Gastro Magazine Winter 2016

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GASTRO T H E M A G A Z I N E F R O M T H E A WA R D W I N N I N G P U B A N D R E S TA U R A N T G R O U P

T H E M A G A Z I N E F R O M T H E A W A R D W I N N I N G P U B A N D R E S TA U R A N T G R O U P

FIZZY DYNASTY

Our sparkling exclusive chat with Champagne dame Vitalie Taittinger PAGE 73

Paris, je t'aime

Raymond Blanc’s whistle-stop tour through the city of love PAGE 78

FESTIVE FLAVOURS

TOP OF THE HOBS

Home is where the haute is in our pick of cracking kitchens

Savour some Yuletide beers over the hoppy holiday season

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SUMPTUOUS SHOOTS

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10

Why foodie photography is more than a flash in the pan

Christmas

GOURMET GIFTS

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“Meat should be a celebration...”

ISSUE 15 WINTER 2016

NEIL RANKIN

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Every carnivore’s favourite chef keeps it low and slow

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GASTRO WELCOME

What’ll it be, then?

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hy does time go so fast? I can’t believe I’m writing my piece already and talking about Christmas! The past few months have been busy; we’ve had our successful Oktoberfest, which seems to grow every year, and where the bucking bronco and virtual reality wigwam went down very well. Plus, we had some gorgeous late-summer sunshine to go with it.

Our smokehouse has done some roaring trade, and has been really popular over the summer months – hence my interest in Neil Rankin on the front cover, who loves a barbecue and has his own smokehouse in London. See more from him on page 22, and watch this space for some great plans for the garden at The Rose and Crown near Orpington next year.

Christmas will be upon us before we know it, and lots of our sites are already nearly fully booked for December 25. The Yuletide party menus are a must for your office soirée, and don’t forget to get in quick for New Year’s Eve! If you’re at home this festive season, we have some different ways to cook a turkey (the office couldn’t believe you can cook one in a pillowcase!), as well as a meal to cook on Christmas Day if you’re on a budget.

We also have the usual gourmet gifts, and don’t forget that, for those who have everything, you can always buy them one of our gift cards! Just ask at the bar, and they can add any amount you’d like to give.

If, like me, you overindulge at Christmas, we have some tips from a local nutritionist about alternative sugars. And don’t forget Burns Night in January, which is always a great evening to lift the spirits after the Christmas blues.

So, sit back in front of the fire with a large glass of wine or a pint, and enjoy our winter edition.

I almost forgot to say – if you want to earn an extra £300 on your loyalty card, send us the details of a chef you know who wants to come and work with us. If they stay here for a minimum of three months, we’ll top up your card; now, that can’t be bad…you could treat the whole family to a slap-up meal or two on us!

I’m off to the pub!

Cheers, Brian Keeley-Whiting

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ROUNDWOOD AD

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ROUNDWOOD AD

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48 09 The News Catch up on all the most recent updates and stories

22 The Chef Our exclusive chat with the master of meat, Neil Rankin

48 The Health Nutrition consultant Kate Arnold’s sugar alternatives

10 The Pubs Introducing our award winning gastro restaurants

29 The Destination Delectable fare in the Kent market town of Westerham

51 The Facts Tantalising trivia titbits to discover for Scallop Week

13 The Events Key dates to remember over the coming months

36 The Dish Try your hand at this top pick from the W&H menu

52 The Guide Useful hints and guidance to cook a Christmas turkey

14 The Food The season’s best culinary products and experiences

39 The Beers Savour the hoppy holidays with these top festive ales

56 The School Skinners’ in Tunbridge Wells brings food to the forefront

18 The Job What it’s like to live a day in the life of a baker in Sussex

43 The Photography There’s more to great food shots than a flash in the pan

61 The Courses Why South East cookery businesses are on the rise

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GASTRO CONTENTS

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The Gastro team Editor Frederick Latty flatty@markerstudy.com Publishing Design Manager Xela Ruy xruy@markerstudy.com Production Co-ordinator Lauren Chalmers-Stevens lchalmers-stevens@markerstudy.com Account Manager Anna Hawkins ahawkins@markerstudy.com Editorial Director Richard Moore rmoore@markerstudy.com Commercial Director Nick Moore nmoore@markerstudy.com

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Cover image:

Paul Winch-Furness

Contributors:

Agatha O’Neill Becky Appleton Kate Arnold Bruce McMichael Ella Walker Elizabeth Weisberg

66 The Farm Take advantage of fruit and veg at OakApple in Yalding

85 The Kitchens Five fabulous foodie spaces to create a hub of the home

70 The Markets Plenty of helpful guidelines, advice and tips from KFMA

90 The Presents Gastronomic gift ideas to delight friends and family

73 The Wine Vitalie Taittinger talks about inheriting that fizzy dynasty

93 The Walks Head out and about on a winter National Trust trail

78 The Journey Join Raymond Blanc on his epicurean excursion of Paris 82 The Recipe Here’s a thrifty way to make Yuletide go a touch further

ONE MEDIA AND CREATIVE UK LTD 16 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NU 01892 779 650 • www.one-media.co

Whiting & Hammond Gastro Magazine is owned by Whiting & Hammond Ltd and published/distributed by One Media and Creative UK Ltd. All rights reserved.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the owner or publisher. All prices are correct at the time of going to print. Neither the publisher nor the owner can accept responsibility for any errors or omissions relating to advertising or editorial. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from the publisher. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited materials or the return of these materials whilst in transit.

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HEINEKIN AD

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GASTRO NEWS

FRONT

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HOUSE

OUR ROUNDUP OF THE LATEST HAPPENINGS FROM THE WORLD OF

BLUE BALL BIRTHDAY

Wow, where has the year gone that it’s already The Blue Ball’s first birthday? Despite the weather, we had a great crowd, who all enjoyed the face painting, cocktails, barbecue and live music. Here’s to many more! www.theblueball.co.uk

FOND FAREWELL

After 10 years at Whiting & Hammond, we’re saying a sad goodbye to our executive chef, James Palmer Rosser. James has helped grow the W&H business, set up new sites and perfect their menus. He’s now taking the reins at

Kent Cookery School in Ashford, so if you fancy some expert courses or a chef’s table with some great food, head to www.kentcookeryschool.co.uk

FIT FOR A KING

Love British Food Fortnight gave us a great opportunity to do something slightly different to our usual offering at The Kings Head. Suckling pig isn’t something you’d find on our menu every day, but it’s a wonderful alternative to pork for a special occasion, and with so much in season in September, it was the perfect way to celebrate the best of British produce. The whole evening was well-received; feedback on all the food was excellent, with the pig of course taking centre stage. Well done to our team of fantastic chefs for the extra effort! www.kingsheadbesselsgreen.co.uk

GERMAN JUG

The Little Brown Jug’s Oktoberfest was our best yet.

We really put the effort into decorating the place to give it that special feel. Throughout the weekend, we had a number of different ales and ciders, all supplied

by Greene King and Larkins.

We also put a Bavarian-themed menu on, served straight from the LBJ Smokehouse, including Bratwurst, Currywurst and German pretzels!

This year, we decided to provide something a little different for our guests in the form of a virtual reality tipi – it went down a storm and was available all weekend. The Saturday included a rodeo bull, which provided a lot of fun for all; congratulations to Tom Mills for staying on the longest and winning £100 to spend with Whiting & Hammond!

We had live music on throughout the weekend, with The Violet Jive kicking things off on Friday night, along with LBJ favourites Sean Fennessey, Owen Donovan and Meg Jordan, who played in the garden on Saturday and Sunday. www.thelittlebrownjug.co.uk

To keep up to date with the latest W&H news, visit www.whitingandhammond.co.uk, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/whitingandhammond or follow us on Twitter @Whiting_Hammond

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Eat, drink and be merry at Introducing our award-winning pubs’ and restaurants’ Christmas party menus for 2016

The Chaser Inn

The Little Brown Jug

Stumble Hill, Shipbourne, Kent TN11 9PE Manager: Janet Webb | Head Chef: Daniel Curtis

Chiddingstone Causeway, Kent TN11 8JJ Manager: Duke Chidgey | Head Chef: Peter Napier-Clarke

Starter Lightly spiced butternut squash and carrot soup Carrot crisps and baker’s bread Main Traditional Vine Cross Farm roast turkey Sage and onion stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, roast gravy, bread sauce Dessert Traditional Christmas pudding Brandy sauce and brandy butter

Starter: Smoked salmon and prawn roulade Dill, caper and celeriac remoulade, horseradish crème fraîche, brown bread and butter Main: Confit pork belly Mustard mash, Savoy cabbage, apple cider sauce Dessert: Salted caramel and chocolate fondant Vanilla ice cream

Available from Friday November 25 to Saturday December 24

Available from Tuesday November 29 to Saturday December 24

01732 810 360 www.thechaser.co.uk bookings@thechaser.co.uk www.facebook.com/TheChaserInn @thechaserinn

The Mark Cross Inn

01892 870 318 www.thelittlebrownjug.co.uk enquiries@thelittlebrownjug.co.uk www.facebook.com/littlebrown.jug.52 @LittleBrownJug1

The Cricketers Inn

Mark Cross, East Sussex TN6 3NP Manager: Amy Glenie | Head Chef: Chris Attwood

Wrotham Road, Meopham, Kent DA13 0QA Manager: Joel Dos Santos | Head Chef: TBC

Starter Ham hock and chicken terrine Homemade pickles, baby leaves, mini sourdough Main Poached natural smoked haddock New potatoes, spinach, poached egg, Parmesan Dessert Brioche French toast Caramelised fresh figs, cinnamon cream

Starter Chicken and duck liver parfait Red onion chutney, brioche loaf Main Sweet potato and spinach pithivier Blue cheese sauce Dessert Chocolate and chestnut cake Clotted cream

Available from Tuesday November 29 to Saturday December 24

Available from Friday November 25 to Saturday December 24

01892 852 423 www.themarkcross.co.uk enquiries@themarkcross.co.uk www.facebook.com/TheMarkCross @TheMarkCross

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01474 812 163 www.thecricketersinn.co.uk enquiries@thecricketersinn.co.uk www.facebook.com/cricketers.inn @Cricketers_Inn

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GASTRO PUBS

The Farm @ Friday Street

The Kings Head

15 Friday Street, Langney, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 8AP Manager: Paul Worman | Head Chef: Matt Paske

Westerham Road, Bessels Green, Kent TN13 2QA Manager: Jamie Owens | Head Chef: Adam Barritt

Starter Smoked mackerel Scotch egg Beetroot purée, wild rocket horseradish salad Main Classic beef stew Creamed mashed potatoes with herb dumplings Dessert Toffee apple crumble Vanilla custard

Starter Home-smoked duck breast Celeriac and apple remoulade, crispy leeks Main Braised oxtail faggot Caramelised shallot, Parmesan mashed potato, apple crisp Dessert Pear and almond frangipane tart Vanilla ice cream

Available from Tuesday November 29 to Saturday December 24

Available from Tuesday November 29 to Saturday December 24

01323 766 049 www.farmfridaystreet.com enquiries@farmfridaystreet.com www.facebook.com/farm.fridaystreet @farmfridayst

The Blue Ball

01732 452 081 www.kingsheadbesselsgreen.co.uk enquiries@kingsheadbesselsgreen.co.uk www.facebook.com/kingsheadbg @Kings_Head_BG

The Rose & Crown

Deans Lane, Walton-on-the-Hill, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 7UE Manager: TBC | Head Chef: Steve Ednie

Farnborough Way, Green Street Green, Farnborough, Kent BR6 6BT Manager: Lee Scott | Head Chef: David Matthias

Starter Baked goat’s cheese with a hazelnut crumb Balsamic onions, dressed rocket Main Pumpkin, spinach and stilton puff pastry Wellington Sautéed baby potatoes, balsamic and tomato sauce Dessert Hazelnut and praline chocolate torte Baileys Chantilly cream

Starter Goat’s cheese cheesecake Sticky red onion jam, oak crumble Main ‘Savoury crumble and custard’ Squash, courgette and sage, pumpkin seeds and at crumble topping, beetroot custard Dessert Praline, chocolate and banana mousse Chocolate soil, salted caramel popcorn, clotted cream ice cream

Available from Friday November 25 to Saturday December 24 01737 819 003 www.theblueball.co.uk enquiries@theblueball.co.uk www.facebook.com/TheBlueBallTadworth @TheBlueBall_

Available from Friday November 25 to Saturday December 24 01689 869 029 www.the-roseandcrown.co.uk enquiries@the-roseandcrown.co.uk www.facebook.com/BR6roseandcrown @therosecrown_

To view full menus and find out about booking, pricing and availability, visit or contact your nearest W&H site, or head to www.whitingandhammond.co.uk/christmas for more information.

