huge buffet breakfast, buffet lunch and à la carte dinner. For the breakfast I have introduced an innovative way of ordering eggs like an a la carte service but part of the buffet. I have created a specialty omelet menu using ingredients such as smoked salmon, crème fraiche, crab and exotic mushrooms. I wanted to give our guests a breakfast experience they couldn’t get anywhere else in Bangkok or maybe even Asia. I also developed a French Toast recipe based on the origins of the first Okura in Tokyo and the way they serve their French Toast. I adapted it to use house made brioche soaked in the egg batter for 12 hours and then gently cooked like a pudding, then caramelized so the outside was crisp and the inside delicate and soft.

I am in the process of developing the hotels Sunday brunch which combines Asian and western dishes with some dishes cooked à la minute and served to the table that is a different kind of service usually provided. Most hotels put a heavy focus on imported products but what I am trying to do here is work with local suppliers who are trying to make inroads into the local market with some very good quality ingredients. I think it’s important to encourage and be a show piece for the purveyors. At the end what we are all looking for is the same which is great food. If I can use these products and help generate income and thus greater opportunities and quality into the Bangkok market then I think that is a great legacy for all.

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| Chef Abroad | Antony Schotelymer

Tasmanian ocean trout confit, saffron pickled vegetables, orange-miso sauce

By Antony Schotelymer INGREDIENTS

METHOD

· 10 x 80gm Ocean Trout

1.

portions, skin on, pine bones removed · 200gm rock salt to cover the ocean trout · 100gm carrot, julienne

2.

· 50gm cucumber balls · 100gm daikon slices · 200ml rice vinegar · 100gm white sugar · 400ml water · 500ml orange juice · 100gm orange (1 whole orange), zest only, grated

1.

· 200gm miso paste · 50gm salmon roe · 1 tray micro greens (shiso) · Freshly ground white pepper

2.

Cover a flat tray with the rock salt and then place the ocean trout portions on top of the salt. Then sprinkle more rock salt over the top of the ocean trout. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

After 1 hour remove from the fridge and rinse the salt from the ocean trout under cold running water. Pat dry on absorbent paper and place in vacuum bags at medium pressure and refrigerate until needed. You can do this a day in advance if you like.

PICKELING LIQUID Bring the water, rice vinegar and sugar to the boil and pour 1/2 over the julienne vegetables.

Blanch the sliced daikon and then pour the remaining pickling solution over it. Leave out of the fridge until cool. Then chill.

3.

1.

2.

3.

4.

ORANGE MISO SAUCE 1. In a stainless steel bowl add all of the above ingredients and cook out over a double boiler until smooth and thick like pastry cream. Pass through a fine strainer and chill. Store in a sauce bottle until needed.

TO SERVE Slowly confit the ocean trout portions in sous vide for aprox 10 mins. Remove the trout from the bag and season with ground white pepper.

In the top of each plate place the slice of pickled daikon and arrange the carrot at the corner of the plate.

When cooked peal the skin from the ocean trout and on to the daikon.

Spread the miso-orange sauce over the bottom of the plate and dot the sauce with the cucumber. Garnish with the micro greens and serve.

NEWS

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BAXTERSTOREY CHEF ACADEMY GRADUATION

T

his week, 33 chefs celebrated their graduation from BaxterStorey’s awardwinning Chef Academy. Renowned chefs Tom Kerridge, Alyn Williams and John Campbell attended a special reception in central London to mark the occasion.

This year’s graduates were awarded a variety of specialist qualifications including Culinary Arts, Chef Diploma and Chef Certificate. Over 100 people attended the event to recognise the chefs’ achievements.

Rik Razza, head of chef development at BaxterStorey, said: “I believe that the academy has had its most successful year yet. The quality of what is now being

assignment average, most effective trainer, produced and the students’ progression spirit of the trainer and spirit of the academy. has been significant. I would also like to

acknowledge and thank HIT (Hospitality 2016 WINNERS Industry Training) for the role that they have Chef of the year played at assessment level.” · Level One – Charlotte Axe, Syngenta Graham Eveleigh, head of skills and · Level Two – Mark Wright, BUPA Brighton development, said: “This celebration is a great · Level Three – Nina Mash, King & Wood way to acknowledge the young, fresh talent Mallesons we are proud to have at BaxterStorey and

highlight our chefs’ commitment to creating Most improved innovative menus with the freshest, locally · Level One – Karlis Pimpurins, TFL Palestra sourced produce.” · Level Two – Paulino Ison Esguerra, BaxterStorey’s Chef Academy offers Carphone Warehouse

unique learning opportunities from visiting Best Assignment Average food markets, fisheries and suppliers · Level Three - Steve Wren, Said Business to understanding the financial and School management aspects of being a chef.

