Famed Northumbrian grower Ken Holland features in a new book about chefs and growers working together
As anyone who reads this magazine regularly and enjoys the regular column from renowned grower Ken Holland already knows, the UK is in the grips of a resurgence in growing food, both at home and, as in the case of Ken, to supply the growing number of leading chefs who demand the freshest and best, straight from the ground.
The nearest kitchens Ken supplies from his plot at Vallum Farm – the artisan community on Hadrian’s Wall – are just across the paddock at Vallum’s on-site Restaurant and Tea Room.
At the Restaurant, the kitchen team share Holland’s passion for the superb micro and heritage varieties nurtured in the Vallum Kitchen Garden’s forcing tunnels and raised beds. They are featured in a new book, out this month, which tours the gardens and restaurants of the UK, focusing on the close relationships enjoyed by chefs and gardeners nationwide. Kitchen Garden Experts also includes tips on choosing, growing, harvesting and cooking, including the recipes on these pages, devised using Holland’s veg.
Other chefs and growers featured in the book include illustrious names such as Raymond Blanc and Anne-Marie Owens at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Sir Terence Conran at Barton Court, and Simon Rogan at L’Enclume who has also worked with Holland in the past.
Holland and his team are groundbreaking with their experimental ‘forcing’ polytunnels, which protect crops of pea shoots, broad bean shoots, clamped beetroot leaves and nasturtium leaves.
Vallum artisan community, Military Road, Newcastle, NE18 0LL, www.vallumfarm.co.uk
Kitchen Garden Experts by Cinead McTernan, £20 Frances Lincoln. Photography by Jason Ingram
RECIPE: Uchiki kuri squash soup and a roasted wedge
RECIPE: North Shields crab, Florence fennel and toasted sourdough
