Ross Geach, Padstow, United Kingdom
Come Rain or Come Shine. The EGG gives you the ability to cook anything, anywhere.
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he tiny Cornwall town of Padstow, in the southwest corner of the United Kingdom, has about 3,000 residents. You might not think of it as a “foodie” destination given its relatively remote location and its size. But tourists regularly travel from long distances to eat in Padstow, including at the high-end Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant where Ross Geach got his start as a chef, working there for 10 years. Ross eventually gave up cooking to devote himself full-time to his family’s business growing vegetables. He is the sixth generation in his family to farm, growing vegetables, herbs and edible flowers on a bucolic four acres of land outside town.
The Geach family have lived and worked on Trerethern Farm for more than 150 years, where Ross’s grandfather first taught him how to grow vegetables. When Ross decided to open Padstow Kitchen Garden in 2007, it was only after years of learning, reading and experimenting. Today, Ross has become a rare master of his craft, with almost 14 years of growing under his belt and supplying numerous world-class restaurants (including the one in which he worked in Padstow) year-round with “spray-free” vegetables and herbs. Ross can supply fresh produce throughout the year due to his knowledge of “cheating the seasons” and the use of hoop greenhouses. One of his more unusual edibles from the hoophouse is the courgette flower. “These flowers are 24
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wonderful stuffed and fried in a tempura batter or folded through a summer risotto,” says Ross. The farm’s green tomatoes go to restaurants for green tomato chutney, cucamelons are brined and pickled for a taste of summer in colder months, a local restaurant’s pig’s head taco includes the garden’s baby radishes and padron peppers. Ross’s produce timeline, on the garden’s website, shows how seasonal salad bags are available nine months of the year; even November yields beautiful baby leeks, baby fennel, spinach mix and edible nasturtium leaves. Ross’s love for the Big Green Egg started in 2013 when he met the local Big Green Egg distributor and started using a MiniMax. Now, he’s the proud owner of several EGGs, which he uses when cooking at private parties, weddings and events at the farm, which include dinners in his hoophouses. The menu often includes not only vegetables that are currently in season, but also pork from the farm’s pedigree large black Cornish pigs, all cooked on the EGG. Every item on his pop-up Sunday brunch menu except the bread, from a local baker, comes from the farm. “It’s a true ‘full Padstow breakfast,’” says Ross. “With a Bloody Mary and a view overlooking Little Petherick Creek, there’s not a better way to enjoy sausage, bacon, chorizo beans, potato cakes and a chicken or duck egg served on Coombeshead Farm sourdough.” Ross is a great friend of the UK Big Green Egg team, serving as a guest chef at a Big Green Egg cookery course held at River Cottage, a wellknown farm and cookery in Axminster, UK. “There’s no other grill I’d rather cook on,” says Ross. “I use the EGGs daily, come rain or shine. I love how the EGG gives you the ability to cook anything, anywhere. In Cornwall, I’m never far from the beach and this is where the MiniMax is just so perfect for that impromptu barbecue.” Ross also likes the EGG for its ability to hold heat for a long time without constant fussing over it. “I wouldn’t feel confident leaving another grill cooking some meat while I’m away, but with the EGG I can set it up and head out for the day, knowing my meat will be cooked to perfection when I get back. It really is an incredible cooking tool.”