Trainee chefs also get the chance to put Most effective trainer their skills into practice with a week’s tuition · Level One – Sam Busby, EMA with one of BaxterStorey’s Chef Consultants · Level Two – Andrew Frost, Invesco including John Campbell, Nigel Haworth, Perpetual, Henley on Thames

Mark Hix and Tom Kitchin.

Spirit of the trainer award At the graduation ceremony, individual · Jason Thompson, BUPA Brighton

chefs were praised for their outstanding Spirit of the academy achievement across six categories including; · Nina Mash, King & Wood Mallesons”. chef of the year, most improved, best

EL GATO NEGRO CELEBRATES IMPENDING OPENING WITH EXCLUSIVE MEDIA LAUNCH

F

ebruary 18 2016 saw the media launch of the widely anticipated El Gato Negro, attended by highly respected food and drink writers from across the North West and beyond. The event was held ahead of the restaurant’s official opening on February 22.

Guests including celebrity chef Simon Rimmer were treated to welcome drinks and a speech from founder and Chef Patron Simon Shaw on his ambitious plans for the restaurant at 52 King Street, Manchester.

The select crowd of industry experts sampled delicacies from the impressive ground floor charcuterie counter before taking to the first floor restaurant where vistas over the King Street conservation area were enjoyed from sumptuous seating. Here, the food offering took centre stage served from the open finishing kitchen. Amongst the featured dishes were the confit of belly pork with rosemary

flavour arrocina beans and Carabineros prawns with shellfish rice.

The Black Cat at El Gato Negro, the restaurant’s dedicated cocktail bar situated at the top of the building, provided the

perfect setting for after dinner drinks.

Guests had the opportunity to savour a selection of Beverage Manager Garry Foy’s

exclusive cocktail creations under the retractable roof, which opens to reveal the Manchester sky. Speaking on the launch event Simon Shaw said, “Following a successful few days of soft launch events with friends and family, we were delighted to welcome respected members of the North West’s food and drink industry to help celebrate our forthcoming opening.

“Standing here tonight I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved, there have been some long hours invested and I couldn’t have done it without the fantastic team around me. We’re looking forward to opening the doors to the public next week and welcoming people to El Gato Negro Manchester.”

El Gato Negro is renowned for seasonally-inspired dishes reflecting a mix of modern and traditional Spanish flavours and techniques with influences from closer to home.

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NEWS HEDDON STREET KITCHEN APPOINTS NEW HEAD CHEF GUY BETTERING

G

ordon Ramsay Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Guy Betteridge

as Head Chef of Heddon Street Kitchen, the casual all-day restaurant located in the Regent Street’s Food Quarter.

Guy began cooking at the humble age of 16 in his home town of St Albans, Hertfordshire. He then attended Westminster College as an apprentice while working at the Grove Hotel before making the move to position of Commis Chef at Gordon Ramsay Group’s Boxwood Café, under the stewardship of then Executive Chef, Stuart Gillies.

Now under the firm wing of Gordon Ramsay Group, a six month stint at Royal Hospital Road led him to follow Stuart Gillies to The Savoy Grill, where he

took up position as Chef de Partie, before climbing up the ladder at Bread Street Kitchen to Senior Sous Chef over the next four years.

Guy has been appointed Head Chef of Heddon Street Kitchen where he will be in charge of a brigade of 20 at the 232-cover restaurant, whilst over-seeing the seasonal European menu, ensuring it develops and matures.

Located an apple’s throw from the commotion of Oxford Street, Heddon Street Kitchen is spread across two floors with a destination bar, expansive terrace and dining room, serving from breakfast to dinner and late-night drinks.

NEW - HIGH ACCURACY THERMA 1T DIGITAL THERMOMETER

The new Therma 1T digital thermometer from Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd (ETI) utilises high accuracy (±0.2 °C) interchangeable type T thermocouple probes which offer both fast response and durability.

