Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Chef's Diary

As the temperature rises outside so does the temperature in the kitchen. The work load shifts sections from the sauce onto the garde manger and garnish as the focus moves towards cold dishes, vegetables and salads.

This is the asparagus, wild garlic and morel season and we have just seen the first of the English Strawberries along with the arrival of the new seasons lamb. It is a season that seems almost too short.

We have tremendous respect for our ingredients and we try to do justice to the hard work and dedication of the suppliers and producers who bring them to us. They take enormous pride in their produce working 16 hour days, in all weathers to bring the best produce into our kitchen. The man who grows the most wonderful potatoes and shallots, drives into London at night to drop the potatoes off at the restaurant at 1am, sometimes we meet him as we are on our way home. He chooses the right product for us at the right time of year for the purpose that we require.

I speak to the Fish supplier in Poole every night, to ask what fish has been caught for me. They also drive overnight dropping the fish to the restaurant at 6am, as do the vegetable suppliers and growers.

There are also the scallop divers, whom I call in the afternoon and tell them what I require and they later call me to tell me what they caught. Fishing and diving for scallops can be very dangerous and the divers are very hardy people with the experience to know exactly where to find premium scallops. Diving for scallops is much more ecologically friendly than using trawlers as the larger scallops are caught whilst the smaller ones are left to grow. Plus the divers do not cause additional harm to other sealife. As scallops grow you can count the rings on the shell almost like those in a tree trunk. In a good year when there is plenty of food the scallops will grow faster producing a larger ring. In a not so good year the scallops will have smaller rings. The largest scallops are around 10-12 years old.

These expert producers and suppliers are just as passionate as we are and we are lucky to have them working with us. After all a chef can only be as good as their ingredients!

The Chef's Diaries are updated on a regular basis by Restaurant Gordon Ramsay Head Chef Clare Smyth.

To view the August 2010 Chef's diary entry please click here.

To view the March 2010 Chef's diary entry please click here.

For more information on Master classses with Clare please click here.

To view the November 2009 Chef's diary entry please click here.

To view the October 2009 Chef's diary entry please click here.

To view the August 2009 Chef's diary entry please click here.

To view the July 2009 Chef's diary entry please click here.