CUT&DRIED
making more of British & Continental charcuterie
We’ve got a license to try something new. There are so many flavours out there, and we can do what we like with them
Simon Hurrell & David Hill
A future rooted in tradition Chiltern Charcuterie’s new owners have swiftly set about expanding the range and experimenting with new flavours – with a focus on forward-thinking takes on British classics By Tom Dale
HAVING BOUGHT THE business amid the pandemic, Chiltern Charcuterie’s new owners have already put their stamp on the range, expanding it and bringing it in line with coowner Simon Hurrell’s vision for the producer. When FFD speaks to Hurrell, he is gearing up for Chiltern’s run of Christmas specials – including a mulled cider salami, mulled port salami, and a decadent-sounding sloe gin-soaked air-dried venison – and has not escaped the staffing crisis that has hit the fine food trade. “It’s about the worst time to be down on staff,” he says. “We’re on full production runs and slicing to keep up.” When he and business partner David Hill first took over the business in August of last year, Hurrell planned on setting up, and then allowing the staff to run the operation. However, due to the runaway success of the first six months of trading, at the start of 2021, he decided to quit his full-time corporate position at a nationwide pub chain. Hurrell has a strong background in fine food. His career as a chef took him to some of the Capital’s most high-end restaurants and on private jets and yachts, and his subsequent role as head of buying at Harvey Nichols gave the charcutier retail purchasing experience. Having then moved away from fine food with his most recent position, he yearned for a return.
“I always knew I would come back to the artisan food world,” he says, “and then lockdown accelerated things.” Two years prior, he and Hill had rented a small unit in Hertfordshire and set up a mad scientist’s meat curing operation. With Hill’s engineering expertise and Hurrell’s passion for food, along with some customised and adapted fridges from Argos, the pair set about making salamis and hams “as a bit of fun”. During the first COVID lockdown, having decided to produce more and sell it locally, a coincidental discovery in August 2020 set them on their current path. “I knew John [Miller, Chiltern’s previous owner] and the business from my days as a buyer, and happened to see that it was for sale,” he says. “We gave him a call on Thursday and signed the following Monday.” Since then, the pair has moved the operation into new premises, building curing chambers, and fermentation and packing rooms themselves, while helping the business thrive and doubling the size of its range. Hurrell has a passion for traditional British flavours and local ingredients, as well as a chef’s understanding of flavour, and this can be seen in some of the latest additions. Beetroot and horseradish, Cornish seaweed and foraged nettle and wild garlic salamis are three that have proved popular. He says that at markets, people will often ask if he has any Parma Ham or prosciutto. “No,” he’ll tell them, “but we do make British charcuterie.” “With DOPs and everything, the Continent seems quite restricted, but we’ve got a license to try something new. There are so many flavours out there, and we can do what we like with them. That’s pretty cool.”
It seems recipe development never stops at Chiltern Charcuterie, and the process is a diplomatic and collaborative one. Any member of staff is welcome to pitch their ideas, “from the salespeople to the potwash”, and Hurrell and the firm’s two producers hash out the ingredients and ratios with open minds as a trio. Although not always in agreement, there is one thing that can be relied upon. “If something’s good, we do end up consuming an obscene amount,” he says, “and then we all go home with a salt hangover.” This democratic approach is how Hurrell plans to run the business. Any staff member who brings in a sales lead will get the same cut of commission, and he says: “As cheesy as it sounds, we want this to feel like a family business, and, for those who come to work here, for it to feel like a family.” He is committed to remaining artisan, too. That’s not to say that he hasn’t drawn on lessons in logistics and planning from his time in the corporate world, but, he says, Chiltern will always make things by hand, with artisan methods, and is not looking for private equitystyle investment. At the company’s new Berkhamsted home, the passion for the next chapter in the six-year-old business’s life is palpable. Hill and Hurrell enthuse about the future. There are plans to experiment with cheesemaking, turning an arm of the converted rearing shed into a creamery, and Hill even has dreams of pickling herrings, though Hurrell doesn’t share his zeal, citing the proximity of their landlord and the pungent odour of preserved fish. Chiltern Charcuterie’s Christmas lines will be ready by November, and, until a distribution deal is struck, the full range is available online. chiltern-charcuterie.co.uk
Vol.22 Issue 9 | November 2021
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