The Therma 1T thermometer is particularly suitable for food processing and foodservice applications where a guaranteed

accuracy of better than 0.5 °C is required, (the minimum requirement of the current food safety legislation). Each instrument has a guaranteed accuracy of better than 0.2 °C; likewise the interchangeable probes also have an accuracy of 0.2 °C giving a guaranteed system accuracy of 0.4°C or better. This aspect is often overlooked

by food professionals when selecting a thermometer for critical food temperature monitoring.

The unit is powered by three AAA batteries that give a minimum of 10,000 hours (or five years) use, powering off automatically after 10 minutes, maximising battery life. This feature can be disabled by the user if not required.

Measuring temperature over the range of -100 to 400 °C with a 0.1 °C resolution, the instrument is housed in a robust, ABS case that includes ‘Biomaster’ additive which reduces bacterial growth. The thermometer incorporates an easy to use miniature type T thermocouple connector, allowing a wide range of interchangeable probes to be used.

The Therma 1T meets the needs of food processing and foodservice professionals who don’t wish to pay for features they’ll never use and simply need a welldesigned, robust economically priced food thermometer to check that food temperatures are within defined limits.

The Therma 1T thermometer is competitively priced, at £50 exclusive of VAT and carriage. An extensive of interchangeable probes are available, as are optional extras such as protective silicone boots and a stainless steel wall bracket.

NEWS

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EIGHTEEN REGIONAL FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Following a meeting of the judges, Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr have announced the regional finalists for the 2016 Roux Scholarship competition.

The regional finals will be held simultaneously on Thursday 17th March 2016.

They will take place at University College Birmingham and University of West London, Ealing.

THE CHEFS COMPETING IN BIRMINGHAM: · Joe Bailey, Greenway Hall Golf Club, Stoke-onTrent, Staffordshire · Ben Champkin, L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria · Harry Guy, Eden Hotel Collection, StratfordUpon-Avon, Warwickshire · Adam Harper, Fischer’s, Baslow Hall, Baslow, Derbyshire · Thomas Moody, Lower Slaughter Manor, Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire · David Scarpato, Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, South Wales JUDGES ARE: Michel Roux Jr, André Garrett (2002 scholar) and Steve Love (1997 scholar).

THE CHEFS COMPETING IN LONDON: · Greg Anderson, Morston Hall, Nr Holt, Norfolk · Martin Carabott, The Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, London · Gregory Clarke, Midsummer House, Midsummer Common, Cambridge · Michael Cruickshank, The Montagu Arms Hotel, Beaulieu, Hampshire · Scott Dineen, Goldman Sachs, (BaxterStorey), London · Luke Fouracre, The Royal Oak Paley Street, Nr Maidenhead, Berkshire · Paul Matthews, Fieldfisher, (Vacherin), London · Dimitrios Papapanagiotou, Cliveden House,

Taplow, Berkshire · Tim Peirson, Kensington Place, Kensington Church St, London · Jozef Rogulski, The Stafford Hotel, St James’s Place, London · Adam Thomason, Deloitte, (Restaurant Associates), London · Michael Thompson, Fera at Claridge’s, Mayfair, London JUDGES ARE: Alain Roux, Andrew Fairlie, David Nicholls, Simon Hulstone (2003 scholar).

2016 was another strong year for entries. 11 of the 18 finalists are from restaurants outside London. Again many chefs have passed through the kitchens of previous Roux scholars, demonstrating the spirit of the Roux legacy in action.

FACTS ABOUT THE FINALISTS: · Scott Dineen, was in last year’s final. Luke Fouracre, Harry Guy and Jozef Rogulski competed in last year’s regional finals. · Fourteen chefs are brand new to the competition this year. · Three competitors are from contract catering companies. · Simon Rogan continues his strong association with the competition; two finalists from his restaurants made the regional final. Ben Champkin, works for Tom Barnes, (2014 scholar) at L’Enclume and Michael Thompson, works for Dan Cox (2008 scholar) at Fera at Claridge’s. · Dimitrios Papapanagioutou, works for André Garret at Cliveden and Michael Cruickshank, works for Matthew Tomkinson (2005 scholar) at The Montagu Arms Hotel.

THE CHALLENGE This year’s challenge is to create a recipe to serve four people using, one whole fresh Pollock (otherwise known as coley or saithe), gutted, weighing anywhere between 1.5 –1.75kg (maximum 2kg) and 600g live whole cockles; together served plated and accompanied by two garnishes. One garnish must include button mushrooms and the other to be a garnish of your choice. One of these garnishes can be served separately if preferred. A sauce must accompany the dish.

