Paul Grimshaw: ‘It’s our duty to teach young chefs about produce’

Can you tell us about the initiative to teach students of WestKing College about seasonal fruit and vegetables? 

It’s not something we solely do for them, as we still do it for all of our customers in terms of what’s in season. We try to push British produce wherever we can, because there are obvious benefits in terms of where this produce comes from and the low mileage. It’s also good for the economy and generally tastes better, too, because it hasn’t been all around the world or around Europe. 

This information is something we pushed to the college and they have been very receptive to it, because they want their students to appreciate how powerful and how good British produce can be. We’re always going to import stock such as bananas and melons, because the UK’s climate is just not right for that sort of tropical fruit. where we can, we obviously try to push local produce to the college for their menus and teaching material, which I think is commendable. 

While most of our customers already have a good understanding of the seasons and what’s in season (because they have a bit more experience), I think it’s part of our duty to equip these chefs-in-training with this type of knowledge. If they become star chefs sometime in the future or even chefs at various companies and restaurants, or even contract caterers in the next two to 10 years, their appreciation for the environment and the seasons should make all their jobs all the more easier. It’s about planting the seed, excuse the pun, that’s part of it.   

What sparked the idea behind this initiative and why is it important for the careers of these culinary students?

We’ve supplied the college for a number of years at this point, and we have gotten on very well with the lecturers. I think that their teaching and how they pass on the information to their students is fantastic; I’ve seen it first hand. 

The lecturers are trying to get new students more involved to gain more appreciation for the supply chain, and again, the seasons, and working with the best ingredients, whether that is from the UK or overseas all year round. All the lecturers over at the college are all extremely knowledgeable, not just in fruits and vegetables, but also meat, seafood and game, and we are all passionate about produce. Part of this scheme is passing along a bit of passion for the same things to the next generation.

We want to convey to these students that it’s not just down to the teams in the warehouse, that this product might have gone through a trip across the world and could have come from anywhere in the UK and Europe. They need to understand how precious all this stuff is because when it’s pulled out of the ground and put in a box, it arrives on a plane for them to cut up. It could’ve been a year’s worth of husbandry to look after this produce; come rain or shine, farmers are out there doing a good job, so I think it’s important to pass along this appreciation. We work with a lot of fantastic suppliers at New Covent Garden Market, which hasn’t just happened overnight. These partnerships have been built up over the last 40 years and we rely heavily on their knowledge, and obviously, their expertise because they bring some fantastic produce whether it be from somewhere in the UK or anywhere in the world.

In what ways are chefs involved in the procurement of their stock, and how? 

I think knowing what is UK-grown and what comes from further afield is very valuable, particularly as they get older and they go into restaurants as chefs. Certainly, the people they will be working for will want a low carbon menu wherever they can and there is absolutely zero argument to not buying British when the quality is there. 

I think where the products come from, and even knowing what sort of yield they might get from different products at different times of the year, influences the way they, as chefs, will have to cook to bring out the best in the produce they have. In one part of the year, a product might be larger or easier to work with – a classic example is something like strawberries, which tend to be much better when they’re from the UK (when they are in season). This is the sort of thing the college works a lot within, and they have to because they’ve got pastry teams that would need an understanding of English strawberries, and how good they are, the level of sweetness they have. 

Yorkshire rhubarb is one we’re currently working on with the students. It’s not the same rhubarb outside in your grandma’s vegetable patch that is green and woody, and you need a teaspoon of sugar with every mouthful. Yorkshire rhubarb is special in that way, because it’s pink and because of where it’s grown in the dark to stop it from photosynthesizing. You could almost eat it raw – I’m not suggesting you do for a minute – but the sweetness is already there, so knowing the difference between produce grown outdoors and produce indoors could make the difference in a crumble. 

I think that understanding that we can play a small part in passing on this information, telling them where it’s from, who grows it, blah, blah, blah is really good before the lecturer then takes over to tell them the rest. They are also equally as passionate about that sort of thing as I am. The whole market is, really. We just all hope and pray that the information filters down to the students, which I’m sure it does.

What sort of dishes will the students come up with, and while the produce is from Britain, will there be other cultural inspirations? 

We basically come up with a couple of ingredients every month for the college, supporting them with imported products and British grown produce every month of the school year. Obviously, there’s not a lot I can do about June, July and August when they’re not there. 

In January, we supplied them with king cabbage, which is a British product that is a little bit different to work with because it’s green and purple. We also supplied pomegranates, which had to be imported. I know a lot of the college’s menus use pomegranates because not only are these used in classes, but they are a staple at their on-site public restaurant. They’re not only teaching the students how to work with these ingredients, they’re actually seeing it being presented to the public where you and I go in.

Is this initiative something that the NCGM would like to keep doing with WestKing College or expand to other culinary schools, and why? 

I think this initiative with WestKing came about because the college is so near. There may be other colleges that might like to do this with us, but WestKing was our first port of call because they are closer to us. I know that the market authority definitely wants to carry on with Westminster Kingsway, as do we, but whether that relationship will be extended to other schools? At the moment, I don’t know, but I can’t see any reason why not, because everyone here is open to passing on the information and showing off fantastic produce.

I know that New Covent Garden Market has organised lots of school trips before. It’s a little bit trickier with schools, because sometimes if they’re a little bit younger, it’s harder to get them out of bed early enough to go to a produce market and of course safety has to be considered. We’ve always entertained groups of 15 to 20 students at a time and we must’ve done almost 100 guest visits over the years.