'I like new challenges and I wanted a place where I could achieve long term goals'

It’s been two months since former Craft Guild of Chefs Young National Chef of the Year winner and great british menu contestant, Ruth Hansom, took on her latest role as executive chef at Swinton Park Hotel.

The Staff Canteen caught up with her to find out how she is finding the move from London to rural North Yorkshire.

Originally from Darlington, Ruth left the North and headed to London aged just 16, she has been ‘self-sufficient’ ever since but when the opportunity came up for her to be closer to family, it felt like the right time.

“I wanted to move out of London for quite a long time, but I wanted to find the right thing,” explained Ruth. “I like new challenges and I wanted a place where I could achieve long term goals. 

“I think with Swinton there's so many different outlets and so many different avenues to explore, it's going to keep me busy and excited. I'm loving it. Especially with the things coming through in the garden now - every day I go out there and there are new things coming in.”

British produce and sesonality 

Ruth, who previously worked at The Princess of Shoreditch and The Ritz, has always loved and supported British produce, locality and small-scale farmers – the Swinton Estate covers 20,000 acres and gives her access to everything she champions.

“We've got the four-acre walled garden which we can come and pick our own stuff from every day and I’m really interested in learning more about that side of things. 

“I’ve always supported seasonality, but here you can really learn, right down to the week - not just this is spring, summer or winter, but the actual weeks and what you need to plan to use as it’s going to be ready.”
The hotel is a huge enterprise with several different food outlets including the fine dining restaurant, Samuels. Ruth explained this needed the most attention as it was ‘a bit stuck and just ticking along’.

“That needed my main focus,” said Ruth. “The next side of things is going to be production. We want to make all of our own jams and charcuterie and things and be able to sell them to the public outside of the restaurants.” 

She has been fortunate to get the opportunity to design the new kitchen, which is being built, the previous one ‘needed a bit of an update’.

“It’ll make things easier for the chefs,” she explained. “It’s fun to do. Even just stupid things like when I'm plating, I wash my hands, and at the minute I've got to keep walking to the back of the kitchen to do it – the new design will make service run a lot smoother.” 

Making the most of the estate's ingredients

Ruth is looking forward to showcasing her own style and said: “There’s going to be a lot more foraged items. I think when I was in London, they weren't relevant – yes you could forage a little bit of wild garlic here and there. But I think here, there's a lot more ingredients that we can utilise that are in abundance.”

She added: “It gives us a challenge as well. You don't want to give guests, for example, asparagus, the same way. You've got to be a bit creative. People need to get away from being scared of putting the same ingredient on the menu more than once. I think historically we've always said, you can't look at a menu and there be ingredients used over and over again. But I think, actually, we can, but as chefs, we need to find ways to cook them differently or preserve them. I don't think you need to be scared of using an ingredient repetitively. Just use it in a different way.” 

Ruth has introduced a tasting menu at Samuels, to her it made sense to refine the dishes as she is working with a small, young team. 

She said: “They have to really focus on and refine the dishes so we can give the best that we can to the guests.” 

Game season

One big challenge she is facing when it comes to an abundance of an ingredient is pheasant. Once game season starts in August, they expect five to six thousand of them to be shot on the estate but ‘there’s only so much they can use’.

“I’d like to give it to college students so that they can learn how to use game,” said Ruth. “I think it's a great thing that we've got in Britain. It's something we should be proud of our game season. And I’m really trying to pass that on to the next generation of chefs.” 

“So, any lecturers reading this, please get in touch!” 

Accolades and achieving those

Ruth is no stranger to accolades, and she aims to keep achieving and improving at Swinton, she said: “I definitely think they already do everything that they need to do. It's just making sure that we're doing it consistently and really getting the word out there and making sure the guests can come and experience all of that as well.

"Whether it's going down to the garden and picking some things or going out on a shoot. If this is then on the menu you eat as a guest, it’s a cool story.” 

She’s also keen to get her hands on the Michelin Green Star which was brought in by the guide a few years ago to highlight sustainable restaurants.

“Obviously, a red one would also be lovely! But I think what we do here, it just kind of fits hand-in-hand with the green criteria. And obviously, to get three rosettes again would be nice.” 

She added: “It's not the be all and end all and for me guest feedback, is more important than anything but if Michelin want to give us a star, I won’t say no.” 

Hospitality role models

Ruth is a hugely inspiring chef and role model to young chefs coming into the industry and in particular to female chefs. She, along with chefs who inspire her such as Lisa Goodwin-Allen and Monica Galetti, have shown what you can achieve in the industry. 

“One thing for me, looking into the industry is how people manage to achieve what they do, work evenings and weekends and have a child. I think it's really kind of admirable that they've done that and set time aside for their family. It shows that it can be done because I think a lot of women, they think they have to drop out of the industry or go into a different part of the industry.

“They feel like they have to compromise the standard of restaurant that they work in. Lisa's got a Michelin star and still managed to have family.”

She added: “I think people like to say it is changing but maybe it's not changing at the rate that it should be. 

“But at the same time, there's lots of people pushing forward and trying to make sure that it is.”