Chef Fergus Henderson – His Restaurant is Popular in the UK

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St. John is a very popular restaurant in St. John Street, London. The owner as well as the head chef of St. John is Chef Fergus Henderson. His restaurant is usually being frequented by young British people who are artistically inclined, and St. John has also become the most popular hangout spot for some of the best chefs not only in the UK scene but all over the world as well. This year, they dropped down numerous spots though, from 14 down to 43; however, this does not change the fact that St. John is still the best place in London where you can get a very good meal.

Born in London in the early 1960s, being a chef was the farthest thing from Chef Henerson’s mind. In fact, he was studying at the King Alfred’s School to become an architect, and he only took a job at a restaurant to sustain his needs. It was during the time that he was working at the Smiths Restaurant that he began to appreciate the culinary world. He became interested in cooking and developed a serious passion for the craft.

Armed with no formal training, except for what his mother taught him and what he learned from his architectural training in college, he opened his own restaurant, St. John, in 1994. What immediately set him apart from the other restaurants in London is his culinary philosophy, which is the nose-to-tail cuisine. This simply means that he is not afraid of using cuts of meat that many chefs tend to ignore. Instead, he tries to make use of all the parts to create the best traditional British cuisine.

Chef Henderson and his partner, Trevor Gulliver, first thought that what they have was only simple restaurant, serving traditional British dishes, and catering to ordinary people. Little did they know that their nose-to-tail philosophy and Chef Henderson’s excellent culinary skills will bring them much luck

Members of the Young British Artists soon began hanging out in his restaurant, boosting St. John’s popularity that even chefs from all over the city began visiting his restaurant just to find out what his culinary philosophy really is about. It was not a wasted effort, and they soon found themselves falling in love with Chef Henderson’s simple yet powerful culinary skill. Pretty soon, Londoners and even gourmands from all over the globe began trekking into his restaurant to get a taste of his famous roast bone marrow, which is his restaurant’s signature menu.

He received his first Michelin star last year, 15 years after he opened St. John, and it came as a pleasant shock and surprise to him. He was not really thinking that his restaurant was a Michelin type, but they beg to differ though and awarded him one star. His restaurant has also earned a spot in the top 50 list of S. Pellegrino, a feat not easily accomplished by many.

Chef Fergus Henderson’s Boiled Pork Belly and Lentils

Ingredients:

For the Boiled Belly:

2 kg piece of pork belly, with skin and bones on, which has been in brine for 10 days, rinsed
2 whole carrots, peeled
2 onions, peeled and stuck with 8 cloves
2 leeks, whole and cleaned
2 sticks of celery
2 whole heads of garlic
A bunch of fresh herbs and whole black peppercorns

For the Lentils:

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped into thin slices
1 leek, cleaned and chopped into thin slices
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped finely
2 carrots, peeled and chopped in half, then into 5mm-thick slices
500g Puy lentils
Bundle of thyme and parsley; a big handful of chopped curly parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place the pork belly into a pan with all the other ingredients, and cover with water. Bring to the boil, skim, and reduce to a very gentle simmer, with the water barely moving, for 3.5 hrs, until the flesh is soft and giving, but not collapsing. Remove from the water, slice, and serve with lentils and mustard.
For the lentils, cover the bottom of a largish pan with olive oil, and sweat your chopped vegetables. At the moment they are only just starting to soften, not colouring, add the lentils. Stir these for a couple of minutes in the oil and vegetables, then cover with water and nestle in the thyme and parsley bundle. Simmer and stir occasionally – you want the lentils soft but not squidgy. This should take 40 min. You can add more water.
Now season. It is amazing what simple salt and pepper do to the flavour of lentils. Just before serving, stir in chopped parsley and a healthy splash of extra-virgin olive oil.

Servings: Serves 4.

Image Credit: houndstoothnyc.wordpress.com

independent.co.uk

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