Press Release
Recipe Egg-stravaganza for Fifteen Cornwall Chefs
Saturday 15th September 2007
Apprentice chefs from Fifteen Cornwall went to work on an egg last week to learn more about the lengths that their specialty free range egg supplier Clarence Court go to in order to produce their celebrated fuller flavoured superior eggs. The 19 young chefs spent a day away from the social enterprise restaurant at Watergate Bay to visit Tremayne Farm near Camborne before heading off to the training kitchens at Cornwall College for a ‘cook-off” competition where they got cracking with their own recipes using freshly collected eggs.Founded in 1990, Clarence Court has pioneered the revival of traditional British speciality breeds of hens from old pure breed bloodlines, for use in egg production. All of their birds, which are farmed across 18 sites in the UK, have been bred for egg quality and not quantity. The birds live in veritable fowl luxury, enjoying the finest quality cereal based non-GM vegetarian diet, the privacy of warm secluded nest boxes, trees and shrub for cover and dust baths.
Clarence Court’s ethos is in quality rather than quantity and their farming practices ensure that the production of eggs is a pleasure rather than a burden for the hens living in their free-roaming flocks.
Apprentice Chef, Andrew Basso, 18 from St Blazey said: “Walking around the farm and seeing all of the birds – ducks, hens, pheasants and quails - roaming freely and happily gave me a clearer understanding of how the environment in which the birds are kept can have a great effect on their laying and the taste of the eggs.
“It was brilliant taking part in the ‘cook off’ at Cornwall College using the Clarence Court eggs because it forced me to really think about what I was going to make with the limited ingredients and time that we were given. Although I didn’t win – I was proud of my effort and it was really good practice.”
Clarence Court Farm Manager, Chris Brenton, who manages the flocks of rare and traditional breeds of hens at Tremayne Farm was impressed by the students’ enthusiasm: “The sourcing trip proved a real success. It was not only a fantastic opportunity for us to show these budding chefs how ‘real’ free range laying hens live but also why their eggs taste so much better. The recipes were brilliant too – and certainly gave all of us at Clarence Court food for thought!”
During the egg ‘cook off’ the apprentice chefs put their nine months of training into practice along with their own culinary creativity to produce egg inspired dishes. The award for the days “Most egg-celent chef” went to Camella Cotton, 20 from Camborne, who impressed the panel of judges from Cornwall College, Fifteen Cornwall and Clarence Court with her sweet pancake and plum compot.