Tim Maddams, head chef at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Canteen restaurant, talks about his experiences on the new River Cottage Autumn show…
Well, filming for the autumn show is in full swing, and fitting in the filming and preparation around my already very hectic schedule is demanding – but I find being involved right the way through from ideas to shows very rewarding. It appeals to my creative side! This series has had its fair share of challenges so far and we aren’t finished yet.
In the first episode, Gill and I were challenged to come up with some good beetroot recipes for the Duck Fair. We were not sure how fair a competition it would be with Hugh as the judge and the competitor! It’s very rewarding as a chef to be given challenges by someone you respect and admire, nerve racking, but rewarding. You really feel that you are at the cutting edge of cookery (no pun intended) and it’s really great to have a chance to play around with old faith full ingredients in new or different ways. Beetroot in ice cream and in an apple crumble! Not your average run of the mill fare I feel. But it seemed to change the minds of some of the skeptics in the crowd.
There was also the wild duck disappointment over which Hugh gave me a fair amount of stick, though I fail to see why the absence of any ducks reflects on me. It was a very surreal situation to be in, myself, Keith (the duck man) and the crew all waiting in the twilight for the action to start and it never did! Still it’s all good fun. Unfortunately it didn’t make it to the final cut but am hoping the non-existent ducks weren’t to blame.
I can’t wait to find out what is happening in the rest of the series, and am looking forward to the challenges, successes and failures along the way. Challenging Hugh’s views on the humble and much maligned cauliflower was not an easy task at all, so keep watching to see if I succeeded…
Catch up on all the goings-on at River Cottage.
Try all the River Cottage Autumn recipes from the show.
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