Don’t forget to like us at www.facebook.com/whitingandhammond or follow us on Twitter @Whiting_Hammond

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GASTRO EVENTS

Events

by

THE ROSE & CROWN Green Street Green, Farnborough

THE BLUE BALL Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey

THE KINGS HEAD Bessels Green, Kent

THE CRICKETERS INN Meopham, Kent

THE FARM @ FRIDAY STREET Eastbourne, East Sussex

THE MARK CROSS INN Mark Cross, East Sussex

THE LITTLE BROWN JUG Chiddingstone Causeway, Kent

THE CHASER INN Shipbourne, Kent

EVENTd

RESTAURANTd

All the dates you’ll need on your W&H calendar

BRITISH SAUSAGE WEEK 31st October - 6th November PHEASANT WEEK 14th - 20th November CHRISTMAS PARTIES 1st December - 24th December CHRISTMAS DAY 25th December NEW YEAR’S EVE 31st December SOUP MONTH 1st - 31st January BREAKFAST WEEK 24th - 30th January BURNS NIGHT 25th January

For more information on how to book any of our events, check with your local venue or visit www.whitingandhammond.co.uk You can also keep up to date with what’s happening by liking us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/whitingandhammond or by following us on Twitter @Whiting_Hammond

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GASTRO GRUB

Thought FOOD FOR

FIVE OF THE BEST CULINARY PRODUCTS, EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES TO LOOK FORWARD TO OVER THE COMING MONTHS

The Course Enjoy a hands-on cookery course near Oxted and Sevenoaks at Quince House, in the village of Limpsfield Chart in Surrey.

Founded in 2008 and owned and run by Katharine Eldridge, the school offers group demonstrations (maximum of 12), classes for up to four, and one-on-one tuition at your convenience. From Easy Entertaining and Family Meals, to One Pot Wonders and Fine Dining, Katharine demonstrates a number of topical dishes, including upcoming highlights like Festive Entertaining on November 22, and Christmas Made Easy on December 7. Prices start at £55 per person and can be booked online at www.quincehousecookery.co.uk

The Tour Join English Wine Tasting Tours for a day trip from London, packed full of wine and gourmet delights. With a small group of fellow wine lovers, you’ll savour a wealth of vintages from a variety of award-winning wineries, finding out how they’re made and why they taste so good. Each expedition comprises return travel from London, a vineyard visit and samples of English wines and ciders, as well as a pub lunch and discount on all wines purchased on the day. Priced at £89 per person, this is a great day out for everyone. www.englishwinetastingtours. co.uk

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CLIVE SAWYER

Rye Bay Scallop Week is back from Saturday February 18 to Sunday February 26 2017.

Now in its 15th year, the annual celebration provides a fantastic opportunity to indulge in all sorts of seafood delights. The town’s restaurants will be showcasing an array of different scallop favourites, and there will also be a whole host of events, covering tastings, cookery schools, demonstrations, live music and more. Watch this space for plenty of standout occasions to look out for, and don’t forget to book your restaurant table throughout the festivities, or call before you arrive to avoid disappointment. www.scallop.org.uk

EMMA BETTERIDGE

The Festival

The Book

OLIVER CAMPION

Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc’s legendary Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons hotel and restaurant is brought vividly to life in this collection of 120 seasonal recipes. The Story of a Modern Classic is Blanc’s very own personal tour of the iconic Oxfordshire venue. Its famous dishes range from those that can be recreated at home, such as soupe au pistou and soufflé de rhubarb, to the sensational creations that have earned the place its status as one of the world’s most celebrated gastronomic destinations, counting thème sur la tomate and cassolette d’abricot. Available now in hardback, priced £50, from www.waterstones.com

SOUTH OF ENGLAND SHOWGROUND

The Fair Following a hugely successful launch last year, the South of England Event Centre is expanding its magical Winter Fair, which returns to the South of England Showground on Saturday December 3 and Sunday December 4. Here, you can pick up seasonal sausages, pork and hams, and choose from a heap of superb cheeses to make up the perfect cheeseboard, with delicious chutneys on the side, all washed down with wonderful wines, beers and spirits. Society members and under-16s go free, adults for £5, and senior citizens and students for £4. Save 10% when you pre-book online at www.seas.org.uk

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GASTRO BAKER

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A...

Baker With a wholesale bakery overlooking Bodiam Castle and new shop on Ticehurst High Street, the award-winning Lighthouse Bakery and School is co-owned by Elizabeth Weisberg, who works around the clock to get her wares ready for the day ahead.

Here, she talks us through an average night shift...

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GASTRO BAKERS

So, Liz, tell us about your day…

11pm

I start most days at 11pm, when I come in and turn everything on – all of the ovens go on, the radio goes on, and the mixer’s turned on. I start on my own, and we end up with about five people by the morning, but for a blissful couple of hours, I’m by myself.

I begin by mixing various doughs. We’re primarily a bread bakery, so we make about 28 varieties of different breads, but also do things like croissants, which are made in the daytime and baked at night. Because we work in an old-fashioned way, where we let things sit and develop flavour through fermentation, these doughs get put into tubs or boxes to develop interesting tastes and strengths, all of which make for a better finished loaf in the end.

At the same time, I start to bake off the croissants, pain au chocolats and other morning goods, which have been made the day before. They sit in a cold fridge space, before coming out to prove and grow in a warmer atmosphere, and are then baked in the night, along with things like cheese straws, American-style cookies and scones. All of these are made the day before, held in the cold, and then baked in the night for sale the following day.

While that’s happening, I’m also putting more doughs in the prover and feeding our sourdough starters. This entails feeding them with flour and water to encourage more new wild yeast activity, which is also done at night. Then, after about an hour to an hour and a half, I start to process the first dough that I mixed, scaling it into various sizes. I go through the whole dough, scale it, mould it, put it in tins and stick it in the prover, then proceed with continuing to mix other doughs.

We don’t do a huge amount of tinned loaves, but I do those first, because we have very limited oven space, and need different oven settings and temperatures for the tins. If I can clear those early, we then have more space to do other things in the oven later on, so I do our granary-style country malts first, followed by our English whites, such as farmhouse loaves, sandwich loaves, bloomers and cottage loaves.

2am

By this time, our dough maker has come in to take over the mixing, whose more or less exclusive job is to mix dough. I can then carry on doing other little bits and start to process another dough; this is normally one of the sourdoughs, which has been sitting and fermenting now for a couple of hours.

We also make 15 or so bagels a day, so at some point around this time, they get boiled and immediately baked. Meanwhile, as soon as the croissants, cheese straws, scones and things have proved appropriately, they go into the oven at about this time as well, maybe between 2am and 3am.

3am

At 3am, two of the other bakers come in to take over the processing of all the doughs. My co-owner Rachel also comes in to make all of the sausage rolls and savoury tarts, which get baked off immediately in the early hours of the morning.

By now, a lot of the stuff that I put into the prover is ready to go into the oven, so I then go on to oven work for most of the rest of the night. The aim is to get everything cool and into vans by 7am to 7.30am, so that it can all go off to various places.

Some days that’s easy, and some days it’s a bit of a struggle!

Lighthouse Bakery Ockham, Dagg Lane, Ewhurst Green, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5RD 01580 831 271 www.lighthousebakery.co.uk liz@lighthousebakery.co.uk

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Neil Rankin

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL WINCH-FURNESS

He may have found his calling late in life, but chef Neil Rankin is showing no signs of slowing – except when it comes to turning the oven down. Frederick Latty chats exclusively to the master of meat about his new restaurant, ‘nose to tail’ eating, and how to make the most of those prime cuts

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GASTRO NEIL RANKIN

W

ith Low and Slow, Neil Rankin has redefined the way we look at, think about and cook our meat. Published by Ebury Press, the chef’s debut cookbook is far more than just your average collection of recipes.

While there are plenty of mouth-watering dishes to choose from (over 100), it’s also, as the subtitle suggests, a definitive guide on ‘how to cook meat’, rather than ‘what meat to cook’.

“It’s very much the way I’ve been cooking meat for quite a while,” says Neil. “What I wanted to do was a bit more of an instructional book on how to cook certain cuts. It’s not necessarily recipes, but more the reasons why we do things, and cooking not necessarily for convenience, but cooking perfectly.”

Spanning the best part of 300 pages, the hefty tome helps the more carnivorous cook perfect steaks, roasts and barbecue by way of Neil’s ultimate party trick: turning the temperature down, cooking slowly and getting the best results without stress. It might be more time-consuming, but the results are well worth the wait, accompanied by a selection of salads and sides to complete each meal.

“I wanted it to be very much for home cooks, so it’s for everybody, but a lot of the recipes will take quite a while – it’s not a convenience thing,” Neil continues. “It’s come from cooking in so many meat restaurants over the years. I don’t really see that restaurants and homes are that different; we use different equipment, but the same ideas and timings are there, and we’re doing the same thing.”

Of course, this isn’t Neil’s first foray into mastering meat in the kitchen; far from it, in fact, even if he did come into the game a little later than most. Born in Edinburgh, he later studied physics at Salford University, before working as a sound engineer and opening up a chain of sandwich bars. But things only got serious when, at the age of 29, he retrained as a chef at a Cordon Bleu culinary school.

Since then, he’s had a hand in numerous culinary ventures across London with critical acclaim. He opened Barbecoa,

behind St Paul’s Cathedral, with Jamie Oliver and barbecue and grilling expert Andrew Perry Lang; was head chef of Pitt Cue Co in Devonshire Square; and launched John Salt in Islington as a fusion barbecue restaurant.

In addition, he spearheaded Smokehouse, also in Islington, in 2013 – the only barbecue joint in the UK to boast two AA rosettes and be featured in the Good Food Guide – pioneered Bad Egg Diner in Moorgate in 2014, and orchestrated a second Smokehouse in Chiswick in 2015. He’s certainly come a long way, becoming one of the capital’s most exciting, prolific and innovative restaurateurs.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and had an opportunity for a career change, so just decided to take it,” he explains. “Andrew Perry Lang really got me into barbecue, taught me a lot and took me under his wing. I’ve picked up a lot from other chefs, but the way I cook is taken from him.

He’s been a really big inspiration.”

Covered in tattoos and invariably sporting his trademark baseball cap, Neil takes something of a guerrilla approach to his profession. He doesn’t even have a website – just a Twitter and Instagram account, with the handle @frontlinechef – and is also part of the London Union movement, which transforms the city’s underused, derelict corners by turning them into vibrant street food markets.

“It’s been a learning curve of trying new food,” he reveals.

“Doing Pitt Cue initially was just trying to get out of the whole American barbecue thing and start doing something a bit different. That elevated at John Salt, where I had free rein to do whatever I wanted. Smokehouse was a pub menu that changed a little bit, but in general I don’t tend to have a style – I just pinch stuff from everywhere!”

For his equally fruitful media career, Neil has cooked on BBC Two’s Great British Menu and been a guest chef on ITV’s This Morning, as well as writing for The Guardian’s ‘Word of Mouth’ blog. But it’s at the stove in his restaurants where he feels truly at home, making the most of the best meat he can get his hands on

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GASTRO NEIL RANKIN tradition that continues to unite people. Indeed, just as a Sunday to create new, interesting flavours that customers may not roast is still his favourite feast to cook (“You can take your time have tried before. with that sort of thing”), so too do flame-grilled delicacies hold a “Male goats tend to get killed anyway, so it’s good to have special place in his heart for the communal spirit they inspire. some sort of use for them, as they’re really nice meat,” he insists.

“I like cooking on fire more than just cooking meat – it could “They’re now getting bred to be eaten, which means they taste be anything,” he confesses. “I just think cooking over fire is really great. My new restaurant will mainly use lamb, pork and the original way we cooked. There’s something primal and beef, as there are so many different breeds, but goat’s one of my comforting about it, and it’s the favourite meats, and is also very thing that helped us develop small, so it’s quite quick to cook.” into human beings; we’ve been Speaking of which, Neil’s next doing it for 1.5million years, so eatery, Temper, will open its we’re all drawn to it. doors in Soho in November. Here, “When somebody’s got a fire patrons will be served succulent I eat vegetables most of the week or a barbecue going, people cuts cooked right before their eyes, at home, and don’t actually eat that huddle around it. I like that but perhaps even more excitingly, much meat. I just think it should be about food – it shouldn’t be the new venue will showcase ‘nose stiff or stuffy, and it shouldn’t to tail’ eating for devout carnivores, a celebration like it used to be, and be something you’re forced to where animals are barbecued whole that we should take a bit more care do; it should be something that to reduce wastage – a move that’s about cooking it brings people together. I much raised no shortage of eyebrows. prefer roasts and sharing stuff to “Vegans see the ‘whole animal’ thing sitting down with some intricate as barbaric, whereas I’m seeing it from a completely different angle,” counters Neil. “If I’m buying meat plate of food. There’s a time and a place for that, but in general, I don’t eat that way.” for a restaurant where we’re doing short ribs, we’d have to buy 50 As for the future, Neil looks to the younger chefs of tomorrow or 60 portions. There are only two short ribs on a cow, so in order to as the most influential, and appreciates his customers’ newfound supply one restaurant, we’d utilise meat from 25 different cows. knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the heritage and “That kind of thing has stuck in my throat a little bit for a while, quality of meat. And although his top tip remains the same (“Just as there’s certainly a lot of food that doesn’t get used, which is turn your oven down and take your time over it – there’s no why, if I buy a cow, I do the butchery myself and sell it like that. rush”), everything else, it seems, is always open to interpretation.

We haven’t opened yet, so time will tell how well it works out, but “The misconception about home cooking is that restaurants in theory it should be a more sustainable way of cooking.” have all the time in the world, and home cooks don’t, but it’s Ironically, Neil’s view and general outlook on meat is one that’s the complete opposite as far as I’m concerned,” he concludes. peppered with its fair share of scepticism. He champions the “I don’t take stuff for granted, wellbeing and ethical treatment of livestock, not only as a point and always like to stop and of principle, but also in terms of taste, flavour and quality. And question things a little bit. I’m whereas he reveres British beef as being ‘the best in the world’, he just inquisitive, and probably firmly believes that it can sometimes be too much of a good thing. mistrusting as well!”

