KERTH GUMBS
Head Chef, Fenchurch at Sky Garden

I love to incorporate chocolate into savoury dishes. Some of my favourite combinations are caramelised white chocolate with Jerusalem artichoke, which gives the dish a toffee-like taste. The mixture is then piped onto brioche soldiers and served with a pickled artichoke disc and topped with shaved truffle & Parmesan. Another dish and combination I like would be venison with rich dark chocolate gnocchi, parsnip, and wild berries. One chocolate combination I’ve created which truly showcases the versatility of chocolate whilst also being adventurous with around 15 other elements and ingredients would be my Far Away Tree Dessert. This dish has dark chocolate textures with black pepper crémeux with burnt blackberry, kasha buckwheat and sea buckthorn sorbet. This dish saw me through to the Great British Menu 2020 finals and I look forward to introducing it to the Fenchurch menu later this year.

ZUSANA LACZOVA
Head Pastry Chef at The Manor, Greasby

Everyone loves chocolate and I love to give my sweets a sense of theatre. Nothing does that better than my chocolate bombe, a chocolate sphere which melts to reveal an ice cream centre when drizzled with rich chocolate sauce. There is something seriously decadent about watching the bombe melt away in lashings of chocolate and guests love it! For The Manor’s summer menu, I have created a peanut butter and raspberry version, finished with salted peanuts and hot chocolate sauce. Same wow factor but a delicious new flavour combination for the summer!

I love to accent chocolate with salt or spice! Nothing too overpowering but the light addition of sea salt or pink peppercorn really brings a chocolate dessert to life and cuts through the rich sweetness. Similarly, miso when paired with chocolate can evoke a delicious earthy quality. My classic chocolate bombe has seen many flavour combinations over time, but my most unusual has to be pairing it with a homemade pecorino cheese ice cream and fresh shavings of truffle. Don’t knock it until you have tried it!

CHRISTOPHER DOUGAN
Chef Patron, Kenmuir Arms

To me, chocolate is one of the purest forms of extravagance. One of our signature dishes which always goes down a storm is our chilli BBQ pork with a cocoa sauce. Good quality chocolate lends itself so well to savoury dishes.

We also have our own take on a hot chocolate as one of our desserts – we set marshmallows within chocolate mousse and serve with warm cinnamon foam that is spooned tableside. It’s designed to inspire a sense of nostalgia and we’ve had great feedback from guests. These special touches can go a long way in making something simple that little bit extra special.

ROOP PARTAP CHOUDHARY
Owner, Colonel Saab

At Colonel Saab, we offer a variety of desserts that fuse Indian and western flavours. A perfect example of this is our Dark Chocolate Silk Cake with Thandai Crumble. It’s one of our top selling desserts that melts in the mouth and one of my personal favourites. The medley of flavours accentuates and compliments the flavours of each ingredient.

Dark Belgian chocolate is whipped rich with eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and butter to a sabayon consistency and the base is formed with coarse ground of almond, desiccated coconut, rose petals, sugar and fennel. The two are then put together in the oven and baked to perfection and served with Thandai crumble, Blueberry and Candyfloss.

ADEBOLA ADESHINA
Chef patron of The Chubby Castor and The Yard

We offer vegan chocolate options, including our delicious and elegant vegan chocolate ganache with candied pecans and lime gel. We also have vegan chocolate petit fours, made using dark and vegan-based dairy products. We use vegan cream and 68% dark chocolate.

Soya sauce and dark chocolate ganache and lavender with white chocolate miso caramel are a few unusual flavours which go together very well indeed. Classic combinations we use are praline, salted caramel and gin with white chocolate. Venison and dark chocolate sauce also go together very well indeed, as does pigeon and dark chocolate.

You can even add some chocolate into a chilli for a rich finish.
For guests with dysphagia, I recommend either a chocolate mousse, chocolate rice pudding or a soft ganache chocolate custard. Chocolate jelly and chocolate ice cream are also good options.

The post The Chocolate Connoisseur’s Kitchen appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

Growing your own produce doesn’t require a large plot of land. As Toby Baggott, co-founder of Roots + Seeds Kitchen Garden in Cirencester says, “Start with the space you have even if it’s just a windowsill for growing herbs or a balcony to house a few pots. Take the leap and have a go at planting a few seeds and watch them grow. Sow what you want to eat, don’t be intimidated and learn from your mistakes.”

