Quartet of Lancashire’s rising star chefs celebrate Lancashire Day
The four chefs, all raised in Lancashire, created an eight-course menu inspired by the produce, history and provenance of Lancashire. Courses featured great Lancashire ingredients like black pudding, Morecambe Bay cockles, grouse, Goosnargh duck and ended with Lancashire Eccles cakes with Truffle & Black currant.
Chef Oli Martin from Hipping Hall said, “Lancashire’s really got it going on at the moment and it was great to work with fellow chefs in the county to make the most of the great produce. We’re really lucky here the landscapes give us great raw ingredients to work with, like salt marsh lamb & Goosnargh duck.”
“Working alongside your fellow chefs is inspiring. We’re all working with the same ingredients, but the combinations and dishes are distinctively different. It’s as exciting for the chefs as it is for the eaters.”
“Lancashire’s food and drink scene is nationally recognised and these events are all about building county pride and sharing what we do best, serving up great food with real integrity,” said Chris Bury from The Cartford Inn.
Lancashire’s food and drink sector is worth over £1 billion* to Lancashire’s economy and is one of the key drivers to attract over 67 million visitors each year.
“Lancashire is fast becoming the must-visit foodie destination with good reason. Lancashire Day events are all about collaboration and celebration of the best of Lancashire’s plentiful and highest quality larder,” said Ruth Connor, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire.
*source STEAM
About Lancashire’s top chefs:
• Chris Bury, The Cartford Inn
Chris was born, raised and trained in Lancashire. His career has since seen him work at several prestigious restaurants and hotels around the UK and complete stages at establishments as illustrious as Claridge’s and Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck.
Chris took the role of head chef at The Cartford Inn in 2015. He quickly made his mark on the menu as he brought his enthusiasm for a variety of underused techniques, including curing, home-smoking and preserving. He is passionate about seafood, which the inn has a reputation for serving, and enjoys foraging (notably for wild mushrooms) to give dishes authentic terroir.
• Oli Martin, Hipping Hall
Aged 29, Oli has worked at the likes of Northcote, Blackburn and the Gilpin Hotel, Crook, as well as in France and as far afield as Sydney, Australia.
As early as age 14 Oli worked in an AA rosetted restaurant, and since 2013 has been working at Hipping Hall, rising from sous chef, to head chef within a year. With eleven years’ experience behind him he took it all in his stride, quickly making the position his own and bringing his own food philosophy to life. His food repertoire draws on his classical training and progressive cuisine styles from both the USA and Spain.
• Tom Parker, The White Swan at Fence
Aged 27, Tom already has 11 years within fine dining establishment beginning at just 16 as an apprentice in a Michelin star restaurant in Blackburn. His love of food has lead him across the globe, working in one of Mexico’s most renowned hotels, Capella.
He joined his latest business venture after his return from Mexico, with friends at The White Swan in Fence in December 2013. What was a small local pub has been transformed since then, into a fine dining establishment. After just 12 months the establishment was receiving amazing reviews from the likes of Jay Rayner of The Observer.
• Matt Smith, Freemason’s at Wiswell
Matt Smith has fast worked his way up the kitchen ranks, gaining invaluable experience of the craft along the journey, starting with the Kingham Plough then onto Llys Meddyg Restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Sous Chef at The Freemasons at Wiswell and then Head Chef at Hammet House before returning to The Freemasons as Head Chef, working alongside Chef Owner Steve Smith.