I am a qualified chef and have worked in and around Henley for the last twenty-five years. I grew up on a farm in Yorkshire where my mother spent long hours feeding the men who worked on the farm with wholesome, substantial food. |
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I loved the smells of our farmhouse kitchen. I loved the textures, colours and taste of everything she made. I knew at nine years old exactly what i wanted to do when i grew up.
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It was a regular occurance for my father to take a bullock into the cellar and cut it into the joints my mother wanted. |
I quickly learned all the cuts of beef, the difference between hind quarter and fore quarter and the difference between shin-beef and sirloin. I also learned from mum how to cook both extremes.
| We had pigs, chickens and turkeys in season. We ate the pigeons that regularly poached dad's wheat and even ate the pheasents that wandered onto our patch from next door. |  |
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I learned to skin and joint a rabbit when i was very young. A lot of our traditional foods are becoming popular again, so these skills learnt at an early age are proving invaluable. |
There is a lot of hard work goes into the food we eat, which is not always appreciated when it comes off the supermarket shelf, pre-packaged.
| I have been called a dinosaur in the past-which i am very proud about. I won't give my clients bought in products, ready made sauces or frozen vegetables, or puddings that are like eating cardboard; full of preservatives and e-numbers. |  |
I feel very priviledged that Brian, my husband and i are invited to be part of peoples' special days. We take a great pride in doing our very best to discretely make sure that everything is perfect for our clients. Brian is my front of house manager. He loves the buzz of meeting people and is a perfectionist when it comes to serving food.
Wendy, who keeps all the staff on their toes, as everything has to be perfect, assists him.