Roots + Seeds Kitchen Garden café and restaurant overlooks their quarter-of-an-acre garden, where a broad range of produce is grown including kohlrabi, trombone courgettes, purple heritage carrots, purple peas and rhubarb. Tony says, “It’s so rewarding serving customers produce grown on-site and they can see the fruit and veg growing from their table!” The Kitchen Garden is also used as a community space for schoolchildren to grow food, “so there are educational and wellbeing advantages too,” he adds.

At the Three Fishes in Clitheroe, Lancashire, the whole menu and ethos is geared around the produce it grows on its one-acre vegetable garden and huge polytunnel. Produce includes brassicas, squash, pumpkins, peas, beans, broad beans and Swiss chard. Nigel Haworth, chef patron, says, “By growing our own produce, we are creating a sustainable restaurant, one that reduces our carbon footprint and provides a bounty of fresh and nutritious produce. My advice is that if you have the space, it’s the future. The cost and quality of flavour is well worth the extra effort. The best way to go about it depends on the scale of your business. Have a go – it’s not as difficult as some might think, but you do need a gardener if it’s on a reasonable scale.”

Gardener, Edward Parker, is in charge of the Three Fishes’ plot, which has a ‘no dig’ approach, meaning the soil is left undisturbed. “This helps the plant roots grow, maintains the essential nutrients and prevents soil erosion. We feed the soil with organic matter and let nature work its magic,” says Nigel.

At The Chubby Castor in Cambridgeshire, 70% of vegetables used in their menu are grown in the 2,000sqft garden next to the kitchen, while the other 30% is sourced through eco-friendly partners. Chef patron, Adebola Adeshina, says, “It’s rewarding to watch our own produce grow, create menus around it, knowing what will be ready to harvest and when, and then prepare dishes in our kitchen using our own vegetables, salad leaves and herbs.”

The Yard, Adebola’s sister alfresco restaurant, uses vegetables and salad ingredients exclusively from the kitchen garden. Around 30 varieties of vegetables and herbs are grown in the garden and in greenhouses, which are looked after by gardeners Eileen and Martin Stalley.

Adebola says, “Go for it. Even if you only have a small space, it’s worth it. I promise you that you won’t taste better fruit and veg – and it also enables you to avoid any issues there may be with supply in the future if you grow your own.”

The post Branching Out – How Restaurant Gardening Helps Balance The Books appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.

When did you decide on a career in hospitality?
At age 13 I decided I wanted to be a chef, I had always loved watching my mum and sister cook when I was younger. It just intrigued me. We also had animals, with a little farm in our garden.

How have you honed your skills over the years?
I’ve always tried to keep up with the latest trends and stayed focused on what people like and enjoy, when it comes to being a chef it has changed so much over the past 30 Years it’s really become more of an art than just good food.

What did you gain from your experience working with other chefs like Gordon Ramsay?
While working with other chefs I gained respect for myself, other people and the produce we use. If you don’t have respect for yourself how can you respect others?

Have you experienced any set backs in your career and how did you deal with them?
I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my career, I’ve had a mental breakdown which showed me how to focus on myself. I did this through spirituality, meditation, yoga and practising positive mental wellbeing.

How has your experience shaped the boss, manager and mentor you are today?
My experiences within the hospitality chef industry have made me value and respect people as you never know what people are going through, but especially that you can still smile through the pain.

When working on new dishes, what is your development process?
Every season my team and I discuss what’s in season, then I send them away for them to pick what they would like on the menu. They come to me with the whole dish from the meat to the purees to decorate the plate. We then go through each dish they like and pick the ones that we all like the best. We imagine, try, test, serve.

What are your main flavour influences?
I don’t have a main flavour influence; I like every flavour this planet has to offer!

What are your plans for The Chubby Castor for the next year?
My main goal for Chubby this year is to open The Yard – our alfresco dining restaurant in our garden. And to also get our first Michelin Star! I would also love to expand our garden to increase the capacity so we can use more of our own vegetables.

What changes would you like to see in the hospitality industry to improve it for the next generation?
Hospitality needs to change how much hypocrisy there is, as no matter who the person is, their beliefs or nationality, everyone has a gift and that should be recognised!

What inspires you to continue working in the hospitality sector?
I am inspired by other people. When people tell me I won’t succeed or be able to create what I want to create, it just makes me hungrier to succeed.

The post Leading Light: Adebola Adeshina appeared first on Stir it up Magazine.