About me:

I’m a forager, hooked on hedgerows, delighted by wild aromas, and fascinated by the creativity of nature to supply such a diversity of seasonal tastes & endless possibilities. My name’s Rachel Lambert & I’ve been teaching people about wild food since 2007. My business ‘Wild Food Foraging’ aims to cultivate people’s skills & confidence through inspiring forays in nature. Based in Cornwall, I offer public walks & events, cater for private groups of friends or celebrations, train chefs & provide accessible team building for small & large(r) companies.

My Sunday Project: Making Gorse Flower Rice Pudding

Choosing one, abundant, ingredient was swung by that heady moorland smell on a sunny Sunday…

What you’ll need:

To Collect the Gorse:

• A walk with yellow landscapes of gorse flowers in sight
• Accomplices (helpful hands)
• A container ~ basket, bag, tupper-ware or deep pockets
• Patience
• Sunshine (it brings out the smell of gorse)
• Weather- appropriate clothing (sun burn is so last century)
• Appropriate footwear (gorse spines between your toes – no thanks!)
• Gloves can be useful, those spines are sharp

For the Pudding:

• 12oz Pudding rice
• 1.5 litres full fat milk
• 6oz sugar
• 4 cups of gorse flowers (fresh or dried)

For the Syrup:

• 2 dessertspoon sugar
• 1 cup dried or fresh gorse flowers (air-dried or at a low temperature for 8hrs in the oven).

Instructions:

Simmer the 4 cups of flowers in milk for 15mins.

Strain off the flowers, return milk to the pan with sugar & rice, stir regularly to stop sticking, simmer for 40 minutes or until ready. You can also pick through a few of the simmered petals & add back into the rice mixture for decoration.

For syrup, simmer the rest of the flowers with sugar & a little water for 10 minutes.

Strain off flowers.

Serve the pudding warm, serving each portion in a small pool of the syrup.

To find out more about Wild Food Foraging or if you’d like to come on one of my walks or courses take a look here:

http://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk

http://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/blog

http://www.facebook.com/wildfoodforaging

http://www.youtube.com/foragingforwilds

What do you do when you are at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Working; I do lots of things. You know what I do- everything. First thing, I make coffee, then it’s all good.”

What do you do when you are not at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Fishing.”

“How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Fine, nice, good.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen… 

“Lemon sole.”

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“Jack Daniels and coke”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“Maybe Eminem.”

What would be your desert Island ingredient?

“A Burger.”

Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“All my family.”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“It’s Christmas day; the kids ask mum “Can we have a dog for Christmas?” Mum “No, you can have turkey like everyone else.”"

Beautiful Italian lemons are at their best when harvested between now and the early Autumn. We have a wonderful recipe for homemade lemonade syrup that makes the most of their delicious zest that so often get discarded after juicing.

You will need:

- Five large un-waxed lemons

- Two Pods of Vanilla

- 20 Dried Juniper Berries (now stocked in most super markets)

- Two Pints of Water

- Two Pint Glasses full of caster sugar

What to do:

- Use a peeler to take the zest from the lemons. Place the zest in a blender.

- Next, score the vanilla pods, then scrape out all the seeds. Add the seeds and the pods to the blender with the lemon zest.

- Add the juniper berries to the blender. Then top up the blender with two pints of water.

- Blitz the ingredients until they are all broken down.

- Add the blended mixture to a pan and simmer for 15 minutes to infuse all the flavours.

- Pour the mixture into a heatproof jug and add two pint glasses full of caster sugar.

- Allow the mixture to cool, then fine sieve by placing a new j-cloth inside a sieve or colander and pouring the liquid through.

- Use a funnel to pour the syrup into two bottles.

- Ta da, you have your very own homemade lemonade syrup.

- To make up the syrup into refreshing lemonade, simply at 50ml of syrup and 25ml of lemon juice to a glass filled with lots of ice and top with your choice of still or sparkling water. Add a few rays of sunshine and you have the perfect afternoon!

- Finally share your picture with us! We want to see you and your friends and family, preparing, making and enjoying your lemonade on our social media. Use #TheSundayProject on Twitter and Instagram or post them up on our Facebook page here:

This week’s Fifteen Friday Face is Jon Rotheram, the man behind Fifteen London’s fantastic new menu. I caught up with him down in Cornwall when he came down for the graduation of our Cohort 7…

What do you do when you are at Fifteen London?

“Cor blimey, where do you start? I go in in the morning check the menus, check the produce, check what we sold. I change the menu daily so there’s a lot to do. I chat to suppliers and get cooking and don’t look back till 12.”

How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Hectic, Jamie whizzed me around the whole place, looking at the whole empire. Being introduced to the apprentices was a daunting feeling, but it was a lovely, lovely day. Everyone was welcoming, that does make you feel like you’re part of a big family.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen… 

“I think it’s got to be truffle linguine or a crab linguine is really nice actually.”

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“A G and T is probably up there, that or a beer.”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“That is such a bad question, what would you do with an album? You’d need something to play it on.”

Jon, you can have a stereo to listen to it on…

“God, I’ll come back to it. I have a much better question for you…”

Go on then, tell us and if it’s good enough we’ll keep it in.