“I eat vegetables most of the week at home, and don’t actually eat that much meat,” he admits. “We’ve gone on the wrong path Low and Slow by Neil with meat, because it’s become so ingrained in everything we eat, Rankin is out now, priced which is why we need to breed so much of it, and why the quality £25, from Ebury Press. of it goes down. I just think it should be a celebration like it used Read on to make one of to be, and that we should take a bit more care about cooking it.” the book’s mouth-watering For Neil, cooking is only part of the story, however; just as recipes at home… important is the social element of barbecuing, a ritual and

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GASTRO RECIPE

Goat belly beans

SERVES 6-10

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

• 1 goat belly

• Set the oven to 160°C. Season the belly, place it in an open casserole or roasting tray, then roast for 30 minutes until browned. Turn down the oven to 120°C, add the stock and water, and leave to braise in the oven overnight, or for eight hours

• 1 litre chicken stock • 1 litre water • 4 x 400g tins Heinz baked beans • Vegetable oil, for frying • 3 garlic cloves, sliced • 1 onion, sliced • 2 tsp garam masala • 1 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp ground ancho chillies • 200ml Madeira • 300ml tomato passata • 2 sprigs thyme • 2 bay leaves (break the leaves to release more flavour) • 50ml sherry vinegar • Maldon salt and pepper

• Lift the belly out of the pot. While still warm, break up the meat without shredding it, discarding any bones. Drizzle over some of the braising stock to keep the meat moist.

Leave to cool. Cover and keep in the fridge until needed.

Keep the rest of the stock in the fridge too • When ready to use, drain the beans of their tomato sauce.

Heat a little oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and roast until lightly browned. Add the onion and sweat until soft. Stir in the spices and cook out for five minutes • Deglaze with the Madeira, then add the goat stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until reduced and thick. Stir in the passata, drained beans, herbs and picked goat meat • Pour into a suitable container (uncovered) and place in a smoker at 120°C. Cook for 40 to 60 minutes, adding water if the liquid dries out too much. Season with the sherry vinegar and salt and pepper

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GASTRO SPOTLIGHT

The whet of

Westerham

You never have to go far in Westerham to discover the plethora of food and drink attractions on its doorstep. Town Partnership director Jane Hunter tells us more about what to expect from a visit, and how the place is shaping up to become an epicurean attraction and destination in its own right PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL CURTIS

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estled in the valley of the ancient River Darent, five miles west of Sevenoaks and bordering Bromley and the Tandridge District, the charming market town of Westerham enjoys some of Kent’s finest countryside, attracting a vibrant mix of residents, visitors and traders. For gourmets, the area abounds with a wealth of cafés, pubs and restaurants, which have helped put it on the map as a gastronomic hotspot.

“Westerham has a diversity to suit all tastes and palates,” says Jane Hunter, director at Westerham Town Partnership, the Community Interest

Company that was formed in May 2010, following the completion of a Kent Rural Towns-inspired ‘Health Check Report’. “There’s food ranging from cafés, through pubs, to fine dining. We don’t have a Japanese, but that’s pretty much the only thing we haven’t got!”

In addition to more than 20 eateries to choose from covering a multitude of cuisines, the region also boasts its own twice-monthly farmers’ market on Sundays, where the produce is kept as local as possible. From 9am to 12.30pm, shoppers are given the opportunity to sample delicious breads, cheeses, preserves and more, which are largely sourced directly from the Garden of England.

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GASTRO SPOTLIGHT

2004, with an eclectic line-up If you’re after a hot drink or of ales that includes Finchcocks quick bite to eat, the Westerham Original, Grasshopper, Summer Cyclery purveys a wide range We’re developing the town as a visitor Perle and Spirit of Kent. As for of cakes for hungry cyclists, experience, and the restaurants are a Squerryes, the award-winning, while Venetian coffee house core part of that. We want to encourage 35-acre vineyard was planted Deli di Luca serves lunches people to come and experience the in 2006 on the south-facing and patisserie. Elsewhere, escarpment of the North Rendezvous is reflective of an whole offering that we have, because Downs, and creates sparkling authentic brasserie at its best, Westerham has something for everyone Kent vintages expressive of the providing a vibrant yet relaxed estate’s ‘terroir’. atmosphere, or why not treat “We try to keep it all locally yourself to ‘much more than a produced,” explains Jane. to find anywhere else. It’s very much a coffee’ at The Courtyard?

“There are no chain restaurants here; community, so people feel welcomed Heartier meals are readily available they’re all independent or family-run, when they come here.” at Italians Da Peppino, The Comodore which the locals try and support, and The coming months are set to be an Restaurant and Napoli é, as well as there’s a lot of help and interaction exciting time for wine and beer Indians Tulsi and Shampan at the in our community that goes on in our drinkers with the upcoming arrival of Spinning Wheel. And with traditional restaurants. Westerham is regarded Westerham Brewery, which is English fare on offer in tea rooms Tudor as a destination for food, but it’s more relocating from Edenbridge to the Rose and Food for Thought, alongside than just that.” same site as Squerryes Court winery. pubs The George & Dragon, General Wolfe To give something back to its patrons, The two producers are hoping to and Grasshopper on the Green, there’s an longstanding Chinese restaurant Chow’s establish tasting rooms for visitors to assortment of cuisines to suit all tastes. hosts an annual dinner for old-age sample their regional tipples this spring.

“Our restaurants and cafés are open pensioners, as does Westerham Club, a No17 Westerham Wine Bar, meanwhile, much longer than other places, so you can small, friendly members’ club that ‘sells will showcase a taste of Spanish tapas come to Westerham for breakfast, which the cheapest drinks in town’. and cocktails from November. most of the places serve,” Jane continues.

Plus, St Mary’s Church’s yearly As regular Gastro readers will recall, “It’s quite a cosmopolitan, café-style Christmas tree festival sees tourists flock Westerham Brewery was established in culture in Westerham, which is hard

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Squerryes Court

to see over 100 trees, all of which are supplied by members of the public.

“It’s more than just a meal when you go to Westerham; it’s letting people know what’s in our community,” Jane insists.

“We try to interact with the Kent tourism industry as much as we can, but we’re a very different culture to Sevenoaks, with plenty of other things to do. People come here not only to eat, but also to shop, walk, cycle and visit, so it’s an experience rather than just a meal.”

Speaking of which, Westerham’s links with the National Trust have helped no end in drawing diners from far and wide.

Along with Chartwell, the family home and garden of Sir Winston Churchill, the landscape also lays claim to Quebec House, the childhood home of General James Wolfe, victor of the Battle of Quebec in 1759. Together, these two famous landmarks continue to pull in the punters.

“We’ve worked closely with the National Trust,” reveals Jane. “This year, we’ve set up a waymarked trail from the green to Chartwell, so you can’t get lost. It’s cross-country through the woods and everything is within walking distance, so people can come here to enjoy a meal,

then do a bluebell walk, or stroll up to Chartwell and back.

“We also attract families who like to come and sit on the green, so again, it’s that café culture that makes Westerham stand out. There’s a lot going on, making it an experience rather just going to a restaurant and eating.”

With plans to collaborate further with Chartwell on developing a marketing strategy going forward, Jane and the rest of the partnership have big ideas for Westerham’s future. The new winery and brewery will certainly add another dimension to its foodie fabric, but we can only hope that this will just be the tip of the iceberg for the delectable Kent destination.

“I’d like to see Westerham develop as an attraction, not just a meal, and we’re getting there,” Jane concludes.

“We’re developing the town as a visitor experience, and the restaurants are a core part of that. We want to encourage people to come and experience the whole offering that we have, because Westerham has something for everyone.” www.visitwesterham.org.uk

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GASTRO SPOTLIGHT

Wondersof

Westerham We take a closer look at five of the town’s unmissable attractions

Westerham Brewery

Established in 2004 by Robert Wicks, Westerham Brewery brought brewing back to the historic town. Producing exceptional craft beer for the local market, it supports the initiative to reduce food miles, reviving many of the much-loved flavours of the old Black Eagle Brewery, which closed in 1965. www.westerhambrewery.co.uk

Squerryes Court

This winery, estate and family home produces sparkling wines from the Kent countryside. Its 35-acre vineyard was planted in 2006, and has since created two award-winning vintages.

Through rock, soil and microclimate, the philosophy behind the winemaking

process is to express the ‘terroir’ as clearly as possible. www.squerryes.co.uk

Chartwell

As the much-loved Churchill family home from 1922, Chartwell was where Sir Winston drew inspiration until the end of his life. The rooms remain much as they were, with pictures, books and personal mementos evoking the career and interests of a great statesman, writer, painter and family man. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell

Quebec House

Explore the fascinating childhood home of General James Wolfe. Discover the dramatic battle that won America for

the British, and learn of Wolfe’s tragic death. Travel back in time to see the house as it appeared in the 1730s, and fall asleep on the replica 18-century bed. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ quebec-house

Westerham Farmers’ Market

The Westerham Town Partnership organises the Sunday morning farmers’ market to promote high-quality, locally produced food and drink. The market offers freshly baked bread, seasonal fresh vegetables, salad and fruit, game, smoked meats, delicatessen, fish, cheese, pickles, honey and jams, and plants, herbs and vegetable seedlings. www.kfma.org.uk/Westerham

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DANDARA AD

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DANDARA AD

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GASTRO RECIPE

My Favourite Dish Here’s where we feature our team’s top choices from the W&H menu for you to try at home. This time we hear from Duke Chidgey, general manager at The Little Brown Jug in Chiddingstone Causeway, who shares a deliciously smoky recipe to recreate from the comfort of your own kitchen

‘House of Lords’ pork ribs Double-glazed with ‘House of Lords’ sticky sauce, and served with chunky chips, corn on the cob, coleslaw and onion rings SERVES 2 Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2½ hours

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GASTRO RECIPE

Ingredients 2 racks baby back ribs (8-10 ribs per rack) Brine for smoking ½ cup apple cider vinegar 2 cups water 1 tbsp salt 1 tbsp pepper Barbecue rub ½ cup sugar Pinch of salt 3 tbsp paprika 2 tbsp chilli 1 tbsp granulated garlic ½ tbsp onion powder 1 tsp cumin

1 tsp mustard powder ¾ tsp cayenne pepper ½ tsp cracked black pepper Braising if cooking in the oven Enough pork stock or water to cover the ribs 2 bay leaves 1 tbsp granulated garlic Half a red onion, chopped Barbecue sauce 330ml ketchup 165ml brown sauce ¼ pint apple juice ¼ cup brown sugar 1½ tbsp maple syrup

Directions • The night before, mix all the ingredients together for the brine, place all over the ribs and leave overnight • Remove the ribs, coat in the ingredients for the barbecue rub and smoke for six hours, or cook for four hours at 160˚C in the oven (we use applewood in the smoker for added flavour) • If you don’t have a smoker and are going to braise, place the ribs in a deep tray and cover with the stock or water (making sure to cover the ribs), bay leaves, garlic and red onion for flavour. Double foil the tray to keep the ribs from drying out • Place all the ingredients for the barbecue sauce in a pan and place on a low heat until the sauce is thickened • Place the ribs on a tray with the barbecue sauce and braise slowly for a further 2½ hours To serve We like to serve ours with all the extras – chunky chips, corn on the cob, coleslaw and onion rings.

When we initially opened our smokehouse, this was one of the first dishes we put on, and is still one of my favourites. We’re the only Whiting & Hammond pub to have a smokehouse, so we put it to good use.

The ‘House of Lords’ ribs isn’t a fancy dish – just tasty, melt-in-the-mouth and messy to eat! It’s still the most popular dish in our smokehouse selection today, and hearty and good to eat all year round

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GASTRO ALE TALE

Ale

Hearty The colder months have officially arrived, so why not sample some deeper beers on your next trip to the pub? To help get you started, here are some suggestions from a selection of top Kent and Sussex breweries. Read on to discover our prime pint picks that will be sure to get you into the festive spirit...

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t’s that time of year when the days are getting shorter, the nights are drawing in and the fires are starting to roar in public houses across the South East. So, what better way to make the most of those cosy winter evenings than by enjoying a warming pint of your favourite local and regional ales, stouts and porters?

Indeed, crisp, refreshing lagers and pilsners might be popular throughout summer, but now’s when the darker, richer, more flavoursome brews come into their own. And with great tipples come great breweries, of which there’s certainly no shortage on our doorstep.

From Kent hop houses like Whitstable, Old Dairy and Musket, to Sussex brewers such as Long Man, Dark Star and Arundel, you can’t beat this part of the world for complex, characterful assortments of award-winning, critically-acclaimed beers.

Whether you’re in the mood for a ‘dessert in a glass’, or fancy a slightly lighter, weaker session option, you’ll be well and truly spoiled for choice when making your selection at the bar. For an idea of what to look forward to, we’ve rounded up some seasonal pints that will have you smacking your lips and ordering another round this Christmas…

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GASTRO ALE TALE

1862 Premium Bitter (4.8% ABV)

Hurst Brewery Hassocks, West Sussex 1862 is a strong, extra special bitter – a full-flavoured, yet smooth, dark ale with spicy, nutty characteristics and hints of dark fruits. www.hurstbrewery.co.uk

Christmas Ale (6.5% ABV)

Firebird Brewing Company Rudgwick, West Sussex A great big beer packed with rich, malty flavour, striking bitterness and a huge warmth. Made with all-English malts and hops, and just the perfect Christmas pint. www.firebirdbrewing.co.uk

Christmas Spirit (4.7% ABV)

Whitstable Brewery Maidstone, Kent Even the meanest Scrooge will find their Christmas Spirit after a glass of Whitstable Brewery’s Yuletide tipple! Crystal malt gives this ruby ale a warmth and depth of flavour perfectly suited to the festive season, while an all-English

hop blend, led by the powerful Admiral and celebrated East Kent Goldings varieties, rounds off the beer with spices, marmalade and a balanced bitterness. When you see its crimson-tinged amber colour and smell its wonderful aroma, you’ll be reminded of nothing so much as roaring fires, ruddy cheeks and plenty of festive cheer! www.whitstablebrewery.co.uk

Crème Brûlée (5.9% ABV)

Dark Star Brewing Company Partridge Green, West Sussex A dessert in a glass!

