FORGED on the farm,
FIRED on the grill
Farm to fork, plot to plate. Call it what you will, but if you want to sample a fine dining example of the expression, head to a village in the Lake District, says Rupert Bates
I used to ‘work’ on a farm. Well, I rented a farm cottage and, as part of the tenancy agreement, needed to be an agricultural worker, so I did one day’s harvest to tick the accommodation box – and was promptly sent home early due to a severe bout of hayfever.
However, I was out in the field long enough to have lunch – a cheese and pickle sandwich, if I remember correctly. There might have been an apple, but sadly no cider.
Now, 30 years later, and the farmer’s lunch has not only been reimagined; it comes with a side of Michelin stars.
Welcome to Our Farm at Cartmel in Cumbria’s Lake District, where simply referring to its ‘farm to fork experience’ doesn’t cut the thinnest ear of corn.
“Our Farm was built with a clear vision in mind – to strengthen the link between our food, its development and the environment, and to further develop the relationship between cooking and growing,” says Simon Rogan.
Now Rogan would be delighted if you called him a farmer, but he is best known as chef patron of L’Enclume, which, two years ago was awarded its third Michelin star. Our Farm is under a mile from L’Enclume, a Lake District restaurant housed in an old 13th century blacksmith’s workshop. Enclume is French for anvil.
After a traditional farm tour, learning about the provenance of the food on the table, you may wish to dine finely at L’Enclume – think fritter of duroc pig and smoked eel with lovage and fermented sweetcorn. Or you might prefer to dine al fresco, as the smoke billows off the Rescoldo parrilla grill at the farm. No need for lunchbox sandwiches here.
Tending the barbecue you will find Liam Fitzpatrick, head chef of Our Farm. “After a farm tour, explaining what is growing and how the produce will be used in our restaurant ingredients, guests can then have a feast over fire. It might be a short rib of beef with vegetables harvested from the farm that morning. We started it last year and this year Our Farm was awarded Best Farm to Table Restaurant by the Good Food Guide,” says Fitzpatrick.
“Our Farm is the backbone of our restaurants. It’s our place of inspiration when it comes to finding new textures or flavours and is the starting point for each dish that finds its way on to our menus. ‘A Day at Our Farm’ was created to showcase the passion that goes into growing produce from seed and to offer guests a deeper and more immersive farm experience.”
Originally from Widnes, near Liverpool, Fitzpatrick fell in love with cooking when his uncle turned part of his furniture shop into a restaurant. He moved on to various kitchens in the area, including The Box Tree in Ilkley, Yorkshire, before heading to Italy and then returning to the UK.
He joined L’Enclume in 2014 as chef de partie, going on to become head chef at Rogan & Co before taking on the role at Our Farm, which includes overseeing the preserves and the supply of farm produce and foraged foods, chiming with the seasons and designed for all of Rogan’s Lake District restaurants, as well as Aulis London – Fitzpatrick the embodiment of the plot-to-plate ethos.
Alongside Fitzpatrick and beside the Our Farm barbecue is Paul Burgalières, executive chef at L’Enclume. Burgalières, from Limoges in France, trained, cooked and travelled far and wide, including the three Michelin star Geranium restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he became assistant head chef, before arriving in the Cumbrian countryside.
“It was there under Rasmus Kofoed that I learnt to appreciate the role of nature in gastronomy,” says Burgalières, who joined L’Enclume in 2017, playing a pivotal role in its third Michelin star.
“We are always talking about what’s growing on the farm and how it can be used on our menus and also working closely with Lake District farmers and other producers. Everything is hyper-local, be it the pigs just down the road, or the lambs in the neighbouring field. We are very lucky to have such amazing produce on our doorstep.”
Year-round fresh ingredients, while also creating pickles, preserves and condiments such as red onion chutney and cucumber jam, give Rogan’s restaurants “the flexibility and productivity needed to ensure they continue to evolve with every season.”
“By growing everything ourselves, we can better understand and place more control over the ingredients we use,” says Rogan.
It is not just visitors and diners who they are passionate about educating and inspiring, but the next generation of chefs too, immersing apprentices into the culture of earth to table.
Unsurprisingly, vegetables often star at the Our Farm BBQ feasts – cabbages as kings.
“I love a slow-cooked brisket, but you can create just as incredible flavours with charred vegetables. Everything tastes better over open fire,” says Fitzpatrick.
I am intrigued with the Coal Oil for sale at the shop and discover it is the product of pouring rape seed oil over the charcoal embers of a BBQ. Allow the coal to infuse in the oil for 24 hours, before straining it. Then add the oil to something like venison tartare or mackerel and it tastes as if it has been cooked over flames, even though raw. Pour the oil over meat, fish or vegetables, or use as a marinade for a grilled, smoky flavour.
The al fresco feasts in the Cartmel Valley transport Burgalières back to the west of France, and, coming from a family of butchers, memories of big cuts of meat on the barbecue for Sunday lunch in the summers of his childhood.
“BBQ brings friends and family together – that sense of community that can get lost amid our busy lives. Spend time at the table.”
The produce grown at Our Farm informs the menu of a restaurant crowned the world’s best by La Liste, and vice-versa, flavour profiles experimented with, new techniques tried, and L’Enclume itself cooks on a kamado grill outside and a Kasai in the kitchen.
The Lake District is worth a visit for a myriad of reasons, but you can also enjoy a BBQ box to be delivered to your door, featuring a sirloin steak with fermented bean dressing, a pulled Mojo pork burger with Birria dipping sauce and sides including Hispi cabbage with yeast and chive crumb.
Rogan, the son of a fruit and veg salesman, believes his approach to farming, with no pesticides or fertilisers, and focusing on small scale local production, is the future of agriculture and sustainable dining.
“We hope the future will only bring us closer to operating full zero-waste restaurants, healthier soil and more ways to compost than before,” says Rogan, with his restaurant collection extending from the Lake District to London, from Malta to Hong Kong and Thailand.
“We hope to establish an educational platform for future generations and to further develop the relationship between cooking and growing.”
Hope and Hispi cabbage – chefs and growers working side by side “to create the ingredients used in all our restaurants.”
“Our Farm is an extension of our kitchens, applying the same ethos, drive and attention to detail. Our aim is to grow near perfect produce in a natural and sustainable way.”
The next time a ploughman suggests lunch, I know which field I’m heading to.
