Chef Fraser Thomson
Fraser Thomson was Head Pastry Chef at The Square, before joining Pots & Co to make our puddings. We thought it was time for you all to get to know him! He has some great tips for Christmas.
Q. Why did you become a Chef?
I had a place at Uni to do Geography and decided that it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.
I was working in a pub at the time – the food was pretty average and I started to think how to make it better and then realised that I had a genuine interest in food and hospitality. I looked at alternative courses and found a degree course with business management and restaurant management with a lot of culinary studies. My parents weren’t so happy – I come from a family of Doctors - but I have redeemed myself now!
I worked 35-40 hours/week throughout my Uni years. My first role was with Bar Estilo. Whilst it wasn’t scratch cooking there was a lot of batch cooking and reheating. They were very particular about ingredients. It was actually voted as best restaurant that year. I then did a placement year at Midsummer House which was crazy. They were pushing for 2 Michelin stars at the time. I was young and inexperienced at this point – I was fired about 3 times a week! But I learnt so much.
Q. Best experience working in restaurants?
Obviously meeting my wife, who worked at front of house! But also…when I left Uni I went to work at Bath Priory, it had a Michelin star. The head chef used to be at Le Manoir for a couple of years. I started as a Commis and worked 90 hours a week. I learnt a lot about organising myself. When Phil offered me a job at The Square, the first few months were hard. I was new and pretty inexperienced. The best point was actually after about 6 months when I realised that ‘I could do it’. I had the respect of the kitchen and my time and realised ‘I can do this!’. I stayed there for 5 years
Q. Has your restaurant experience brought anything in particular to your role in pots & co?
When I worked with Phil (Howard), he didn’t ever have any insecurities over keeping things simple. He had an appreciation of simple, delicious things. Food didn’t need to be fancy to be amazing. I think this has reinforced my own tastes and the desserts that we make at Pots & Co.
Q. What is the best meal that you have ever had?
Guy Savoy. The Sous Chef and Head Somellier at Midsummer House said they were going to Paris on their days off. They were going to Pierre Gagnaire for dinner and Guy Savoy for lunch. I’d never heard of either of these places! They are very different restaurants. Pierre Gagnaire is a molecular gastro restaurant. Crazy, amazing and opulent. Guy Savoy is very classical. Both have 3 Michelin stars and both world renowned. When we went to Guy Savoy for lunch, he came and spoke to me in French. I didn’t have a clue what he was saying but the food was amazing! I think this is when I started appreciating classical food. I saw the comparison in such a small amount of time between the two styles of cooking. It was a great comparison. The best meal I’ve ever had. Everything was perfect – the service was perfect, the food was perfect. At the age I was and the experience I’d had, it was a real eye opener to see how good classical food and service could be.
Q. We have asked about the best meal that you’ve had, now what is your food guilty pleasure?
Mc D’s 😮
(shock horror)
Q. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of becoming a chef?
Work at the absolute best places you can. Don’t focus on getting to the highest level. Focus on working at the best places. You can’t fast track it.
Q. With Christmas almost upon us what are your Turkey tips?
One year I poached a Turkey crown in a big stock pot and then just coloured it up afterwards – it was a technique I learnt at Midsummer house many years ago – the result was great!
If you want to try this, take the legs and wings off, cut the bottom of the back off and turn it into a turkey crown I tend to bone out the legs and remove the sinue . Tenderise it (bash it!). You can then put stuffing into the middle and roll it. Wrap it tightly in clingfilm first and put into the fridge so that it sets. Then you can tie it up and roast it.
You can then either do the same with the breasts or cook them on the crown. You can do this with a whole turkey. So for a turkey it would probably need around 25 minutes. Once poached you should colour the bird by frying in a frying pan. Once it has all of the colour you can then cook in the oven and slow cook[FT1] .
Years ago, at Midsummer House, all poultry would be poached before being roasted.
If you are cooking a piece of beef rather than turkey, my top tip would be colour up your piece of beef in a pan on the hob and then put in the over at 120 – 130 to slow cook – get it to 56-57 degrees and then let it rest for a decent, long period of time.
Q. If you wanted to impress, what would you serve for dessert at a dinner party?
Well obviously one of our pots and if I wanted to, I’d ‘Michelin’ it up with the presentation. But being a Chef, if I wanted to cook it would be an Apple Tarte Tatin. The key here is a copper pan if you have one. This conducts the heat better (as it’s all about even caramel). The apples need to be eating apples. Try to get an apple in season as it can break up, if not. Cox’s, Granny Smiths and Braeburns but make sure they’re in season – when we do this in a restaurant, we do test runs to make sure that they don’t break up. What to serve with it? Ice cream, definitely. We used to serve a garlic & bay leaf foam with it at Midsummer House. It was a crème anglaise infused with vanilla, bay leaf and garlic. Amazing…otherwise vanilla ice cream!
Q. So, how would you present some of our puddings at a dinner party?
Ice cream is always a good thing to have with a dessert and with our crème brulee you could add a fruit ripple ice cream. You can do this at home if you want by making a blackberry compote and then take the vanilla ice cream, let it defrost a bit and layer the compote and ice cream – and voila – you have a ripple!
Our Salted Caramel and Chocolate Ganache would go very well with some praline or a salted caramel ice cream.
With our lemon & lime posset I’d probably serve it just with a small homemade biscuit. Here is a recipe if you’d like to make some to go with your lemon & lime posset over the Christmas break.
Almond Amaretti
Makes – 20
Egg Whites 142.5g
Ground Almonds 500g
Sugar 375g
Vanilla Essence 2.5g
Almond Essence 5g
Honey 7.5g
1. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly until they form a homogenous paste.
2. Weigh the paste out in to 50g pieces and roll into a ball.
3. Roll each ball in icing sugar and position on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
4. Give each ball a tweak on the top and leave to dry out for at least half an hour.
5. Bake in the oven at 180C until golden brown, the amaretti biscuits should expand slightly and crack giving them their classical appearance.
6. Eat straight away, allow to cool, or store in an airtight container for a rainy day – enjoy!
Then roast it for 10 minutes or so just to finish it off
Happy Christmas!