This beer is brewed using non-fermenting lactose sugar, vanilla beans and plenty of roasted malts to provide a sweet, smooth caramel drinking experience. www.darkstarbrewing.co.uk

Pilgrim (3.7% ABV)

Bedlam Brewery Albourne, West Sussex This limited edition black ale sources its ingredients from the brewery’s back garden. Named its ‘Harvest Ale’, it uses hops grown with care and attention, making the brew light and sessionable. www.bedlambrewery.co.uk

Inn Keeper (4.8% ABV)

Long Man Brewery Litlington, East Sussex A fruity winter ale with a deep red hue and delicious warming flavours from a blend of six speciality malts, which combine with festive fruit aromas and balanced bitterness to finish. www.longmanbrewery.com

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GASTRO ALE TALE

Powder Burn (5% ABV)

Musket Brewery Maidstone, Kent A Kentish porter that’s dark and mysterious, yet explodes with flavour. Evokes the ancient earthy and sweet aromas of times gone by! Brewed between October and February only. www.musketbrewery.co.uk

Red Nose (5% ABV)

Arundel Brewery Arundel, West Sussex A festive, amber-coloured beer with a rich, fruity aroma from the Aurora hops and grated orange zest. Subtle citrus flavours and hoppy bitterness come through in the finish. www.arundelbrewery.co.uk

Stout #45 (4.5% ABV)

360° Brewing Company Sheffield Park, East Sussex Brewed with five different malts, including Flaked Oats, to create a smooth, dark stout, with a chocolate sweetness, balanced with the generous use of Fuggles hops. www.360degreebrewing.com

Snow Top (6% ABV)

Old Dairy Brewery Tenterden, Kent The perfect ‘winter warmer’ for those long, cold nights, Snow Top is brewed with rich, dark English Maris Otter, Crystal and Black malts,

producing a deeply satisfying ale with delicious fruitcake and marmalade flavours, topped off with spicy notes from English Challenger, East Kent Golding and Bramling Cross hops. www.olddairybrewery.com

Winter Reserve (5.2% ABV)

Ascot Ales Camberley, Surrey This is a perfect winter warmer that’s lightly spiced with aromas of cinnamon and ginger. It’s red in colour and the palate is full, with a pleasant spicing coming through. Very smooth and drinkable. www.ascot-ales.co.uk

Mistletoe and Swine (5.2% ABV)

Hogs Back Brewery Tongham, Surrey A full-bodied, deep amber ale with subtle hints of sultana, peppery ginger, warm cinnamon and orange zest. Made with a mulling recipe for a real Christmas taste and feel. www.hogsback.co.uk

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GASTRO PHOTOGRAPHY

The days of mashed potato for ice cream and engine oil for syrup have long gone...

No recipe or cookbook would be complete without an unforgettable photograph to illustrate it. Andrew Perris, head photographer at Photography Firm in Lewes, tells us what it takes to make the most of a foodie shoot, and explains why sumptuous snapshots are more than just a flash in the pan PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW PERRIS

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hey say a picture’s worth a thousand words. It’s an idiom that most definitely rings true when it comes to food photography, as mouth-watering gourmet shots are more prevalent today than ever before. As far as Andrew Perris, head photographer at Photography Firm in Lewes, is concerned, the process of capturing those perfect foodie photos is nothing short of an organic art form in its own right.

“For me, a perfect food shot is one that looks effortless,” he says. “Sometimes that might take hours to achieve, while other times it might be a grab shot that you weren’t expecting to be special. It’s art, after all, so there are no hard and fast rules! I like to maintain a relaxed approach

sound obvious, but it’s very true. My wife and I go to bed and talk about what we’re going to make for breakfast, then we’ll eat our breakfast talking about what we’re going to cook for dinner. We get excited by new restaurants, beautiful ingredients and even kitchenware, so it’s easier for me to capture that excitement in my images, which is what it’s all about.”

to every shoot, and let things happen as naturally as possible.”

With over 25 years’ experience, Andrew specialises in high-end interiors, product and commercial photography, and founded Photography Firm in 2009 with wife and studio manager Helen. As well as clothing, architecture, interiors and accessories, the business shoots a wealth of food and drink content, for which no shortage of culinary passion and technical prowess is required.

“You’ve got to love food and all things associated,” continues Andrew. “It might

Today, Andrew directs a team of photographers at the firm and oversees all shoots, while also managing training offered to clients who wish to carry out their own in-house photography.

From fully styled advertising food and drink shoots, to packaging imagery and point of sale material, food is one of his favourite specialisms, and an area he always enjoys working in.

“Pre-shoot prep is key to allowing you to be relaxed on the day,” he explains.

“We’ll always research recipes in advance,

and come up with a well-balanced shot list.

We’ll have a plan in place for the props, ingredients and final style of shots that we want to achieve. Being organised and having a clear structure to the order of the day actually allows more time to have fun with the set and styling.”

Indeed, there’s a big difference between being a great food photographer and a

Exposure to good food photography is a positive on the whole. People are certainly becoming more visually literate

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great food stylist. The latter requires not only a keen eye for detail, but also an artistic and creative vision for how a gastronomic set-up should look.

Making dishes photogenic is no easy task, so it’s essential for people like Andrew to come to every job armed with an array of techniques to ensure meals look their best.

“On a more practical level and love of food aside, I have to be able to produce top-quality results, day in and day out, so a good measure of technical knowledge is essential,” he insists. “My background is varied and includes some very specialist studio and lifestyle shoots, in hugely varied locations and conditions. Food photography isn’t just about one or the other – I find I’m constantly calling on all my different experiences.”

Of course, media and the internet have been instrumental in making food

photography as popular as it is today, opening up rich, vibrant and exciting possibilities. From social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, to beautifully illustrated cookbooks from celebrity chefs, budding cooks have never had it easier when visualising how the final result of a recipe should look.

“It’s not really that long ago that cookbooks didn’t have any photographs in them,” Andrew reflects. “I think today that any recipe, whether in a blog, article or cookbook, that’s not accompanied by some

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pretty stunning photography just wouldn’t get looked at. Social media has had a huge impact too, with food images being up there in the top shares. Just do a search on Instagram to see the fantastic levels of amateur food photography out there – it keeps me on my toes!”

What’s more, it’s levelled out the playing field for amateur and professional photographers alike, who have equal opportunities to showcase their work, be it as a fulltime career, or a part-time hobby. Contrarily, there’s an argument to be made that a culture of hashtags, filters and selfies has depreciated the craft’s value, but Andrew continues to remain optimistic about its accessibility.

“Exposure to good food photography is a positive on the whole,” he considers.

“People are certainly becoming more visually literate. Has it hindered food photography? I don’t think so, but it does mean you have to be pretty damn good and constantly evolving, but that’s a good thing.

“Kids are doing a lot more cooking these days, which is fantastic, and they certainly need a good photo to be inspired by.

Gone are the days when recipes were so precise and the photos alongside them so unattainable that it actually discouraged people from trying recipes, or they needed to set aside a whole day. It’s nothing now to look up a pretty appealing recipe and have it on your plate in minutes, ready to be photographed on your 20-megapixel phone camera, and then enjoyed.”

So, what are some of the most photogenic foods to shoot? According to Andrew, anything freshly prepared is a joy to work with, such as fruits and vegetables, as are colourful spices and condiments.

Casseroles and stews can be trickier to get right, but for any food photography, styling, props and lighting are all key elements to have in place before clicking the shutter.

“The ability to source food all year round is a major advantage,” says Andrew.

“Technology is evolving, but isn’t key to producing good results, though of course it can make getting those results easier.

The quality of phone cameras has probably had a bigger impact.

Picture Perfect Andrew offers 10 top tips for becoming an expert food photographer • Don’t get bogged down with the need for kit – entry-level DSLRs are pretty good these days

“Exposure to food photography is massive; it’s everywhere you look and is almost up there with fashion. One of the nicest progressions is the demand for natural looking food rather than heavily perfected dishes. Thankfully, the days of mashed potato for ice cream and engine oil for syrup have long gone!”

Trends have certainly developed over the years. To reflect the changing tastes of what snappers and snackers look for, there’s been a call for shots that are more stripped back and laid bare, but Andrew suspects things could just as easily go in a rustic, earthy direction. Whatever the future holds, food and photography continue to walk hand in hand.

“Food photography has a great future,” Andrew concludes. “The shift is definitely, and has been for a while, towards healthy eating, accessible recipes, frugal reuse of food and organic. There are so many directions that the rise of food and photography will continue to keep food at its stardom level.” www.photographyfirm.co.uk

• Get a longer lens – something like a 105mm macro if you can. Don’t overlook your standard 50mm lens, though; these are mass-produced and offer great value and nice wide apertures • Get a decent tripod – a must if working with daylight • Take inspiration from others – find shots you like and try and mimic the lighting, but not the content • Practise – find your own style, don’t copy • Use the freshest ingredients • Don’t labour shots that aren’t working – move on and try something different • Get critiqued – there are plenty of places, from forums to other pros • Start simple – don’t be overly ambitious. One of the first things I ever photographed at college was an egg.

Try it; it will soon give you an idea of how different types of light work • Get out and photograph things that aren’t food – people, products and landscapes. You’ll pick up valuable styles and techniques that you would never have thought relevant

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Nutrition Insight

Sugar is sugar …is sugar Many of us may be tempted to binge on comfort food and indulge in sugary snacks as the weather gets colder – but for those with a sweet tooth, it’s advisable to proceed with caution, even when it comes to alternatives.

Nutrition consultant Kate Arnold tells us why we should exercise restraint

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ith so much marketing, hype and excitement around new fads, it’s really difficult to know if something’s healthy or not. The rise of health ‘gurus’ selling gorgeous cookery books using sugar alternatives makes it very easy to kid ourselves that we’re being super healthy, when perhaps we’re not. Here’s a quick run-through of sugars and where they come from.

Sugar – let’s break it down Glucose – from carbohydrates Fructose – from fruits, honey, agave and high fructose corn syrup Dextrose – usually produced commercially, then added to food to sweeten it Sucrose – white table sugar, produced from the sugarcane plant and other sources Maltose – found in germinating grain, corn syrup, molasses and malted beverages

Are sugar alternatives good for us?

Claiming something is sugar-free doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Essentially, sugar is sugar…is sugar. Any form of natural sugar, no matter what it is, i.e. raw sugar, maple syrup, honey, date purée, agave syrup or fruit, will impact on our blood sugar levels. There will be a release of insulin on ingestion of all these sugars.

So, no matter how natural and wonderful you think they are, your body will respond in a very similar way. All sugar, no matter what, should, in my book, be used in strict moderation.

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GASTRO FOOD

Maple syrup

Popular sugar alternatives Agave syrup This comes from the same plant from which we get tequila. However, what we buy in the supermarkets isn’t quite the same. It has usually been highly processed and contains a high fructose content. When agave became fashionable a couple of years ago, one of its selling points was its low GI content.

However, we now know that excess fructose goes to the liver to be processed and, long-term, is far worse for us than glucose, potentially increasing our triglycerides and cholesterol. I think this should be avoided at all costs.

Stevia This is extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant, grown in Peru. The products we buy can vary enormously, from whole leaf powders, to highly processed white sugar. It might be useful for diabetics, but a little goes a long way. The active ingredients in stevia make it sweeter than sugar, which I take issue with, although it has a negligible effect on blood sugar. I’d also give this a miss.

Fruit purées This is essentially using fruit instead of sugar i.e. a mashed ripe banana, a few dates or stewed apple, for example.

There’s really no downside, especially if cooking for children, as you’re fundamentally eating real food. It’s just a question of how much you eat. Dates and bananas are fairly high GI foods, but this is marginally better than other sugars.

Basically, a purée is stewed fruit, or a fruit mashed to a pulp. A better option.

This is the concentrated sap of the Canadian maple tree. It’s generally lower in calories and fructose than honey, and has a lower GI rating, but is lower in vitamins. Maple flavoured syrup isn’t real maple syrup and is to be avoided.

The sugar is primarily sucrose with some fructose and glucose. The classic meal with this is, of course, the American breakfast of pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. Most of the maple syrup in the US has added high fructose corn syrup. Many of the new cooks who have sprung up in the last few years are using maple syrup as a sugar substitute due to its low GI rating, however I’m firmly of the opinion that it won’t stop you yearning for more sweetness.

Honey Raw honey has more nutrition and health benefits than more highly processed products. Honey is a natural sweetener and has moderate nutritional benefit, providing vitamins such as B6 and C. Some types of honey, such as Manuka or those that aren’t pasteurised, have additional antibacterial/antifungal benefits if used raw. Many people find that eating a local honey around hay fever season can reduce their symptoms.

However, just because honey’s natural, doesn’t mean you can use it without consequence – it’s still a sugar and raises blood sugar levels.

