Richard Pascoe
Australian born and raised Richard Pascoe was one of the five finalists in this year’s prestigious Roux Scholarship and is currently sous chef at the acclaimed Feversham Arms Hotel and Spa in Helmsley.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory?
I’m originally from a small town near Brisbane, in Australia, so my very first real recollection of Yorkshire is of moving into my flat in Leeds, when I first came over here. Believe me, it was all very different to where I grew up, and where I began training. That was two years ago, in 2013, and it was really quite exciting to find a new city to explore.
What’s your favourite part of the county – and why?
I’ve fallen in love with the landscape around Ryedale, and the whole area around Helmsley, where I work. Helmsley is a small, tidy little town, with very friendly people. Its size is another contrast to Brisbane.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire?
I’m a picnic man, so I’d pack up some cured meats and some cheese and fresh bread, and we’d go off for a long walk, and find the perfect spot where we could eat al fresco. Simple as that.
Do you have a favourite walk – or view?
I love Gormire Lake, near Sutton Bank, which I discovered quite by accident. For the Roux competition you are told on the day what you are going to be cooking. For me it was turbot and salmon and with half an hour before you start cooking I decided to go foraging for the rest of the ingredients, that’s when I turned a corner, and there was the lake. The tranquillity was amazing. Nature at its very best.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch?
silences. And with Mr Lemon, you can bet that there wouldn’t be any of those!
If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be?
meat and cheeses – and their lunchtime sandwiches are excellent. I am also a great champion of “free food”, the things that you can use on a menu that come from woods, hedgerows, and bushes. If they but knew, people would be amazed at what bounty you can find out there.
If you had to change one thing in, or about Yorkshire, what would that be?
A few good beaches where I could catch some decent waves and go surfing for hours in a sea that wasn’t always freezing cold would be a bonus!
Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?
I am enormously grateful to Norman Mackenzie, who was my head chef at Oulton Hall, and now at the Feversham Arms Hotel. He has been an inspirational both in and out of the kitchen.
Has Yorkshire influenced your work?
Yes it has – and dramatically. The chief thing has been to heighten my awareness of so many seasonal ingredients, the vast majority of which are sourced locally. Everyone seems to pay lip service to that idea, but in Yorkshire it is taken to the limit, and rightly so. I love the challenge that foraging presents – it can bring a totally new angle to a dish.
Name your favourite Yorkshire book/ author/artist/CD/performer.