Man Behind the Chef: Matt Worswick
In association with
In the build up to The Staff Canteen Live 2017 - supported by Westlands, at the International Food and Drink Event (IFE) 2017, we are taking a closer look at the chefs who will be joining us on stage.
We dig a little deeper to find out what they are hiding under those chef whites – next up is Matt Worswick, former Great British Menu contestant and head chef at The Latymer in Pennyhill Park.
Matt Worswick took his first culinary step at The Crofters Hotel in Lancashire before moving to the Michelin star St. Martins-on-the-Isle on The Isles of Scilly, working with Kenny Atkinson where he achieved a Michelin Rising Star award in 2007.
Matt says working under David Everritt-Matthias at the two Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Gloucestershire was his ‘finishing school’ and he took these skills to Glenapp Castle where he won a Michelin star aged 26.
This year Matt replaced Michael Wignall as head chef at award-winning restaurant, The Latymer in Pennyhill Park, an Exclusive Hotel & Spa in Bagshot, Surrey.
What item of food do you hate cooking?
Green beans. What’s the point in green beans? They don’t do anything, they’re crap. No one has eaten a green bean and said wow.
What food, if any, are you allergic to?
None.
What’s your favourite ingredient to work with?
I suppose spring time wild garlic. By the time January, February and March comes you start seeing fresh and vibrant root vegetables. I think wild garlic really starts the beginning of the season as you know you’re coming into spring and summer time.
>>> Read more in The Behind The Chef series here
What’s your guilty pleasure food?
Sushi, I love it, I think it’s awesome. It’s just really fresh and clean and full of flavour.
What three ingredients would you take with you to a desert island and why?
One would probably have to be potatoes because they’re really versatile. I would probably take some water as that’s fairly essential and something with high protein. I like using game at the moment. It just really tastes nice and is full of flavour.
If you weren’t a chef what would you be?
Probably unemployed! I’ve done a few jobs before but this is the only one that I have enjoyed.
What radio station do you listen to in the kitchen?
We don’t have radio in the kitchen.
What other kitchen would you most like to work in?
The Man Behind the Curtain is quite cool, I like the stuff he’s doing, he’s not afraid to be different. I also like Gareth Ward who I think is doing good things at Ynyshir. If I was starting again I would probably aim to go to those kinds of places. They’re both different but both doing their own thing.
Traditional cooking methods or modern techniques?
I think people think too much about it. If we think a technique is going to work because it’s going to develop the food and enhance the dish then we will use it. Years ago we did different techniques for the sack of it but we got to the point where if it works it works but some of our simpler dishes use classical techniques and they’re awesome whereas others are more evolved. I think it depends on the dish, I don’t like to say we’re only classical food, I think we’re a bit of both.
Why did you choose to get involved with TSC Live?
I’ve watched The Staff Canteen’s videos for as long as I can remember and people I look up to have always been involved in The Staff Canteen and doing demonstrations and videos. It’s just a great platform for the industry to showcase chefs so it’s a pretty big thing to be a part of.
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