south west cooks

Details of Riverford Cooks in your area are below. Call us on 01803 762019 or 0845 600 2311 for more information or to book an activity. If you’d like to book a cook for your own event please email them direct.

The cooks:

Mignon Johnson

Cooking experience: Mignon comes from a line of great family cooks in India. Her grandmother, Mama, a terrific cook, would serve the most exotic home-made food at elaborate dinner parties with all the family together. Mignon is now based in Somerset and runs The Saffron Kitchen (www.thesaffronkitchen.co.uk) offering traditional home cooked Indian cuisine for all occasions, from intimate dinners to larger functions and events. Every dish is freshly prepared to order using locally produced and ethically sourced meat and vegetables. Favourite vegetable dish: Mixed vegetable jalfrezi – a versatile dish suitable for using up any leftovers. Cooking tip: To preserve the shape of smaller cauliflower florets, cut into the stem of a larger floret and break the floret from the stem side, giving the floret a more natural edge than the straight cut edge of a knife. Area covered: Devon, Somerset, Dorset, South Gloucestershire, London Contact details: enquiries@thesaffronkitchen.co.uk

Hilary Prosser

Cooking experience: Hilary has worked as a location cook, private chef and family cook for several years. Interested in food from all over the world, she enjoys discovering new recipes and is very interested in food that uses meat in a supporting rather than a principle role. Favourite vegetable: Jerusalem Artichokes. Cooking tip: Use nuts and seeds more, roast first for better flavour. Try browning sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan then splash them with soy sauce or tamari when the seeds have just turned brown, put these in salads or throw onto a vegetable dish before serving. Area covered: London and Bristol. Contact: hilaryprosser@tantraweb.co.uk

Mary Tanner

Cooking experience: Mary is pretty much a self taught cook with an interest in cooking simple, healthy and seasonal food. She has two young children so time is often of the essence. Mary has completed a Cordon Bleu course and her cooking is much influenced by two and a half years spent living in Southern Italy as well as a childhood spent in the Far East which has had an underlying impact on her cooking. Mary has an addiction to buying and reading cookery books, which started when she had a weekend job, whilst at school, in Books for Cooks with Clarissa Dickson-Wright. Favourite cuisine: Italian, but Mary also loves baking and trying out new ways to use her vegbox. Area covered: Cornwall and West Devon. Contact: marytanner@hotmail.co.uk