True to his ROOTS

Chef Johnnie Collins on a love for the countryside, working at Oakley Court and a passion for sustainability

With a focus on flavour, generosity and origin of produce, Johnnie Collins is a self taught chef who embraced his love for cooking and feeding people from an early age. Today, Johnnie has created an expansive vegetable garden, both at his home and at Oakley Court Hotel’s gardens, growing fruits, vegetables and herbs organically from seed to supply his cooking. Passionate about sustainability and provenance, Johnnie splits his time between the garden and the kitchen allowing him to explore how this translates to modern day dining.

Q Was cooking a real interest in your early years growing up?

A I grew up in the countryside and we were lucky enough to have parents who put a real value not only on good food, but also on sitting and eating together. My mum is a garden designer and my dad was a wine merchant, so having lunch or dinner together with good food and wine was a big part of our upbringing.

Q What would you say was the first, big thing you learnt about cooking?

A You’ve got to go slow to go fast. If you take your time with things, even washing up as you go and clearing your counter, in the end you go faster.

Q When did cooking become a serious career consideration for you?

A I was working in business after university, but also working in restaurants to earn more and do other things, then I started doing supper clubs and pop-ups. In the end I knew where my heart lay.

Q What was your first job in the industry and how do you look back on it?

A I left university in 2007 and in 2008 after the financial crisis it was hard to get a job, so I worked in a friend’s restaurant, started at the bottom running food and then I was managing it within a year. It felt a natural thing to me.

Q What have been the highlights of your career to date?

A I’ve cooked for some amazing people and in some amazing places, but one of my favourite memories is cooking in Venice for the opening of the Biennale. We did it a few times and it just felt great to be in Italy cooking with Italian produce and a team of Italian chefs.

Q Would you say you have a particular style of cooking?

A I’d say it’s pretty fresh and light, even in winter months when I crave freshness. I like a lot of acidity, umami and texture. But in the end it’s all about origin of produce and in particular cooking things I have grown myself.

Q Is seasonal, local produce key for you?

A Yes, 100%. I grow a lot of things, in my garden, in my mum’s garden and in the gardens at Oakley Court. If you cook what you grow, it’s about as local as you can get and as seasonal as you can get.

Q Could you suggest three dishes that sum up your cooking right now?

A Right now, I’m impatiently waiting for spring and to start using things from the garden. It’s been very cold and we haven’t got much at the moment. But we are nearly there. Right now there’s great citrus from Italy and forced rhubarb from Yorkshire – I visited Tomlinson’s forced rhubarb farm in Yorkshire recently and have been using it a lot. We did a pork chop with pickled rhubarb for lunch today and it’s a beautiful combo.

Q How great is it to be working with Oakley Court?

A It’s a great setting on the river and the gardens are amazing. I’m very lucky to be able to grow the things we cook.

Q What menus can we expect there?

A I do a mix of things there. We’ll be doing some great events, some more intimate dinners on the river and some bigger things in the garden including produce sales and more, so watch this space.

Q What’s next for you?

A Spring! And all the amazing things we’ll get from the garden. We grow asparagus and I can’t wait to see them. For my recipe I’ve paired them with a beautiful whipped sesame dressing – give it a try and let me know how you find it.

Turn over the page to try out a special recipe from Johnnie. Find out more at johnniecollins.com

Seasonal gem

Johnnie Collins whips up a favourite recipe at this time of the year

Asparagus, whipped sesame

To me, there’s nothing more seasonal, and nothing that signifies the start of spring more, than the arrival of English green asparagus. Such a beautiful ingredient with a unique flavour that can be prepared so easily – simply grilled on the BBQ, dipped in melted butter or dipped into hollandaise. One thing – don’t buy them out of season, they will have travelled far and won’t taste of anything, so beware when you see them outside the spring months and check their origin.

Here I have paired them with a whipped sesame dressing. It’s a very versatile sauce and the recipe will make more than you need for the dish, you can keep it in the fridge and use it in many ways – with roasted beetroot, on a cold noodle salad or even dipped into with crudites and warm bread.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of English green asparagus, the Wye Valley produce some lovely ones

• 100g sesame seeds, toasted

• Good sesame oil

• Splash of mirin

• Splash of rice vinegar

• Splash of tamari

• Iced water

• Drizzle of maple syrup

• Sea salt

Method

Whipped sesame

1 Toast the sesame seeds in a pan, until golden but not burnt.

2 Cool and add to a good blender with a pinch of sea salt.

3 Blitz until completely broken up, you may need to stop the blender and scrape the sides a few times, it should be like a paste.

4 Add the mirin, rice vinegar, tamari, a drizzle of sesame oil and blend again.

5 Now you need to add your iced water, bit by bit. You want enough to turn this into a smooth sauce, but not too much that it gets runny. Just take your time and do it bit by bit, it won’t take long.

6 The recipe will make more than you need for the dish, you can keep it in the fridge and use it in many ways –with other vegetables like beetroot.

To Serve

1 Keep the tails on the asparagus and peel them from halfway down, keeping the tips green and exposing the white flesh below. Then cut at an angle to remove the hard lower stalk.

2 Add to boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, they should be very crunchy for me, almost raw.

3 Remove and add to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking, then drain and dress with sea salt and a dash of sesame oil.

4 To plate, add the dressing to a plate in the centre, top with toasted sesame seeds and then pile the asparagus on top facing the same direction, tips to the top. Always eat with your hands!