The Pope Joan founder and creative director of Four Pillars Gin now boasts another role, that of the self-titled Culinary Captain at the Mornington Peninsula’s Montalto. Working amid the estate’s lush three-acre kitchen garden, Wilkinson may well have found his home away from home. Here, EatWell talks to the chef about his accidental journey into the food world, the power of growing and the joy in sharing a meal with loved ones.
Matt, tell us about your journey into the food world. Where did it begin and how?
It’s a funny story really as I hated cooking to begin with. My parents split when I was little and my father moved above a pub where I started working from a young age. When I left school, I wanted to run a pub but at the age of 16 I couldn’t drink, let alone manage a pub, so I did a hospitality management course. Part of the course was spending one day in the kitchen, which I hated, but my tutor John Stevenson (a former chef) saw something in me and arranged for me to go to work at a boutique hotel on the outskirts of London where his son was the sous chef. It was a two-week placement during which I was supposed to do one week front of house and one week in the kitchen. The crafty old bugger organised two weeks in the kitchen, and after day one I was hooked. The next morning after my first night’s service, I got called into the office with the head chef and general manager of the hotel. Now no good had ever come of me being called into an office before, so it was to my great surprise that they sat me down and offered me a job. I started one month later and have never looked back.
Bu hikaye Eat Well dergisinin Issue #36 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Eat Well dergisinin Issue #36 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
ARE YOU TO FU enough?
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion about tofu. Tofu is a very popular plant-based protein for vegans and vegetarians, but now this humble bean curd is starting to shine for meat lovers too as an alternative source of protein.
Sweet TRAYBAKES
Whether you want to feed a group of people or make a batch of treats for the week, traybaking is a no-fuss way to cook up something sweet and easy that will please everyone. Your family and friends will love you when you offer them some of our: cinnamon scrolls; fruity chocolate; espresso brownies; lemon & coconut slice; or ginger cake with brown butter frosting.
ROLL UP
When you roll food, whether in Lebanese bread, a thin pancake or whatever you choose, you can create a parcel of nutrition that is perfectly suited to your own tastes and needs. Here are some roll-up recipes that will suit every occasion including: mango, snow pea, & sprout rice paper rolls; oat crepes with coconut yoghurt & mixed berries; or beef meatball & tzatziki flatbreads.
RICE BOWL Lunches
If you are working from home, or even enjoying your weekend, and lunchtime rolls around but you have no plans for lunch, then a rice bowl is an ideal saviour.
PLANT-BASED PIES
Pies are a piece of gastronomic brilliance: a filling with a case and lid you can eat is food genius. The first pies date back to Egyptian times and there is a recipe for chicken pie that was carved into stone more than 4000 years ago. For millennia, however, the pie casing was mostly used to cook the filling, but for around 500 years or more we have been eating the pie crust too.
20 FOOD CRAVING HACKS
Decipher the deeper causes of your cravings and discover tricks to curtail them.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L)
Eggplant is a wonderful option for vegans and vegetarians, extremely nutritious and highly versatile in the kitchen.
5 PANTRY SAVIOURS
Whether you're cooking a simple breakfast or something more exotic, here are five pantry food staples you should have on hand to cook plenty of delicious meals in the comfort of your own home.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Cucumbers are delicious fresh but they also offer plenty more options in the kitchen.
Our Chefs
Meet the chefs who bring this issue's recipes to you: Lisa Guy, Georgia Harding, Lee Holmes, Sammy Jones, Raquel Neofit, Naomi Sherman and Ames Starr.