‘Big cheese’ chefs fill vacuum with Welsh recipes

A QUARTET of “big cheese” cooks have been busy promoting “worldclass” Welsh produce on social media.

Each of the chefs came up with a signature recipe for a campaign launched by South Caernarfon Creameries (SCC), Chwilog, near Pwllheli.

The idea was to showcase Welsh ingredients that can be used with cheeses from the co-operative’s Dragon range.

SCC said it devised its #TheBigCheese campaign to compensate for this summer’s loss of a shop window for Welsh food and drink. The four cooks included Caernarfon’s TV cook Chris Roberts and Sam Lomas, pictured, head chef at Halen Môn’s Tide/Llanw café on Anglesey. Joining them were BBC MasterChef contestant Imran Nathoo from Cardiff, and Great British Bake Off contestant Michelle Evans-Fecci from Tenby. For his dish Chris Roberts, 35, married a Dragon smoked cheddar sauce, with a brisket of Welsh Black beef cooked overnight in a smoker.

“I wanted something special for my recipe,” said Chris, who specialises in flame cooking – he’s just finished recording a second series of Bwyd Epic Chris (Epic Food Chris) for S4C.

SCC already has a close relationship with Halen Môn, making Sam Lomas a natural partner for the campaign – he helped develop SCC’s maplewood smoked cheese. For his dish he used this cheese to create bacon and sea beet tarts, using local ingredients.

“North Wales is an area with so much potential,” said Sam, who worked with chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at his River Cottage restaurant for more than three years.

“There are so many hidden gems and the range of locally produced ingredients is mindblowing.”