So, in conclusion, natural sweeteners like agave are really no better than table sugar for you. Fruit purées are probably the best natural sweetener if you’re trying to use an alternative, otherwise don’t kid yourself; if you’re going to use one of these alternatives thinking you’re doing yourself some good, to be really honest, you might as well use table sugar.

Kate Arnold, BA (Hons) Dip ION PG Cert MBANT, is a nutrition consultant practising in East Sussex.

She specialises in gastrointestinal and fatigue disorders. To find out more, call 01323 310 532/01323 737 814, email katenut@aol.com or visit www.katearnoldnutrition.co.uk

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Foodie

GASTRO TRIVIA

FACTSHEET

Saturday February 18 to Sunday February 26 2017 is Rye Bay Scallop Week, and to celebrate, we’ve rounded up 10 fascinating facts about the delicious seafood favourite. Read on to find out more about this succulent shellfish, and discover some of its little-known secrets and trivia gems

The scallop is a mollusc and the only bivalve that can swim.

Scallops are fully mature at around three years old.

Like the oyster, the scallop is an excellent source of protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B12.

There are more than 300 species of scallop in the world.

The orange roe in a scallop is called ‘coral’.

You can tell the age of a scallop by its shell – one ring forms each year.

The scallop isn’t considered an aphrodisiac in the same way as an oyster. However, Botticelli’s famous painting of Venus rising from a scallop shell is an example of the symbol being used in fertility imagery.

Scallops can be traced back 300million years in fossil form.

The scallop shell contains both the female and the male gonad, as well as a gill, foot, mouth, digestive gland, eye spot, tentacle, mantle and hinge ligament.

Most spawning occurs from April to September, and most growth occurs between April and June.

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GASTRO GUIDE

THE

GASTRO GUIDE TO

Christmas TURKEY Who’d have thought there were so many different ways to cook a turkey?

From braising and brining to stuffing and spatchcocking, our expert team of W&H chefs have come up with some of their preferred, most creative methods. Here’s how to make the most of the favourite festive fowl

Overnight roast turkey in a pillowcase The night before serving, wash and clean your turkey, making sure it’s completely thawed out.

Heat the oven to 260˚C, and have a cheesecloth ready that’s large enough to wrap around the bird, or an old white pillowcase. Melt enough butter to coat the cheesecloth or pillowcase, then place the wrapped turkey in the oven.

Add one cup of hot water to the bottom, cover with lid or foil, place in the oven and roast for one hour (don’t open the oven any time after placing the turkey in to cook). When one hour is up, turn off the oven, and the turkey will be done the next morning.

If desired, brown the turkey more by turning the oven on at 190 ˚C before serving. The turkey will be very moist and tender.

Propped on a beer can You have to see this one to believe it.

It involves steam-infusing your bird with beer (and, optionally, herbs) by shoving a partially full can of beer into the cavity and using it as a stand.

It’s brilliant, obviously, and any way to combine beer and food is a worthy endeavour in our book!

The turkey is cooked on a large grill using indirect heat, with the beer can stand ensuring mostly uniform cooking.

The evaporating beer keeps the interior moist, and the herbs add flavour.

In a sense, this method is like the perfect combination of grilling and smoking: you’re using an indirect heat source, but at much higher temperatures than a smoker (usually around 180˚C).

Brine the turkey A turkey soaked in a saltwater solution absorbs both the salt and the water, so it’s moister to begin with, as well as seasoned on the inside. You can flavour a brine as well.

Deep-fried Deep-fried turkey is a southern American tradition, and many foodies cling to it as the most delicious (and deliciously unhealthy) way to prepare

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GASTRO GUIDE a turkey. Aside from the oily, greasy, artery-clogging goodness, it’s also extremely quick.

You’ll want to use an outdoor cooker of some sort (seriously, don’t deep-fry a turkey indoors). Most recipes call for peanut oil, but vegetable oil will work just as well – be careful not to burn yourself. When you’re ready to fry, the actual cooking time is less than an hour!

Stuffed with other birds The legendary ‘turducken’ in all its overstuffed glory. This dish is a deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck, which in turn is stuffed with a small deboned chicken.

Microwave method Cooking a whole, stuffed turkey in the microwave isn’t recommended. Fullsize microwaves (650 to 700 watts) can

usually accommodate a small turkey (eight to 10 pounds), turkey breast or boneless turkey roll. Make sure the turkey is fully thawed, as microwave thawing followed by microwave cooking creates uneven cooking.

A whole turkey takes approximately seven to nine minutes per pound at 50% power, rotating the dish every 15 minutes. Consider using an oven bag to ensure even cooking.

A turkey roll or boneless turkey breast can be cooked using the microwave probe.

Braised Braised turkey does the most to ensure moisture is retained in the meat – a crucial quality that so many recipes fail to address, given the natural dryness of turkey.

Roast the turkey upside down at first Placing the turkey, breast side down, on a V-rack for the first hour or so of roasting essentially allows it to baste itself. Any marks left by the rack will disappear once you flip the turkey over and finish roasting it.

Spatchcocked If you’re in a rush, spatchcocking is the way to go. There are a lot of challenges when it comes to cooking turkey; uneven cooking temperatures and overly dry meat are the biggest among them.

Spatchcocking solves both of these problems, as long as you do it correctly.

Roast two small turkeys rather than one large one. Smaller turkeys roast more evenly than large ones, so for feeding a crowd, two small turkeys is a better option.

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GASTRO EDUCATION

WORKING UP A

head of steam

Ordinarily, eating in the classroom is a definitive no-no, but as part of its original STEAM programme, The Skinners’ School in Tunbridge Wells has built gastronomic insight into the curriculum. Here’s how the institution enhances its overall academia through food and drink

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t The Skinners’ School in Tunbridge Wells, students are actively encouraged to explore the fascinating world of food and drink through a variety of projects, classes and topics. Since September 2012, food technology has been embedded in its innovative STEAM programme (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), which begins at Key Stage 3 to develop creativity.

Using mathematical and scientific knowledge as a basis, this curriculum builds, with Year 7 focusing on skill development, and Year 8 on design thinking, while Year 9 is given the chance to create original products. D&T and ICT are key elements of the course, and pupils are able to grow their abilities in one area, while drawing on their talents from another.

Overseeing the food tech side of things is Rebekah Spencer, who works

extracurricular activities, read on to explore the various ways in which gourmet greatness can be achieved…

closely with the schoolboys to hone their culinary practices and understanding.

Whether she’s teaching in the classroom, or embarking on an enlightening outing to a local talk, seminar or demonstration, there are no limits to the possibilities that await aspiring chefs and budding cooks.

We catch up with Rebekah to find out more about how the school facilitates food in lessons, and hear about why this emphasis is a crucial part of any young person’s overall scholastic experience.

From academic accreditations to

So, Rebekah, how do you address food and drink in your curriculum?

We cover food as part of our STEAM programme, beginning with a two-term unit of study in Year 8, covering kitchen safety and hygiene, knife skills, food groups and nutrition, healthy eating, Middle Eastern foods, food preservation and sustainability, and a pizza project, which explores the science of bread making and creative food product design.

Talk us through some of the most popular topics, and to what extent you encourage activities further outside the classroom The boys particularly enjoy pastry making and the healthy pizza project,

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GASTRO EDUCATION

to create a healthy meal in 90 minutes from a selection of supplied basic ingredients.

and the food rotation in Year 8 STEAM always proves to be popular. Around this time of year, students aged 11 to 16 are encouraged to enter the Kent Young Chef competition, run by Produced in Kent. Since first entering in 2012, Skinners’ boys have been represented in every final cook-off, and we’ve been successful in providing a winner for three of those four finals.

In Year 9 product development, all students design, make, package and create advertising for an original biscuit. Several of our current GCSE product design students have chosen to design and make products that include food as a material. We’ve also taken Year 8 students to Temper Temper in Southborough for chocolate workshops, and have been involved with local FairTrade seminars in Tunbridge Wells.

In what ways are these classes complemented by healthy eating in the canteen, as well as an active lifestyle through sport and physical education?

During Healthy Eating Week each year, we combine forces with the school caterers, the PE department and student groups to encourage healthy food choices and stage some special events. Last year, this included a healthy smoothie bar and a house cooking competition

Are there opportunities available to students who wish to pursue a career in food and drink professionally going forward?

While Skinners’ doesn’t offer a structured path to a career in food within the school, we encourage the boys to establish connections within the food industry. Our success in the Kent Young Chef competition has given students the opportunity to meet leading food professionals and foster links with some of the country’s most successful chefs. Two of our students have planned the menu and managed their own charity dinner at a leading Kent restaurant as part of their prizes in the competition.

What are your hopes for the future, and how important is it that students leave school with a well-rounded knowledge and experience of food and drink in preparation for later life?

We feel that an appreciation of good-quality seasonal food and an ability to prepare nutritious and great-tasting meals is an important part of every young person’s education. Skinners’ early headmasters and school governors would probably be stunned to see the current students of 2016 enthusiastically making Tabbouleh and Danish pastries in lessons!

The Skinners’ School, St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9PG 01892 520 732 www.skinners-school.co.uk enquiries@skinners-school.org.uk

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GASTRO COOKERY

The key is that everyone brings a

bigg smile big appetite and a

There’s a wealth of cookery schools located across Kent, Sussex and Surrey, where you can be sure to find a course to get your creative juices flowing. David Gillott of Four Gables Food Academy spills the beans on why this fruitful flurry is causing such a foodie frenzy throughout the South East

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GASTRO COOKERY

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hether you’re a budding home cook or an aspiring professional chef, cookery schools are a great place to start your gastronomic journey. Educational, fun and sociable in equal measure, these culinary courses are readily available and hugely popular all over the South East, where trained and experienced teachers await to show anyone with a thirst for gourmet knowledge the ropes.

“Food in general has become hugely and impart as much knowledge as we can, popular over the last 10 years and is very are kept small and intimate to ensure a as well as just making recipes.” personalised day out, where one-on-one in-vogue,” says David Gillott, director of Perhaps most importantly, a love of fun interaction helps participants hone their Four Gables Food Academy in Ashtead, and creativity is paramount, as patrons are skills in a conducive atmosphere.

Surrey. “I hear quite often that people encouraged to try new things, regardless “We always wanted to keep the course are keen to spend their disposable of their overall skill level. David and his sizes quite small, so we purposefully only incomes on things that teach them team take their clients’ feedback seriously, take up to six people, which gives us the something. Cooking is quite a good however, tweaking and adapting thing to learn if you don’t know recipes and ideas to make things much about it, because you even more immersive going do it most days, and it’s also forward, while taking advantage quite sociable.” of the latest industry tastes and Anything we can do to inspire For David, who set his sights trends in the process. on becoming a chef from the anyone to do a bit more cooking “We change the course recipes age of 13, opening his own is definitely a good thing. every two months, so that they stay business was a natural career nice and seasonal, but also give progression. Having cheffed That’s what it’s all about, and us the opportunity to encompass in some of London’s top the more of that type of story new things,” explains David. “We restaurants – starting at the do anything we like, hear about or Michelin-starred 1 Lombard we can create, the better want to do. People are interested Street, where he completed his in applying lots of different spices apprenticeship – he moved to to their dishes, so we’ve got a bit of the French Alps to work in the a focus on that at the moment.

Courcheval ski resort, before Lots of people have also requested opportunity to do lots of different things,” launching Four Gables in 2012. learning to cook different types of foods David continues. “We tend to make Along with fellow chefs Adam Blanchard from different continents, which is probably between six and nine recipes, but and Kieran Farquhar, David offers ‘fun, because they’re much better travelled and at the same time, there’s a real focus relaxed and cheffy’ classes for up to more open than they were before.” on knife skills and various different six people. Topics range from Fusion, Seasonality is indeed crucial. With a kinds of cheffy techniques. We’re all BBQ and Indian, to Sweet Treats, Tapas view to being 25% self-sufficient, Four Michelin-trained chefs here, so we try and Flavours of the Med, but groups Gables keeps its own chickens and fruit orchard, grows its own vegetables, and rears its own pigs and lambs for meat.

All of this is put to good use in cyclical courses throughout the year, which are tailored specifically to what produce is at its best, be it game in autumn and winter, or veggies in spring.

The school’s demographic is a wide cross-section of age ranges across the

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Here’s how to recreate one of Four Gables’ recipes at home...

board, with a split of 60% men and 40% women. David credits London’s influence of top restaurants and epicurean events for the surrounding Home Counties’ infatuation with food and drink; as for his own job satisfaction, he’s more than happy to be dealing directly with people in a more hands-on, interactive environment.

“One reason we love it is because it’s very customer-facing, whereas, in a restaurant, you’re stuck cooking behind a wall,” he reveals. “Everyone in the team really likes working with people, so it’s a nice way of us doing something similar and imparting our knowledge, but directly to people who want to know about it.

“We definitely don’t take ourselves too seriously, and there’s no Gordon Ramsay-style shouting or swearing.

It’s got to be fun as much as anything else, and the key thing, whether it’s me taking one of the courses, or one of the other chefs, is that we want people to leave on first-name terms and look forward to coming back.”

If David’s levels of infectious enthusiasm are anything to go by,

they most certainly will, as he and his talented brigade continue to make cooking easily accessible and enjoyable for all who wish to learn. And with the amount of cookery schools only growing in our part of the world, business is positively booming not only for Four Gables, but for chefs in their shoes around the region.

“Anything we can do to inspire anyone to do a bit more cooking is definitely a good thing,” he concludes.

“We have people who come back on different courses over a period of time, and it’s really lovely to hear that they’ve been inspired further to do a bit more than they were doing previously.

