Raymond Blanc
Above: Hampshire Fare’s Tim Brock, Raymond Blanc,
Above: Tim Brock and Raymond Blanc
Above: Raymond Blanc learns about watercress production from Dr Steve Rothwell (left) and Bryan Winch (right), both from Vitacress
Raymond Blanc is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest chefs. He has held two Michelin stars at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons for the last 22 years and last month he launched the eighth branch of his celebrated Brasserie Blanc chain in Winchester.
He is also a cheeseaholic so when I went to meet him at a nearby watercress farm I took along one of my favourite cheeses: Two Hoot’s Barkham Blue. “It’s absolutely delicious! Nice acidity, creamy… Lovely! For me, the greatest success of agriculture in Britain is cheese. That’s where we’ve really got it so right. You see, this morning I didn’t know that cheese. Now I know a beautiful new cheese! Fantastic… Somebody get me some baguette!”
Raymond’s philosophy
It is endearing to see such an experienced chef so delighted at discovering a new delicacy, but then local provenance is Raymond Blanc’s passion and he is looking forward to tasting all that Hampshire has to offer. “I’m very excited about being part of the process of reconnecting with our food, with our soil, and what we will try to do at Brasserie Blanc, is translate that philosophy into something affordable for everybody. It will be something delicious, which is all homemade, which is rustic – more Mammon Blanc’s food – and of course we’ll bring in as much Hampshire produce as we can. All of our specials will be local produce, and you’ll see me at your markets; you’ll see me at your farms, connecting with the producers.”
The right formula
Actually, I had seen Raymond once before at another Hampshire farm, Laverstoke Park. He was demonstrating how to cook the estate’s award-winning lamb during the 2006 Hampshire Food Festival, in front of an enthralled audience. His relationship with Laverstoke’s owner, Jody Schechter, began when the former Formula One champion first took over the 2000 acre organic farm near Overton. “I have known Jody for seven years and I have a huge amount of admiration for what he has achieved. By creating his own laboratory which allowed him to understand the chemical composition and biodiversity of the soil, he has been able to get more flavour and more nutrients into it, which the milk of the animal and the meat of the animal have gained as well. It’s brilliant that he’s so creative.”
So are there any other Hampshire producers he’s looking forward to working with? “I’m a newcomer to Hampshire, I’m a newcomer to Winchester, and all that I want to do is to learn. I’ve booked this Sunday to go and see the farmers’ market, so that I can meet the producers and farmers themselves – that is the best way to do it.”
Perfect conditions
The backdrop for our meeting is Vitacress’s beautiful Pinglestone Farm, just outside of Alresford. Although they are one of the world’s biggest watercress producers, the farm here looks much the same as it would have done 100 years ago, and the design of the cress beds has remained unchanged since the crop was first cultivated in Ancient Greece. “It’s fabulous to be here today in amongst the watercress beds,” he enthused, “and there’s a good reason why they are here in Hampshire: it’s because we have the best water and the best chalk soil!” This is praise indeed from a man that grew up in the beautiful landscape of Besançon, “It’s interesting actually: there are two things which are the same in both Hampshire and my native region of France. The first; we celebrate the pig, as you do – everything from the snout, right down to the tail. The second is the chalk soil. Here in this watercress bed, you have the natural spring coming up through the chalk which acts as a filter, so it’s easy to understand why the watercress thrives here.”
Back to basics
However, he laments that our food culture hasn’t always been so promising; “We’ve had 60 years of a terrible food chain in Britain, of treating foods so badly, so it’s going to take some time. We cannot just reverse things overnight. We need the regions to reconnect with their past; reacquaint the farmer with his craft, so that the consumer can choose responsibly and ethically. They need to understand the importance of seasonality and buying locally, which will actually keep the colour and the character of our villages alive. And of course to me, the future is not just in the past, in tradition; it’s about finding new ideas, new techniques.”
Raymond Blanc is sometimes referred to as the original ethical chef and he has always shown an awareness of sustainability issues that others in the industry are only just starting to catch on to. “I’ve trained 25 Michelin star chefs and always I try to pass on that connection with ingredients. As gastronomy lost its way, so did the chefs, but that is also changing. The chefs are starting to wake up and now they want a beetroot that is from our soil, a pear which is from our tree, watercress from our stream. It’s the same with the cheese; in Britain the cheese industry died 20 years ago. Then we had a mini revolution, and now we have as many cheeses as France! Which is really exciting, isn’t it?!”
I couldn’t agree more, and it’s this enthusiasm for good local produce that forms the basis of the training for everyone at Brasserie Blanc – waiting staff and chefs alike. That’s good news for Britain’s burgeoning food culture and great news for Winchester’s restaurant culture.
To book your table, telephone
01962 810870 or visit www.brasserieblanc.com
To win a night out at Brasserie Blanc go to our competion page
www.hampshire-life.co.uk/main-menu-hampshire-competitions--19410