12th April 2013
Winter 2009 - Chef Profile - Mike Robinson
Name: Mike Robinson Age: 40 Current Job: Chef Co-owner of the Pot Kiln in Berkshire and the Harwood Arms in London
Mike Robinson has irons in many fires. He cooks, presents on TV, and writes books as well as teaches people about game at his cookery school in Yattendon, Berkshire. But game and wild food are his passions.
A keen lover of the outdoor life, mountaineering in Chamonix in France first brought him into contact with food and cooking, and being a dishwasher for a short time was his first unlikely step on the culinary ladder. Then, while running a business supplying chefs to ski chalets, he was spotted by a production company and asked to present Chalet Slaves, and so his presenting career began.
He is now a regular presenter and guest chef on UKTV Food's Great Food Live show and BBC2's Saturday Kitchen, and he recently appeared on BBC1’s Countryfile programme shooting game and preparing it for the oven.
Game is key to his menu at The Pot Kiln where locally sourced food has a predominantly “wild” side.
His other business interests include The Pot Kiln Anywhere (outside catering), The Mike Robinson Game & Wild Food Cookery School, The Harwood Arms where his partner is well known chef Brett Graham, plus a deer stalking and guiding business.
His latest book entitled: Fit for Table, is a step by step guide to game preparation.
You are keen for people to learn more about cooking game. How do you go about this?
Cooking DVDs work for people who are interested – consumers, customers here at the school and in general. Mine are advertised through clips on YouTube. Each are 15 minutes long and you can follow the method step by step. They are for people interested and wanting to have a go.
Do you ever get involved with competitions or college students?
I judge from time to time. But I don’t think most catering colleges take game and wild food seriously.
The one exception is Jose Souto [chef lecturer] at Westminster Kingsway College.
Game seems to be becoming popular with more people keen to try it. Why do you think that’s so?
A number of reasons – fashion, health, good value and it’s aspirational. People like the idea of foraging and being out and about in the countryside.
Where do you do most of your game shooting?
I have permission to shoot on three local estates but obviously I have to bear in mind that when it’s shooting season the owners will have guests who will be shooting.
Is there ever any danger of supply shortage?
Wild food is fabulously inconsistent in supply. It’s always down to the weather. Rabbits can only be shot at night in flashlight, and you can’t do that when it’s wet. But on a good evening you could bag 100 and that would last me a week. If bought you might pay £1 for a rabbit, and skinned for £2. These are free. If we had to use farmed rabbit, it would come from France.
Rabbit is one of your specialities. Are wild ones harder
to cook?
Yes, because it is at the bottom of the food chain. Wild rabbits are like athletes. Fast twitching muscles, and there is no fat between the meat. Farmed ones are bigger and fatter. If used they need less cooking time. The best way to cook game, in this instance rabbit, is confiting it, and I always use goose fat. With confit the rabbit keeps its moisture. Wild rabbit takes up to three hours but when it’s ready, a dish such as confit rabbit with cider, mustard and cream will take six minutes to finish – just what a restaurant dish should be. If you learn about assembling and mise on place, and the kitchen is well organised, it’s
a doddle.
You’re an advocate of goose fat and have recently teamed with producers Highgrove Fine Foods. Why do you prefer it?
You can leave game in goose fat and it is well preserved, completely sterile, and you can use the fat several times. A classic goose fat dish is cassoulet. It’s a good fat – not a saturated fat. When you look at the French who live on it, they live to be 100.
In my kitchens we get through goose fat like it's going out of fashion. With its rich texture and subtle savoury flavour, it has rightly become famous for making the ultimate roast potatoes. But it is versatile and I use it in most of the dishes in my menu – confits, stews, roasted vegetables, chunky chips and savoury pie pastry. I couldn’t do without it.
A keen lover of the outdoor life, mountaineering in Chamonix in France first brought him into contact with food and cooking, and being a dishwasher for a short time was his first unlikely step on the culinary ladder. Then, while running a business supplying chefs to ski chalets, he was spotted by a production company and asked to present Chalet Slaves, and so his presenting career began.
He is now a regular presenter and guest chef on UKTV Food's Great Food Live show and BBC2's Saturday Kitchen, and he recently appeared on BBC1’s Countryfile programme shooting game and preparing it for the oven.
Game is key to his menu at The Pot Kiln where locally sourced food has a predominantly “wild” side.
His other business interests include The Pot Kiln Anywhere (outside catering), The Mike Robinson Game & Wild Food Cookery School, The Harwood Arms where his partner is well known chef Brett Graham, plus a deer stalking and guiding business.
His latest book entitled: Fit for Table, is a step by step guide to game preparation.
You are keen for people to learn more about cooking game. How do you go about this?
Cooking DVDs work for people who are interested – consumers, customers here at the school and in general. Mine are advertised through clips on YouTube. Each are 15 minutes long and you can follow the method step by step. They are for people interested and wanting to have a go.
Do you ever get involved with competitions or college students?
I judge from time to time. But I don’t think most catering colleges take game and wild food seriously.
The one exception is Jose Souto [chef lecturer] at Westminster Kingsway College.
Game seems to be becoming popular with more people keen to try it. Why do you think that’s so?
A number of reasons – fashion, health, good value and it’s aspirational. People like the idea of foraging and being out and about in the countryside.
Where do you do most of your game shooting?
I have permission to shoot on three local estates but obviously I have to bear in mind that when it’s shooting season the owners will have guests who will be shooting.
Is there ever any danger of supply shortage?
Wild food is fabulously inconsistent in supply. It’s always down to the weather. Rabbits can only be shot at night in flashlight, and you can’t do that when it’s wet. But on a good evening you could bag 100 and that would last me a week. If bought you might pay £1 for a rabbit, and skinned for £2. These are free. If we had to use farmed rabbit, it would come from France.
Rabbit is one of your specialities. Are wild ones harder
to cook?
Yes, because it is at the bottom of the food chain. Wild rabbits are like athletes. Fast twitching muscles, and there is no fat between the meat. Farmed ones are bigger and fatter. If used they need less cooking time. The best way to cook game, in this instance rabbit, is confiting it, and I always use goose fat. With confit the rabbit keeps its moisture. Wild rabbit takes up to three hours but when it’s ready, a dish such as confit rabbit with cider, mustard and cream will take six minutes to finish – just what a restaurant dish should be. If you learn about assembling and mise on place, and the kitchen is well organised, it’s
a doddle.
You’re an advocate of goose fat and have recently teamed with producers Highgrove Fine Foods. Why do you prefer it?
You can leave game in goose fat and it is well preserved, completely sterile, and you can use the fat several times. A classic goose fat dish is cassoulet. It’s a good fat – not a saturated fat. When you look at the French who live on it, they live to be 100.
In my kitchens we get through goose fat like it's going out of fashion. With its rich texture and subtle savoury flavour, it has rightly become famous for making the ultimate roast potatoes. But it is versatile and I use it in most of the dishes in my menu – confits, stews, roasted vegetables, chunky chips and savoury pie pastry. I couldn’t do without it.