Marcus Wareing’s Tales from a Kitchen Garden episode 1: Marcus Wareing, the renowned chef, has recently embraced a more tranquil lifestyle at his quaint Sussex smallholding. Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of city life, he’s immersed himself in the rhythms of the countryside. At the heart of his new journey, Marcus has made the delightful decision to bring in new pigs, aiming not just for companionship but also to acquire the finest meat for his culinary creations.
Beyond just acquiring livestock, Marcus is keen on fostering a deep connection with the community around him. He generously shares the bountiful produce from his smallholding with the neighboring locals. Recently, he cooked up a lavish feast, drawing inspiration from a dish that holds a special place in his heart, a cherished family favourite from his early years.
Not one to settle, Marcus embarked on a journey to North Yorkshire. His mission? To meet the rare and distinguished Mangalitza pigs. These pigs aren’t just known for their rich and profound flavour, but they also captivate with their spirited and playful personalities. But Marcus’s adventures don’t stop there. Back at his smallholding, he takes on the intricate tasks that come with rural living. From carefully preserving rhubarb to sharing its delightful taste at local smallholder gatherings, to the satisfying process of harvesting apples and extracting their sumptuous juice, Marcus finds joy and purpose in every moment. All this while reminiscing and drawing inspiration from the beloved dishes of his childhood.
Marcus Wareing’s Tales from a Kitchen Garden episode 1
Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in Knightsbridge. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals, following the departure of Michel Roux Jr. from the programme.
Wareing first worked at the Savoy Hotel under chef Anton Edelmann in 1988 at the age of 18 where he was employed as a commis chef, before leaving in 1993 to join Albert Roux at Michelin starred Le Gavroche where he first met Gordon Ramsay. Stints at other restaurants in New York City, Amsterdam and at Gravetye Manor in Sussex followed. Wareing joined Gordon Ramsay’s Aubergine when it opened in 1993, where he became Sous Chef behind Head Chef Ramsay and would go on to work with him over the course of the following 15 years, which led to Wareing being called Ramsay’s protégé. While he was at Aubergine in 1995, Wareing was awarded the title of Young Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association.
He would later credit Ramsay with teaching him to cook, describing it as “the most important time in my life”. He left Aubergine for a year in 1995 to work with Daniel Boulud in America, and Guy Savoy in France. His return to the UK was also to be his first head chef role, of new restaurant L’Oranger, which was owned by A-Z Restaurants, which had also owned Aubergine, with stakes held by both Wareing and Ramsay. At the age of 25 he earned his first Michelin star as head chef whilst at L’Oranger. He gave Angela Hartnett her first job in a restaurant.
Kitchen garden
The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French jardin potager) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for growing plants for eating, flavouring food, and often some medicinal plants, especially historically. The plants are grown for use by the owner and their household, though some seasonal surpluses are given away or sold; a commercial operation growing a variety of vegetables is a market garden (or a farm). The kitchen garden is different not only in its history, but also its functional design. It differs from an allotment in that a kitchen garden is on private land attached or very close to the dwelling. It is regarded as essential that the kitchen garden could be quickly accessed by the cook.
Historically, most small country gardens were probably mainly or entirely used as kitchen gardens, but in large country houses the kitchen garden was a segregated area, normally rectangular and enclosed by a wall or hedge, walls being useful for training fruit trees as well as offering shelter from wind. Such large examples very often included greenhouses and furnace-heated hothouses for more tender delicacies, and also flowers for display in the house; an orangery was the ultimate type.
In large houses, the kitchen garden was typically placed diagonally to the rear and side of the house, not impeding the views from the front and rear facades, but still quick to access. In some cases, hardy flowers for cutting were grown outside there, rather than in the flower garden. A large country house hardly expected to buy any vegetables, herbs or fruit, and the surplus was often distributed as presents; the walled example at Croome Court in England covers seven acres, and the gardens have a large “Temple Greenhouse”, an orangery in the form of a Roman Temple.