“Our job satisfaction is that person who emails a couple of weeks later saying that they’ve tweaked one of our recipes a little bit, putting their own spin on it and making it one of their signature dishes. That’s what it’s all about, and the more of that type of story we can create, the better. The absolute key for us is that everyone brings a big smile and a big appetite.” www.fourgablesfoodacademy.com

Thai coconut and vegetable broth Serves 12 Intermediate Takes 25 minutes Ingredients 1½ tbsp Thai curry paste 1 tsp vegetable oil 1 litre vegetable stock 400ml can half-fat coconut milk 2 tsp brown sugar 175g medium egg noodles 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks ½ x 300g bag beansprouts 6 cherry tomatoes, halved Juice of 1 lime 3 spring onions, halved, then finely sliced lengthways Handful of coriander, roughly chopped Directions • Place the curry paste in a large saucepan or wok with the oil and fry for one minute until fragrant. Tip in the vegetable stock, coconut milk and brown sugar and simmer for three minutes • Add the noodles and carrots and simmer for four to six minutes until all are tender, then mix in the beansprouts and tomatoes. Add the lime juice to taste and some extra seasoning if you like. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with spring onions and coriander Chef’s tip Many curry pastes contain dried shrimp and fish sauce, so read the labels carefully if you want to make this a vegetarian dish. If you’re cooking this for meat-eaters, try adding shredded leftover roast chicken.

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The Constant

Gardeners

Owned by market gardening husband and wife team Gary Curd and Lorraine Morris, OakApple Farm in Yalding has been growing quality fruit and veg for three generations. Gary talks about some of their most popular bestsellers, and why it’s so important for consumers to support local farmers’ markets PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CURD

What kinds of things do you produce?

We grow seasonal fruit and veg, but fruit mainly. Strawberries are probably one of our bigger crops, as well as cherries, apples and pears. We also manage to do things like carrots, potatoes and onions all year round, so it’s always fresh. We’ve always done cut flowers too, and have a lot of different types.

So, Gary, what do you do at OakApple Farm?

We’re market gardeners of fruits, vegetables and cut flowers in Yalding in the Weald of Kent. My wife Lorraine and I farm about 25 acres and sell all of our produce at farmers’ markets. We’re now in the third generation, so we feel like we’re carrying on a bit of a tradition.

Would you say Yalding’s a conducive location for growing?

It’s good for fruit, but tough-going for vegetables. It’s very heavy clay we’re on, so you can get good flavours that people like, but there are a few funny shapes and sizes!

Which farmers’ markets do you work with locally?

Yalding is our local farmers’ market, so we know lots of people and have been going since day one there, as well as Shipbourne. A lot of the customers have become good friends over the years, and have been loyal for about 15 years now.

Shipbourne’s the biggest, so we get a lot of regular people there too.

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GASTRO PRODUCERS

about everywhere, so everything comes from all over the place. But there’s good stuff on your doorstep – it takes a bit of effort to get out and go to a market or a farm shop, but you get better flavours and a bit more of a community, and get to meet the producer.

Why do you think customers keep coming back for your fruit and veg?

They like to see the face that’s growing it. You can talk a bit about it, and a lot of people are interested in local provenance and reducing their carbon footprint.

We’ve made a lot of friends over the years, who stick with us and often bring their problems to us. We’re a bit of a shoulder to cry on at times, as well as a provider of fruit and veg!

Is it important that they keep on supporting smaller businesses like yours?

The world’s gone down the road of big supermarkets and delivery vans flying

Talk us through an average market day…

On the day of a farmers’ market, we’re up at 4am, especially when we have to pick the produce the day before and put it in the cold store, because it’s too hot to leave it out. It takes an hour or so to load up for the market, so generally we arrive there at about 6.30am, and it then takes an hour or so to set up. Most markets are over by about 1pm, so we can then get back to water everything. When we’re not at the market, we’re picking and planting.

How crucial is it that your produce is as fresh as possible for sale?

It makes a big difference. There are times when we cut things like lettuce on

the morning of a market, then within a couple of hours, people are buying it.

That’s the mainstay of our business and what people expect, so as long as the markets carry on, we will.

Any hopes for the future going forward?

An idea we’re trying to make plans for is ‘farm to fork’, where people come along and try the food on the farm where it’s grown. The way we’re doing strawberries now is on what are called ‘table-top’ systems. They’re not in the ground, so we’re not breaking our backs, which makes it a little bit easier. I think that’s the way forward for us – to make life a little bit easier.

OakApple Farm’s stall can be found at Shipbourne, Yalding, Wrotham, Knockholt and Westerham Farmers’ Markets.

To find out more, call Gary on 01892 730 293 or 07753 245 891, email lorraine_morris@live.co.uk or visit www.kfma.org.uk/OakAppleFarm

Gary Curd and Lorraine Morris

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GASTRO ADVERTORIAL

Whatever happened to the

long lunch?

Nick Gabay, corporate partner at Thomson Snell & Passmore in Tunbridge Wells, laments the loss of the leisurely afternoon meal, and reflects on why taking time out of work can lead to happier colleagues, clients and employees. Read on for his thoughts on bringing back this long-lost tradition

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hen I was asked to write an article for Gastro magazine on behalf of Thomson Snell & Passmore, it was suggested that I should highlight how our most excellent legal services are incredibly valuable to clients in the food and drink sector.

That would have been a really fascinating article. Honestly.

We act for some amazing food and drink clients and would love to act for more. But I’m not going to write about Thomson Snell & Passmore, or even the law at all. Instead, I’m going to write about a more interesting subject: lunch. Specifically, a long lunch.

Remember those? Back in the good ol’ days, when you could venture out for lunch with work colleagues or clients on a Friday afternoon, muttering under your breath to your secretary as you left that you might not be back that afternoon?

And then putting the world to rights with said colleagues or clients over a nice long and unhurried lunch, until the inevitable telephone call home asking to be picked up from the station, because it’s probably not a good idea to get in a car?

Whatever happened to those days?

2008 happened. Not only did the banking crisis and ensuing credit crunch wipe millions off peoples’ savings and lead to mass redundancies and financial hardships, but it also blooming well ruined the long lunch.

Before 2008, we would all work extremely hard all week, way above and beyond the call of duty. And very occasionally, we would reward ourselves by escaping the hamster wheel for an afternoon in a pub or restaurant. There was absolutely no guilt or recriminations; we deserved it.

But the credit crunch exposed a vulnerability that was always there, but simmered just out of sight. So, we’ve become less inclined to justify time out of the office because we work so darn hard. Instead, we now consider an afternoon out of the office as squandering the chance to work even harder.

Stop it! The long lunch is not an afternoon wasted (apologies, no pun intended), nor a slacker’s afternoon off. It’s a genuine opportunity to add to your working day, not detract from it.

Just think of the goodwill and rapport built by spending a long lunch with work colleagues or clients. The fee-charging clock isn’t running, the conversation is (hopefully) not workrelated, the stressed-out batteries are recharged, and people become humanised again, instead of working robots.

Lawyers and other professionals need to elevate themselves above being just service providers, and turn themselves into trusted advisors and team players. And that can only be achieved by spending quality time with clients and building enduring relationships.

To conclude, the freedom to have a long lunch increases productivity, fuels motivation and generates a feel-good factor that cannot be underestimated.

Fancy meeting for lunch?

3 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NX 01892 510 000 www.ts-p.co.uk

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GASTRO MARKETS

From farm

to feast

Farmers’ markets help reconnect us with our unique local environment, its farming communities and seasonal food. Food writer Bruce McMichael samples some delicacies that will brighten any winter’s day this season

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n Kent alone, more than 1,000 farmers’ markets are held every year in over 50 locations, with about half that number across both Surrey and Sussex. They offer great opportunities to meet producers and understand the effort and dedication required to grow, rear and make local food and drink.

Seasons change As we move into late autumn and early winter months, it’s time for apples and pears to take pride of place in our fruit bowls. Grown in orchards throughout Kent and Sussex, you can buy apples such as the honey-scented Cox and the nutty, sweet tasting Egremont Russet apples, which share space with the buttery textured Comice pear, and the William, a fruit whose flavour might remind you of ‘pear drops’, the ever-popular boiled sweets of childhood.

Game makes a dramatic appearance at this time of year, with the earthy, robust flavours of pheasant, wild boar or venison, enhanced by the flavours of deep reds, vibrant yellows and oranges of seasonal vegetables, such as red cabbage, squash and pumpkins.

Colourful wild boar pâté and sausages sit alongside lean cuts of venison haunch steak, plucked pheasants, wild duck, pigeon and rabbit.

Your Christmas table Although the traditional turkey is still the overall favourite, on today’s Christmas table, guests may be served goose or even bream. Menus are becoming

more varied and adventurous, while maintaining a sense of family, festivity and indulgence.

Pack a few carrier bags and take your Christmas shopping list to the market, to choose from a colourful display of chestnuts, celeriac, parsnips and Brussels sprouts from the veg stall; goose, pheasant, partridge, venison and wild duck from the game stall; and oysters, mussels and sea bass from the fish stall.

The butchers’ stall will have tasty extras, such as sausage meat, chipolata sausages and bacon for the trimmings. You’ll also find specialist stalls selling chicken liver pâté, charcuterie or locally smoked salmon to serve as a starter, while the cheese stalls sell traditional Christmas truckles, as well as their local cheeses, varying from medium-hard sheep’s cheese, to a cow’s-milk, robust tasting cheddar, or continental-type soft, creamy Kentish blue cheese to top off your seasonal culinary celebrations.

To find a farmers’ market near you and times of opening, go to the Kent Farmers’ Market Association website at www.kfma.org.uk Bruce McMichael is a food writer and the manager of the Tunbridge Wells (Town Hall) Farmers’ Market, which is held on the second and fourth Saturday of the month. He blogs at www.thelemongrove.net Read on for a delicious seasonal recipe from author, food writer and editor Mary Gwynn…

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GASTRO MARKETS

This is a wonderfully hearty and satisfying pasta dish, perfect for a Bonfire Night celebration.

Make up double the amount and freeze half for an easy meal over Christmas

Pappardelle with venison sausage, chestnuts and cranberry Serves 4 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Ingredients 200g fresh chestnuts 2 tbsp olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 1 carrot, diced 1 stick celery, diced 5 or 6 (about 450g) venison sausages, thickly sliced 150ml chicken or game stock 150ml red wine 2 fresh bay leaves 1 tbsp tomato purée 2 tbsp cranberry sauce Salt and freshly ground black pepper 250g good-quality pappardelle pasta • Peel the chestnuts. Pierce each one

with a skewer, then give them a blast in the microwave on high for a minute.

The skins should then peel away – if they don’t, just microwave again in bursts of 30 seconds. Do five at a time

• Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and fry the onion, carrot and celery together for three to four minutes until softened. Add the sliced sausages and brown over a high heat • Stir in the stock, wine, bay leaves, chestnuts, tomato puree, cranberry sauce and seasoning and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the liquid reduced. While the sauce is cooking, cook the pappardelle for two minutes in a large pan of boiling water until just tender. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano, or a local hard cheese like Lord of the Hundreds

The WI Cookbook: The First 100 Years (Ebury) and Back in Time for Dinner (Bantam Press) are available now from good bookshops. Visit Mary’s blog at www.trufflehound.wordpress.com or www.twinseverest.wordpress.com

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GASTRO WINE

“Champagne values…”

HAS TO REMAIN TRUE TO ITS

As the heiress to the world-famous Champagne, Vitalie Taittinger is part of the latest generation of this fizzy dynasty. In an exclusive interview, she reveals what it’s like to be the custodian of such a treasured and leading wine producer, and why she’s excited about what lies ahead for her industry

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There’s room for everyone in the sparkling wine market, and it’s positive for sparkling wine as a whole that so many countries are making and drinking this wonderful stuff

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Vitalie Taittinger

t’s never easy to let go of something you love – especially when that something is a legacy of one of the world’s most iconic Champagne houses. But that’s exactly what the Taittinger family did in 2005, when it sold its famous brand of sparkling wine to US private investment firm, Starwood Capital Group, along with its hotel subsidiary, Société du Louvre.

It was a move that sent shockwaves through the sector, raising concerns that short-term profit would undermine the

overall quality of the Taittinger name, which had previously been family-owned and run since 1932. In 2006, however, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger’s succession of his uncle Claude as president paved the way for a new chapter, beginning with the label’s repurchase.

Since then, Pierre-Emmanuel has surrounded himself with his own new branch of the family, who have helped revive the business and bring it further into the 21st century. Along with his son and head of exports Clovis, this includes his daughter and artistic director Vitalie, who is tasked with developing and reinforcing Taittinger’s image in the fields of visual identity and design globally.

“It’s an honour and something the whole family – my father and brother too – all

hold precious,” she says of inheriting the prestigious birth right. “Our name and signature is on every bottle; it’s a great responsibility to uphold the family legacy of a dedication to quality, and respect all the values they’ve built over time, while taking it to the next stage in its history.

“The role is so varied. I meet so many interesting and wonderful people through my position at Taittinger, and I feel very privileged. I learn about many different countries and cultures, and how we can work with each of them. Every day is unique and special.”

Indeed, as well as spreading the word on a world stage, Vitalie is also its face in France and abroad, appearing in ads and marketing campaigns aplenty. With a degree from the Emile Cohl School of

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GASTRO WINE

Château de la Marquetterie

Design in Lyon, where she perfected her technique in illustration, painting and drawing, she has witnessed her father’s enterprise go from strength to strength in the past decade.

