CHEF!
Meet the driven Dorset caterer
who enjoys cooking for everyone,
from his regular pub patrons
to global pop stars.
But not for himself…
Jamie Perry
shares his love of
food and Dorset
F
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or many chefs, owning
a pub would be enough
work. Not Jamie Perry. As
well as running The Sandford
Pub in Wareham, his Dorset
Catering Services business
creates menus for weddings
and schools, and even cooks for
the stars at festivals. Luckily,
he loves it. “It’s a great thing,”
enthuses Jamie. “One minute I
might be cooking for 100
families at the pub, and the next
I might be cooking for Justin
Bieber at V Festival.” With all
that going on, it’s amazing he
found time to chat to us about
his food memories, influences,
and favourite dishes, including
his famous hog roast.
My first memories
of food
My mum and dad both ran
pubs. I was about 10 or 11
when my dad took over the
Bankes Arms at Corfe Castle
and I was working in the
kitchen on the salads, doing
the prep. By 14, I was working
on the chargrill.
Chefs that have
inspired me
My mum was an inspiration.
She went to the same
The Sandford pub
Wareham Road, Sandford,
Dorset, BH20 7AE
Tel: 01929 550 800
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.thesandfordpub.co.uk
college as me and learnt her
trade in Bournemouth, at the
Royal Bath Hotel. By the age
of 31, I was head chef at the
Royal Bath myself. While
growing up, I looked at chefs
like Gordon Ramsay and
Marco Pierre White, but I
worked with a great chef called
Nigel Cousins at the Thistle
Hotels. There are lots of great
chefs that aren’t on TV, and he
was certainly an inspiration.
My favourite
ingredients
tabbouleh. Also on the menu,
we’ve got a nice Atlantic cod dish
with a spiced spinach, green lentil
and samphire broth.
How I cook roasts
Our favourite roast is the whole
pig – that comes from Jurassic
Meats. We do it long and slow –
they’re put on at about 11pm with
a light baste of oil, nicely scored,
a bit of rock salt and black pepper
seasoning. That will be cooked
for 12 hours – it gives perfect
crackling and moist meat.
I love mushrooms. We’ve got
the New Forest Wild and Exotic Mushrooms company on our
doorstep and it’s lovely to see
them coming through the kitchen. I’m doing a lot of stuff with
squash at the moment. We’ve
got a roast butternut squash
dish with deep-fried sage, pine
nuts, and it sits on top of Dorset
Blue Vinney risotto, with baby
spinach leaves running through
it, and onion seeds.
What I cook
at home
The dishes I’m
proud of
We were out recently at Harbour
Heights, and we love going over
to Christchurch to The Kings
Arms, which is Alex Aitken’s
restaurant. There’s The Pig on the
Beach around us, too.
The butternut squash one.
Slow-cooked lamb shanks with
a mint and Mediterranean
www.menu-dorset.co.uk
I cook