In the build up to The Staff Canteen Live 2017 - supported by Westlands, at Great Hospitality Show 2017, we are taking a closer look at the chefs who will be joining us on stage.
We dig a little deeper to find out what they are hiding under those chef whites – next up is Mark Abbot who recently appeared on this year’s Great British Menu and is the head chef at Midsummer House which has two stars in the Michelin Guide UK.
Mark Abbott recently blew the judges away during his stint on the Great British Menu when he made it through to the banquet with his 'Ordinary To Extraordinary' starter dish. Mark began his journey in the culinary arts after completing work experience at a local hotel, where he was subsequently offered a summer job. Throughout his career Mark has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry such as Michael Dean, Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Paul Kitching at 21212. He is currently the head chef at Daniel Clifford’s two Michelin starred restaurant, Midsummer House based in Cambridge.
Mark Abbott
What item of food do you hate cooking?
I don’t like salmon.
What food, if any, are you allergic to?
I don’t have an allergy but I do have a big dislike for salmon to the point where if I actually put it into my mouth I’ll be sick!
What’s your favourite ingredient to work with?
I would say shellfish is my favourite ingredient I like to work with.
What three ingredients would you take with you to a desert island and why?
I would say probably a lamb because you won’t be getting meat there, Ribena because I can’t live without it and butter.
If you weren’t a chef what would you be?
Probably a farmer.
What radio station do you listen to in the kitchen?
No, we don’t listen to anything in the kitchen.
What other kitchen would you most like to work in?
I’m obviously very happy where I am but if I had an opportunity to do a stage or something like that I would have to go and see what they are doing at Fabricants because it’s very different and interesting and Michel Bras was always a big inspiration for me when I was coming up through the ranks.
Traditional cooking methods or modern techniques?
I think both styles have their place. Meat-wise we will traditionally cook it early on like lamb rack for instance, or there’s other meats like venison loin where we’ll put a nice butter around it and vac pac it and roast it. We will always poach roast birds traditionally but then it really is a mix of the two. We do hold onto a lot of the classics, we still make sure the boys are cooking hollandaise anglaise style because it’s important those skills are kept in the kitchen and not lost. It’s so easy nowadays to put anglaise into a thermomix, there’s nothing wrong with it I just feel it’s our job as head chefs to keep that skill set and teach any young chefs coming to midsummer the essential skills.
Why did you choose to get involved with TSCLive?
I think it’s a great programme and anything like this that encourages youth coming through is really really important. At the end of the day we are nothing without this generation coming through and it’s up to us to put as much as our time and effort in to nurturing the chefs coming through. It’s also always great to meet up with other chefs to find out what they’ve been up and to and what they’re doing.
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