Competitors will have 21⁄2 hrs to cook their dish, along with a dessert from a mystery box of ingredients given to them on the day.

The judges will be looking for recipes and

methods, which demonstrate the best balance of creativity, taste, style and practicality in the finished dish.

NATIONAL FINAL – MONDAY 4TH APRIL 2016 Six winners selected from across the two regional finals will go through to the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College, London. The 2016 Roux Scholar will be announced at an awards ceremony held at The Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London the same evening.

QUOTES FROM THE JUDGES Michel Roux Jr “This year we have an interesting mix of French classics and some modern interpretations.

I’m pleased to see lots of imaginative ways to prepare Pollock, that I’m looking forward to tasting.”

Alain Roux “It was great to have the input from our new scholar judges this year. André and Simon have great knowledge of the classics and understand the latest trends and techniques at the forefront of modern cooking. They shared the perspective of what it’s like from a competitor’s point of view and this kept the judging lively and fresh.”

Andrew Fairlie “There was a mix of standards in the entries this year. Some chefs underestimate the importance of the written entry. Some good dishes may have been rejected because the recipes weren’t presented and described in a way that helps us picture the final dish – that’s a shame!”

Brian Turner “A challenge was given and it was reassuring to see how many rose to the challenge – now for the tasting, the real test!”

André Garrett “There were some common themes of brining, water baths and the use of dashi as a stock.

What stood out for me was how differently these techniques were applied in the recipes.

I’m curious to see what the effect will be on the taste and texture of the Pollock.”

Simon Hulstone “There were some interesting recipes showing off good skills. I’m looking forward to tasting them alongside the desserts. This is about the whole package and I wonder if some chefs have considered the time they’ll need for their mystery box dessert. A good dessert can transform an average main course!”.

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TRIED AND TESTED

by Andrew Scott

OMNI BLEND “My cooking style is modern British with a twist of nostalgic memories. Restaurant 56 allows me to create and cook with no limitations. Running Restaurant 56 as Executive Head Chef, I head up a team who share my passion for preparing classic British dishes with a contemporary twist. All our ingredients are sourced impeccably, many from local suppliers”.

Twitter: @Andrew_J_Scott

So another food blender….To be honest I wasn’t that excited to have a go at using the blender as I thought, it’ll just do the same job as every other blender. I thought it looked very similar in looks

walk away knowing it’ll turn off and isn’t annoyingly running in the background. I allowed the Bar man to trial this bit of high spec kit out and he was very impressed and wanted to keep it on his bar! It can

to a ‘vita-prep’. But on plugging it in and reading through the features I was quite impressed, the Omni v has 3 settings of speed low, medium and high and underneath those buttons are timer buttons of 35, 60, 90 seconds which is a really handy feature allowing the user to put something onto blend i.e. a smoothly or cocktail and

crush ice and makes the smoothest blended cocktails you’ll ever drink. It makes them very quickly too, as it has a 3 horse power motor which is designed to be ultra quiet so using on the bar was no problem it didn’t disturb the guests. Bringing it back into the kitchen we tested it on purees, soups and fluid gels and to be honest as

a massive fan of thermomix I was quite impressed with the Omni v, because the motor is so strong it creates a vortex pulling whatever you’re blending down towards the blades, and if it doesn’t its supplied with a mixing stick to get things going. So as it blends it doesn’t spread everything all up the sides of the jug and underside of the lid. So scraping down in-between blitzing is a thing of the past with the Omni v. Results on the savoury side were brilliant ultra smooth purees and soups done in very quick time, I was even able to talk to my other chefs while blending as the machine runs very quietly! Blending fluid gels is always a bit of a pain in the machines I have in the kitchen as usually there made in very small batches and they don’t blend too well, needing a lot of scraping down in-between blends. With the Omni v it made it look easy and blended literally a sauce bottle full of recipe to an ultra smooth consistency. The base and jug are easy to clean with no awkward angles which makes maintaining simple The base just needs a wipe and the jug can be swilled out or put through a dishwasher. The only downside to the Omni v is that it doesn’t have a heat element so you can cook while blending. But as a blender it is one of the best I’ve used and stands up to any of the leading competitors So to some the Omni v up it would make a great addition to any commercial kitchen or bar as it does carry some very cool features and is very user-friendly. All done in a quiet very efficient manner, its built to last and for the price tag its defintly on my wish list.

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