“You should ask people what ingredient they would take to a desert island.”

Ok, I like it. What would you desert island ingredient be? 

“A chicken, I’d roast it. There is nothing like the smell of a roast chicken.”

 Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“Keith Floyd.”

 A while later, Jon comes back to his desert Island Disc…

“Probably a bit of bobby Womack, something I could listen to again and again.  I’m loving his new album.”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“A text from Jamie.”

You can see all the wonderful things our London family are up to on their new website at http://www.fifteen.net/ .

“April is always a busy time for the Foundation. Last week we not only graduated Cohort 7 at the Eden Project we also welcomed a brand new group of apprentice chefs to Fifteen Cornwall – can you believe it, Cohort 8!

In the first week our new group of apprentices had their inductions days including a learning styles welfare day and their introduction to the kitchen. The learning styles day took place at Lanhydrock Golf Club near Bodmin, led by our Welfare Manager Matt Thomas. Matt deals with any issues that our apprentices may face outside of the kitchen, using both individual sessions and group sessions to overcome any concerns or problems. The learning styles day helped the apprentices to understand how we learn, how our memory works and techniques to improve concentration span. Following this each apprentice was assessed for their individual learning style preferences whether it is visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, they were also assessed using Honey & Mumford thinking and learning preferences as to whether they were an activist, pragmatist, theorist or reflector.

Speaking about the day, Matt Thomas said:

“The day went really well, and as the first day together as Cohort 8 they really impressed me, they were motivated, enthusiastic and getting on as a team”.

On the following day they arrived for their first day at the restaurant, greeted by our CEO Matthew Thomson, Karl Jones our Training and Development Chef and Matt Thomas our Welfare Manager. Apprentices were then shown around Fifteen Cornwall and given their fire induction, health and safety briefing and kitchen induction. They also had a tasting session with the front of house team, helping them to get to know the food we serve in the restaurant, followed by some well-deserved lunch!

Towards the end of the day Karl and Matt gave a complete run though of the whole year, letting them know what they would be doing,  also letting them know what’s expected of them.   At the end of the day, they met up with Simon Burt to have their group and individual photos taken.

All in all, it was a very busy week for our apprentices – we’re really looking forward to working with them over the next year and watching them develop.

Good Luck to everyone on Cohort 8.”

What do you do when you are at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Excite peoples’ taste buds!”

What do you do when you are not at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Er hmmmm… Participate in a wide variety of sports. Oh yeah and I play in a band”

“How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Bloomin’ ‘ansome, lots going on and lots of bootiful food everywhere.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen… 

“Roasted squash tortellini, with butter sauce.”

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“The cloudiest cider i can find”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“NOFX- Heavy Petting”

Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Rock, Thomas Keller and Andy Appleton- he’s my hero.”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“I have through my whole interview…”

Is everyone standing on their tiptoes? Can you all see the weekend?… Yes, well it is time to celebrate then.

This weeks TTT is a West Country twist on the classic Side Car. We use 10 year aged Somerset Brandy to give the drink a real taste of the west. This drink is somehow serious and strong yet refreshing; and like all the best cocktails, a little too easy to drink!

If you’d like to make your own at home, here’s how:

Ingredients:

37.5ml Somerset Cider Brandy

17.5ml Cointreau

20ml Lemon Juice

17.5ml Sugar Syrup (you can make this at home, there are instructions for it here: http://cocktails.about.com/od/mixology/r/simple_syrup.htm )

Then the easy part…

Shake all the ingredients over ice and fine strain ( if you haven’t got a bar strainer you can use a tea strainer for this). We like it in a Coupe glass, but if you haven’t got one at home it looks great in a Martini glass too…

Happy Sipping on your Tiptoes!

Fundraising and Marketing Officer Emma Perring gives us the low down on last Thursday’s Graduation ceremony…

“Last week over 250 people gathered to celebrate at the Eden Project for our 7th year of apprentice chefs graduating from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall and the training programme run by the Cornwall Foundation of Promise.

The mile-stone event marked the completion of a 16 month intensive programme where young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training learn to become the chefs of the future. Joined by hundreds of people from supporters and suppliers, to close family and friends, the event as always didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.

Hosted by Jamie’s own mentor, Gennaro Contaldo, in the Eden Project’s Mediterranean Biome, the graduation recognised each of our apprentice’s, showing short clips from specially commissioned films highlighting their experiences of the programme, along with words of encouragement from the Fifteen Team. Our Training and Development Chef Karl Jones who is in charge of all of the training in the Fifteen Cornwall kitchen said:

“Our apprentices have had a busy year covering all sections in the Fifteen Cornwall kitchen. By training our guys in a real working environment we were able to get them to a great level within their 12 months  with us. Not only have they gained a professional qualification, they have also learnt skills in butchery, baking and fish filleting. They have also had a month’s work experience in some of the county’s best restaurants”.