“Over the last 10 years since my father headed Taittinger, I’ve seen us grow in many ways,” she explains. “We’re now sold in over 150 countries – maybe a third more than before – and I’ve seen us increase our many animations, not only in the way we present our wines through packaging and gifting, but also through many prestigious associations throughout the world.”

Examples of these exclusive partnerships include BAFTA in the UK and the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards in the US, to say nothing of the Nobel Peace Prize, Montreux Jazz Festival and Opéra National de Paris.

It’s no wonder such equally well-known institutions are still keen to associate themselves, as the current range is stronger than ever – particularly when paired with battered cod, apparently.

“The Brut Reserve, our signature cuvée, goes from strength to strength,” continues Vitalie. “It’s the benchmark for Taittinger and is perfect as an aperitif on its own, or with delicate canapés.

My favourite match for this wine is with your traditional fish and chips – a great combination. In France, we tend to match it to small, salty biscuits, or light-as-air cheese gougeres, but I love the British match very much.”

Today, Taittinger’s 288-hectare vineyard in Reims spans 34 different crus, among the best in the Champagne region.

Divided into 37% Chardonnay, 48% Pinot Noir, and 15% Pinot Meunier, it marvellously reflects the wines’ unique styles, in which Chardonnay plays a paramount role by contributing elegance and freshness. Which doesn’t make it any easier to decide on a favourite, however.

“Ah, they’re like my children; there is no favourite – I love them all!” Vitalie insists. “But maybe I like different wines at different times: in the summer with my girlfriends, maybe the Prestige Rosé, and then maybe Prélude before dinner, the Brut Reserve at any time, and our rare and unique Comtes de Champagne for special celebrations. I’m spoiled for choice.”

Not a bad position to be in, but of course, one would expect nothing less from the variety produced in Champagne. Made up of five parcels of land, the vineyard unites the company’s history and heritage, while Saint Nicaise Abbey remains its seat in Reims. In addition, the Residence of the Counts of Champagne has been restored to host receptions, exhibits and concerts, and Château de la Marquetterie has played host to some of the most illustrious figures in Champagne’s history.

“Champagne is controlled by many strict laws, and the name is protected,” reveals Vitalie. “We have the ideal soils and climate for growing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, which are the only grapes used to make Champagne. And we have centuries of winemaking tradition, which gives us an unprecedented wealth of experience and knowledge. All of this combines to help us make world-class bubbles. We’re very lucky.”

But luck is only part of the Taittinger story.

As the wine trade becomes increasingly competitive, Vitalie has had to stay ahead of the game, innovating and diversifying how she promotes and showcases her family’s output, while respecting and upholding what’s come before. But as far as she’s concerned, more major players can only be a good thing, both for her family and her chosen profession.

“It’s simple – that we remain true to our family values,” she concludes. “The world of both still and sparkling wine is an exciting one. There are so many countries making excellent wines now, and this is constantly growing – I love the diversity.

“There’s room for everyone in the sparkling wine market, and it’s positive for sparkling wine as a whole that so many countries are making and drinking this wonderful stuff. Each has a different style and image, and it provides everyone with an amazing, diverse choice. Champagne has to remain true to its values, but it’s an exciting time.” www.taittinger.com

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Taittinger Tipples Introducing some of the Champagne house’s most prized bottles

Nocturne Rosé

Brut Réserve

Les Folies de la Marquetterie Prélude Grands Crus

Brut Millésimé

Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

Prestige Rosé

Comtes de Champagne Rosé

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GASTRO TRAVEL

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Blanc’s taste of

PARIS

You simply can’t visit Paris without sampling the wealth of gourmet delicacies on offer. To help her find her way around, Ella Walker’s joined by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, who introduces her to a world of French fancies and Parisian fare, while reflecting on the city of love’s culinary impact

PA PHOTO/THINKSTOCKPHOTOS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELLA WALKER

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GASTRO TRAVEL

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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Now, he says the capital ‘is already taking back hen I last visited Paris, I was confidence’, and you can feel a sense of positivity a gangly 16-year-old on a building. I’m here to discover the Paris that Blanc school trip, and what to have – culinary director of Eurostar – adores, exploring for dinner was a source of his favourite districts, food spots and museums. The constant argument. We wanted city’s beginning to unfurl, as it always does, but this McDonald’s, while our teachers wanted (and got) year, in the wake of such atrocities, perhaps even steak frites. But we did agree on breakfast: baguettes more so than usual. slathered in butter, delicate pastries and thick, sweet The horse chestnut trees lining the Champs-Élysées hot chocolate. are frothy with pea-green leaves, and the Marché des So, it’s both nostalgic and comforting when Enfants Rouges, the city’s oldest covered food market Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc orders rich, where we spend a lazy Saturday lunchtime, heaves dark hot chocolate as we sit down for breakfast at his with spears of plump asparagus, knobbly pods of favourite Parisian hotel, Le Bristol. He even lets broad beans, shards of pink rhubarb and artichoke a spoonful of chocolate pour back into his cup to bulbs, their deep-purple colouring peeking through show me how silky-smooth it is, and later I spy spiky leaves him put away no They’re the fewer than five vegetables bread rolls. that crop up “It’s a weakness It’s typical in Parisian culture for streets to have a in almost for us all, non?” fromagerie, fishmonger, butcher, grocer, boulangerie every meal I he says with a and florist, all squashed together, side-by-side. In one eat during my grin. This is what three-day stay; Oxford-based fell swoop, you can pick up everything you need white asparagus Blanc does when becomes a he’s in Paris – he velvety soup at eats, and he eats three Michelin-starred restaurant Pierre Gagnaire; well. So, when the Paris terror attacks devastated roasted artichoke and pink garlic crisps are headily the city last November, his first instinct was to beautiful at Le Bristol’s Epicure restaurant; and at Le come here and eat.

Chiberta, run by chef Guy Savoy, poached swirls of “The day after, I cancelled everything,” he rhubarb top delicate raspberry jellies. remembers passionately. “I went for two days to For Blanc, the markets – particularly Enfants eat in Paris. I was so, so angry, and I wanted to Rouges in the historic Le Marais district, where show that I love Paris. I wanted to show support to he loves to ‘lose’ himself, and the nearby open-air my friends. The response from the people was so President Wilson market – are all-consuming. Author powerful, so unified. Émile Zola, he says, captures them best: “‘You can “But the city was shaken, and the level of aggression hear the wheels on the cobbles’, and then he describes was so hard. But the French are tough, remember! the food – oh my gosh!”

You try and touch institutions such as freedom and It’s hard not to touch everything, but I just about democracy – oh no, the French are at the forefront – manage to drag myself away from wedges of you don’t touch it, so be warned!”

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Gustave Eiffel’s overcrowded wrought-iron showstopper. Blanc was born near Besançon, at the foot of the ragged Jura Mountains, and spent his childhood tickling trout and gathering honeycombed morels. Like me, he didn’t visit Paris until he was 16.

“Paris was the end of the world, almost,” he says, remembering how utterly dazzled he was the first time he came here. “What I love the most is the Basilique of the Sacré-Cœur on the top of Montmartre. You look at Paris at your feet. It’s this extraordinary expanse of life. That’s the place you must go and discover at two o’clock in the morning, when Paris is waking up!”

Recalling his words, I set out early on our final morning, meandering along the banks of the Seine and the wide, open boulevards leading to Place de la Concorde, its big wheel glinting in the sharp, lemony sunlight. It’s not quite the smooth white steps of the Sacré-Cœur, and it’s not 2am, but drunk on hot chocolate, I reel at the city around me. Defiant and unafraid, Paris is wide awake and ready for business.

Travel Facts

Ella Walker was a guest of Eurostar (www.eurostar.com; 03432 186 186), which operates up to 21 daily services from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord, with one-way fares starting from £29 (based on a return journey).

Business Premier Eurostar customers can enjoy fully flexible tickets, 10-minute express check-in and exclusive lounge access, along with menus designed by Business Premier culinary director Raymond Blanc, served at their seat. Fares start from £245 one-way, based on a return journey.

Doubles at Le Bristol (www.lebristolparis.com) start from 950 Euros per night, room only.

PA PHOTO/NATHAN GALLAGHER

mushroom quiche and bouquets of late tulips to wander Le Marais’ narrow alleys. The sills of almost every balcony flutter with red and pink geraniums, and pavements are fringed with cafés, where people taking a break from food shopping along Rue de Bretagne sit and sip coffee.

While sampling chunks of mellow Comté, Blanc’s old friend, celebrated cheesemonger Laurent Dubois, tells me it’s typical in Parisian culture for streets to have a fromagerie, fishmonger, butcher, grocer, boulangerie and florist, all squashed together, side-by-side. In one fell swoop, you can pick up everything you need without setting foot in a plastic, claustrophobic supermarket – although those are handy when nothing will do except bags of chewy Carambars!

The French know how to do their candy. Blanc’s protégé, patissier and chocolatier Laurent Duchene, is an expert, feeding us éclairs with strawberries and basil-scented cream, and fudgy macarons as bright and colourful as buttons. There would have been fig tarts – Blanc’s favourite – had the fruit been in season.

Duchene sells 600 to 700 pastries and 800 baguettes a day to the people living in the streets around his bakery, and he seems to know every customer by name. Of course, Paris isn’t just a place to graze, although it’s perfectly possible to explore the city by simply following the smell of baking bread.

On a grey Sunday afternoon, I give my stomach a rest and walk to the Musée Rodin (“Ohh la laa,” sighs Blanc at its beauty) in the 7th Arrondissement, disentangling myself from the giddy tourists and selfie-stick sellers milling at the base of the Eiffel Tower, and passing the gold-crested Hotel des Invalides along the way.

Following renovations, the museum reopened in November at the height of France’s security fears, and the garden, dotted with Auguste Rodin’s muscular bronze sculptures, is a calm refuge after

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GASTRO RECIPE

Frugal Festivities

When you’ve spent all your money on presents, you need a cheap alternative to the otherwise lavish Christmas dinner. This wonderfully thrifty take on the Yuletide feast for a smaller budget is no less delicious, but will allow the whole family to eat like kings for half the price come December 25

Roast pork belly with apricot and sage and onion stuffing SERVES 8

Preparation time: 40 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours Ingredients 2kg pork belly (boned weight, skin scored, ready for stuffing and rolling) 250g salted butter 50g fresh sage 1 onion 6 cloves garlic

1kg sausage meat 2 eggs 300g breadcrumbs 300g dried apricots, chopped 200g goose fat 2.5kg potatoes, peeled and diced, ready for roasting

1kg parsnips, peeled and chopped 2 tbsp mustard 2 tbsp maple syrup 1kg carrots, peeled and chopped 1 swede, peeled and chopped

Salt and pepper 1 whole Savoy cabbage, sliced 1kg Brussels sprouts, scored and outer layers taken off 1kg frozen peas 500ml dry cider 500ml stock

Directions • Sprinkle the skin of the pork with salt, leave for half an hour, then rub in and dab any excess moisture • Slit the pork just under the skin, between the fat and the meat, opening the meat out flat as you go. Set aside at room temperature while you make the stuffing • Melt 75g of the butter in a pan and add the onion and garlic, then sauté down until soft and with little colour. Add the sage and set aside to cool • In a mixing bowl, add the sausage meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, apricots and sage, garlic and onion, and mix all together • Open the pork belly out flat on a work surface, then place two thirds of the stuffing onto the centre of the meat, pushing it into a rectangle the length of the meat, and approximately 10cm wide, then roll the belly carefully, securing it with butcher’s string and skewers as you go • Place in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes at 220˚C.

Lower the heat to 180˚C and continue cooking for roughly an hour, until the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and transfer the meat to a warm plate • On two roasting trays, heat your goose fat in the oven • While the meat is in the oven, parboil the potatoes and parsnips in salted simmering water for about eight to 10 minutes, then drain off the water, reserving some for the gravy. Place the lid back on the saucepan and, holding the lid on firmly with your hand, protected by a cloth or oven glove, shake the saucepan vigorously up and down. This shaking roughens up the cooked edges of

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•

•

•

•

•

•

the potatoes and makes them floury and fluffy, which is the secret of the crunchy edges Remove the hot roasting trays containing the sizzling fat, transfer to a medium heat on the hob, then use a long-handled spoon and quickly lower the potatoes into the hot fat. When they’re all in, tilt the tray and baste each one so that they’re completely coated with fat Now, place them back on the highest shelf of the oven and leave them unattended for 40 to 50 minutes, or until they’re golden-brown. There’s no need to turn them over at half-time, as they’ll brown evenly by themselves. Sprinkle them with a little crushed salt, before serving straightaway; they lose their crunch if you keep them waiting. If they’re ready before you are, turn the oven off and leave them inside On the second tray, as above, add the parsnips, rounded side up, to the sizzling oil, then tilt the tray and use a large spoon to base the parsnips, making sure they’re evenly coated with oil. Bake for 25 minutes, by which time the parsnips should be nicely browned and crispy.

Mix the mustard and maple syrup together, then, using a brush, coat the parsnip pieces with a healthy coating of the mixture, and return them to the oven for eight to 10 minutes. Serve straightaway Place the diced carrots and swede in a large pan of simmering water for 30 minutes, until the swede is soft. Drain them in a colander, then mash and add the remaining butter, salt and black pepper before serving While the potatoes and parsnips are cooking, place your sliced Savoy cabbage into boiling water and add a pinch of salt, then simmer for five minutes. Drain and serve Place your Brussels sprouts into boiling salted water and simmer for five to 10 minutes, or until soft

• Place your peas into boiling salted water and simmer for five minutes, then drain and serve The gravy Pour the cider into a pan, place over a high heat and boil hard to reduce it by about one third. Pour any excess fat of the juices into the roasting tin. Pour the cider into the roasting tin, along with the stock and water from the boiled vegetables.

Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve any pan crustings.

Continue to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the quantity is reduced by a third. There should be about 800ml, which is more than enough. Season and pour into a warm jug To serve Warm plates, slice the pork belly into thick slices, and place on the plate with the mashed carrot and swede, Savoy cabbage, peas, roasted potatoes and honey and mustard-glazed parsnips. Remember that this meat is wonderful served cold the following day, along with all your leftover vegetables, fried in butter to make bubble and squeak

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GASTRO KITCHENS

home Hub of the

They say home is where the heart is, and that food is often the way to it. So, it stands to reason that your kitchen is where you’ll spend much of your time, making new memories and enjoying the company of your nearest and dearest. Here are some unique ideas to get yours just how you want it

O

f all the rooms in your house, the kitchen is the one that often requires the most time, care and attention. Far from just a culinary space to whip up a quick meal, it’s the beating heart of any property, where ‘good mornings’ are exchanged over coffee, tea and toast; where late-night conversations go on into the early hours; and where a family comes together at the end of a long day.

With that in mind, it’s certainly worth investing in your own eating, cooking or dining area. You might be after a clean, contemporary look, or want a spacious, open-plan feel when getting the kids fed and ready for school in the morning; whatever you’re looking for, there’s a wealth of designs available to suit all tastes, preferences, budgets and styles.

For an idea of what’s available, we’ve rounded up five examples from some

leading designers and manufacturers, who talk us through their stunning case studies, and describe how they helped create that dream look for their clients.

So, whether you’re using yours for a leisurely breakfast at the weekend, a full-blown dinner party with friends and family, or simply a cuppa and a sit-down, there’s bound to be something that floats your gravy boat.

Read on for some inspiration from a selection of top-end kitchen brands…

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RENCRAFT The starting point for this project was a stunning Edwardian family home, but the finished result is anything but old-fashioned. The ground floor extension on the house provided lots of natural light, allowing the use of a dark colour on the island to dramatic effect.

This contrasts with the paler colour used on the cupboards around the walls. The carcasses are made from engineered birch ply, with solid maple drawer boxes and custom-made cutlery dividers.

60mm Corian worktops lend a modern feel to this kitchen, along with Miele appliances and a down-draught

extractor, which hides away when not in use. A secret door, which you could be forgiven for thinking opens into a larder cupboard, actually provides access to a utility room. Design and manufacture of bespoke cabinetry from Rencraft starts from ÂŁ18,000. www.rencraft.co.uk

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GASTRO KITCHENS

HARVEY JONES KITCHENS This new linear kitchen from Harvey Jones is a stunning example of negotiating a large space with a central island, and the minimalist approach is sleek and contemporary.

The L-shaped island helps to divide and shape to maximise space and create an open, sociable space. The minimalist style befits the contemporary linear kitchen, and is complemented by large rustic beams and hanging lights to provide character.

The colour palette is simple and neutral, with a lilac island and matching splashback. The full-height units are kept in a sold block, with a built-in oven and sink to create an ultra-clean look. Incorporating a linear pantry larder is quickly becoming a must-have kitchen feature. The sleek doors, concealed hinges and minimalist appearance creates a spacious and stylish storage solution, without taking up unnecessary space. Kitchens start from £18,000. www.harveyjones.com

MARTIN MOORE Leaving the city can be a big wrench, but when a move to the country involved the renovation of a neglected Queen Anne-style mansion, it started to look like an unmissable opportunity for these clients; especially when it meant achieving the airy, beautiful kitchen they’d always wanted, with the added joy of boundless views across the Worcestershire countryside.

There’s a clear theme in this space – urban sensibility meets a respect for country values. It’s a painstakingly designed, perfectly organised, high-function kitchen, but the biggest impact comes from real furniture, natural materials and a muted palette of neutrals and greens.

The architectural bones of the room cleverly enfold both appliances and working zones, making the central island the multipurpose focal point.

The furniture is a visually simplified version of Martin Moore’s classic English kitchen, and throughout the whole room, pared back detailing has been used to preserve the dignity and symmetry of this impressive Queen Anne house. Martin Moore kitchens are priced from £35,000. www.martinmoore.com

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GASTRO KITCHENS

BURLANES Burlanes was called in to design and build a kitchen in a Sevenoaks new build. Working from a blank canvas meant we could create a wonderfully organised, functional and beautiful modern space. When embarking on a brand new kitchen for your newly-built home, it’s a good idea to call in the experts.

A designer will help you to realise yours perfectly, and guide you where you absolutely should not cut corners.

The first and most important step is to plan the layout in a way that makes the best use of the space. The kitchen is

the central point of your home, where a lot of activities take place – cooking, cleaning, eating, drinking and socialising.

That’s why it needs to be both beautiful and functional.

Regardless of the design style, organisation and layout are essential.

This Sevenoaks family had a fabulous space to design and create their dream room. It includes all the must-haves and storage solutions they need to ensure their daily, busy family life runs smoothly. Prices start from £30,000 plus VAT. www.burlanes.com

STONEHAM KITCHENS For this kitchen, the space needed careful consideration, as it was part of a larger refurbishment of Mr and Mrs Kendle’s property. One wall was boarded to allow for an orangery at a later date, and an internal wall was reconfigured to create a walk-in larder and separate utility room. The couple wanted a light and contemporary space, while still keeping sympathetic to the style of the house.

Stoneham Kitchens’ Penshurst painted furniture in latte, an off-white shade, was the ideal choice to meet the clients’ desire for a modern take on a classic design. This blended perfectly with granite worktops in river valley white. Beautiful curved door base units, curved wall units

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and a curved, tall storage cupboard sweep throughout the kitchen and further enhance the look, creating a functional and stylish room.

When it came to appliances, and as keen cooks, the owners requested two Miele ovens, hob, extractor, dishwasher and fridge/freezer.

Some clever storage solutions were fitted for pans, chopping boards, wine bottles and other items for a practical and organised design. And to finish it off, a pop of colour in the form of an aubergine splashback provided a striking contrast to the kitchen’s neutral tones for a stunning, sophisticated look. Prices start at £25,000. Available at Kitchen Design of Sevenoaks. www.stoneham-kitchens.co.uk www.kdofsevenoaks.com

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Gourmet Gift Guide

Christmas is a time to eat, drink and be merry – and what better way to start than with some cracking gifts to accessorise your kitchen? We present 10 of our favourite culinary items that will make perfect stocking fillers for friends and family. Read on for some festive foodie inspiration…

Lily cake stand, 24k gold-plated, £114 from www.beandliv.com

Lab flasks – oil and vinegar, £19.99 from www.totally-funky.co.uk Lab flasks – salt and pepper, £12.99 from www.totally-funky.co.uk

Pineapple slicer and wedger, £13.99 from www.vacuvin.nl

Brass measuring spoons, £55 from www.notanotherbill.com

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GASTRO GIFTS

Talking tables truly scrumptious spiral cake stand, £22 from www.talkingtables.co.uk

Ornate metal wine rack with shelves, £134.95 from www.melodymaison.co.uk

Lobster crackers – set of two, £15 from www.gardentrading.co.uk

Nutmeg grater £8.95 from www.lovejars.co.uk

LSA serve oil/vinegar bottle – 300ml, £27 from www.black-by-design.co.uk

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GASTRO WALKS

From path TO PUB The only way to top a trip to the pub for lunch is to follow it with an invigorating winter walk. Luckily for us, we’ve got plenty of National Trust treks and trails right on our doorstep. Here’s our pick of some unforgettable rambles that will help you work up a hearty appetite

T

he colder months may have arrived, but there’s still no better way to enjoy the natural splendour on offer in Kent and Surrey than by embarking on a revitalising meander through the countryside.

Indeed, both counties boast a wide variety of National Trust walking routes that are just waiting to be explored. Spanning different lengths and difficulty levels, there’s truly something for everyone.

Whether you’re traversing the beautiful terrain of Sevenoaks and Westerham, or taking in the captivating views in and around Tadworth and

Weybridge, there are options to suit all tastes.

Along the way, you’ll also be able to take a peek at some the most historic houses in the region; from Ightham Mote to Chartwell, you’ll find lots of breath-taking sites to see.

So, what are you waiting for? Put your wellies, gloves and hats on, and get out on one of these serene saunters, before joining us at The Kings Head or The Blue Ball for a well-earned spot of pub grub – the only way to end a pleasant stroll through the rolling hills, expansive fields and luscious woodlands available in this part of the world.

Read on for some inspirational days out from the National Trust…

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GASTRO WALKS

The Natural Play Trail is a two-mile level walk and a great chance to play in the woods. The trail can take anything from an hour to a whole day. There are lots of trees and structures to climb on, but be careful, as they might be muddy and slippery.

Route details Visitor Centre, The Old Fort, Box Hill Road, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 7LB Difficulty: Easy Time: 1 hour Distance: 2 miles (3.2km) Map: Landranger 187

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOHN MILLAR

Box Hill’s Natural Play Trail

Enjoy Surrey’s finest scenery and discover some of the interesting features found around the top of Box Hill on a gentle circular walk.

Route details The Old Fort, Box Hill Road, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 7LB Difficulty: Easy Time: 30 minutes Distance: 1 mile (1.6km Map: Landranger 187; Explorer 146

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOHN MILLAR

The hilltop stroll at Box Hill

This route takes in some of Box Hill’s most beautiful woodland and Broadwood’s Tower. There are some wonderful views of the Surrey countryside along the way.

Route details The Old Fort, Box Hill Road, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 7LB Difficulty: Moderate Time: 1½ hours Distance: 2.7 miles (4.3km) Map: Explorer 146 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOHN MILLAR

Box Hill Happy Valley circular walk

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GASTRO WALKS

This walk follows the route of the last commercial barges on the Wey Navigations. The large Wey barges, owned by Stevens and Sons, transported grain from the Royal Docks in London to Coxes Mill in Addlestone until the late 1960s. Many local people remember seeing the barges going up and down the river. You can see two of the last remaining three Wey barges at Dapdune Wharf in Guildford.

Route details Thames Street and Walton Lane, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 8NG Difficulty: Easy Time: 3 hours Distance: 5 miles (8km) Map: Explorer 160 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/CHRIS LACEY

Weybridge to New Haw Lock

Have a peek at the geographical importance of the River Wey. You’ll be able to see how the river has cut through the North Downs, making Guildford an important ‘gap town’.

There are some spectacular views at the highest point of the walk, before you descend to the valley bottom.

Route details River Wey Navigations, Dapdune Wharf, Wharf Road, Guildford GU1 4RR Difficulty: Easy Time: 3 hours Distance: 5.5 miles (8.8km) Map: Explorer 145 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JOHN MILLAR

Dapdune Wharf to St Catherine’s

Route details Ightham Mote, Mote Road, Ivy Hatch, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0NT Difficulty: Moderate Time: 5 hours Distance: 8.5 miles (13.6km) Map: Explorer 147 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREW BUTLER

Ightham Mote’s circular walk to Knole

What could be better than a day out in the Kentish countryside, incorporating two National Trust properties? Follow this circular walk from Ightham Mote, along the Greensand Way, passing through Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to Knole Park, before returning to Ightham Mote via the Duchess Walk, Godden Green and Broadhoath Wood. Includes a 30-minute stopover at Knole.

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GASTRO WALKS

Westerham to Chartwell trail

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREW BUTLER

Why not start your day off by visiting the neighbouring National Trust property of Quebec House in Westerham, before following our step-by-step guide to get to Chartwell, family home of Sir Winston Churchill.

Route details The Green, Westerham, Kent TN16 1AS Difficulty: Moderate Time: 1 hour Distance: 2 miles (3.2km) Map: TQ447540 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREW BUTLER

Weardale walk

This beautiful circular walk links Emmetts Garden and Chartwell. The walk is fully marked and passes through the woodland areas of Toys Hill and Hosey Common, as well as the pretty hamlet of French Street.

Route details Ide Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 6BA Difficulty: Easy Time: 3 hours Distance: 5 miles (8km) Map: Explorer 147; Landranger 188

Knole three-mile woodland walk

©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/DAVID SELLMAN

Experience the contrasts of Knole’s deer park on a gentle walk that leads you through woodland and across open grassland. This walk has been produced with the permission of Lord Sackville.

Route details Knole house entrance gate Difficulty: Easy Time: 2 hours Distance: 3 miles (4.8km) Map: OS Landranger 188 Dogs allowed: Dog friendly

ALL CONTENT SUPPLIED BY THE NATIONAL TRUST. TO DISCOVER AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SOME INSPIRING WALKS AND TRAILS, VISIT WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK

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GASTRO SUPPLIERS LISTING

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24-hour dining service

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15/04/2016 13:17

CORNWELL’S

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FROBISHERS www.frobishers.com / 01392 825 333

FULLER’S www.fullers.co.uk / 020 8996 2000

SARGEANT PARTNERSHIP www.sargeantpartnership.com / 01322 614 681

HANDELSBANKEN www.handelsbanken.co.uk / 01892 547702

HAYWARDS BUTCHER www.haywardsbutchers.co.uk / 01732 355 611

HEHKU www.hehku.co.uk / 0800 542 4197

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SALCOMBE DAIRY www.salcombedairy.co.uk / 01548 843 228

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