One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Apprentice of the Year Award given to Ryan Smith of Perranporth and the Personal Development Award given to Matthew Macdonald of Bodmin. The awards each year are presented to the two apprentices who have made the most significant journey within the kitchen and training programme and also through their own personal development. Other awards included ‘The One Who Really Gets It’ awarded to Haley Sugden, the True Believer Award (presented by Fifteen Cornwall) awarded to Tom Sobey of Origin Coffee, the Progression Award given to Sam Lounds (graduate from Cohort 1), the True Believer Award (presented by the Cornwall Foundation of Promise) to Glen Gatland, and finally the Most Inspirational Chef award presented to trainer chef Tom Vose of Fifteen Cornwall.

Personal Development Winner Matthew Macdonald with Gennaro Contaldo and Matt Thomas.

Apprentice of the Year Winner Ryan Smith with Gennaro Contaldo, Karl Jones, and Matthew Thomson.

Commenting on the achievements of this cohort, our CEO Matthew Thomson said:

“It has been a great privilege to work alongside them and I have seen close up the incredible demands we place on our apprentices and the enormous stamina, discipline, determination, humour and team spirit needed to succeed in the Fifteen Cornwall training programme”.

“Cohort 7 started at Fifteen Cornwall just three weeks before I started and when I look back at how much they have achieved in one year in the restaurant, I feel truly humbled”.

With the end in mind, this week also shared the arrival of the next cohort of apprentices to the Fifteen Cornwall Kitchen. At the event all 14 of them had their first taste of Fifteen life, preparing and serving antipasti to the guests prior to the ceremony. This group will now start their 12 month journey in the Fifteen Cornwall kitchen, alongside a professional qualification at Cornwall College.

The event, which was generously sponsored by Cornwall Works and supported by Jobcentre Plus, highlights the importance of local organisations working with local government to enable people to find and secure long term sustainable employment. Jobcentre Plus continue to work in partnership with Fifteen Cornwall and our charity, the Cornwall Foundation of Promise, and have recently worked on a number of new community cooking projects also tackling worklessness and un-employment.

Each of these graduates now leaves Fifteen and moves onto full time employment in some of the country’s top restaurants. Fifteen Cornwall and the Cornwall Foundation of Promise will continue to support them in their progression and professional career.”

See the videos from our graduation here:

What do you do when you are at Fifteen Cornwall?

“I love to meet every single trainee, it’s also nice to catch up with the chefs. I cannot leave before getting inside the kitchen. I have to get inside the kitchen and cook with everyone. Then I look for wild food; spinach, rock, fennel. It’s a joy. i want to come everyday but its too far.”

What do you do when you are not at Fifteen Cornwall?

“That is very difficult, when I am not fifteen I am thinking about it.  But there is so much going on, when I’m not there I’ll be at Jamie’s Italian, other restaurants or writing recipes. When I really try to have time off I go in the forest and fields foranging and then thinking about what to cook with it. Fifteen is always there; it’s part of my life. I’m not a workaholic, but I love to cook and this is my life so let there be food.”

How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“WOW… and after seven years its still WOW- what a place! It reminds me so much of my home town in the Amalfi coast. I was born 30m from the sea and Cornwall is exactly the same. But, I have argument with the wind- “Why you blow so much?”, now it’s OK, I’m used to it, I don’t mind, I love it. Shame about the water; a little cold.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen Cornwall…

“There is no such thing,  everything is good. It depends what time of the year I am coming and what’s in season. Whatever they give me I know will taste good. Full of love and passion- the extra ingredient you cant get anywhere else.”

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“I like wine, I like brandy, I like all drink but i drink alot of water!”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“I’ll  tell you what it would be.. I’lll sing you the song you will understand.” Genaro closes his eyes, humms and nods

his head along to A Whiter Shade of Pale. “The reason why is that the song came out when i left my home on the Amalfi coast; so romantic, it’s more the sound, it’s part of happiness and sadness and joy and adventures, which every time you hear the music makes every single man and woman look for adventure.”

Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“So many people, one of the most difficult questions, I have been asked it many times. I will invite the people I most love.”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“Why don’t you read my t-shirt; Jamie made it for me. To make sure I wore it he made me take two. Also the pictures Jamie sent me through text message and email that would make you laugh.”

We’d all like to thank Gennaro for coming and sharing his amazing love and passion with us all!

What do you do when you are at Fifteen Cornwall? 

“Easier for me to tell you what I don’t do. I don’t cook and I don’t serve people!”

What do you do when you are not at Fifteen Cornwall?

“I surf, I grow my own veg, I play in the garden and I surf more”

“How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“Wow, I’ve been here so long I can’t remember my first day…. It was refreshing; totally different to my last job.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen… 

“There’s been so many. anything with meat in it I have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed.” 

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“I am quite partial to a Dark and Stormy. In the day I like a Latte made by Kirk!”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“I go through stages, at the moment I am listening to a lot of Seasick Steve, especially when I am angry… or a Chili Peppers album maybe”

Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“I have to put my wife on their, don’t I?! Oh and my family and all my friends(both of them, we could probably have a window table at Fifteen)!”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“ Man walks into a bar with a giraffe. the giraffe lies down. the Barman says”you can’t leave that lyin’ there” the man says “that’s not a lion that’s a giraffe…”

Emma sat next to us giggles, a lot- well done Steve!