I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Peter Gorton, an award-winning Fellow of the Master Chefs of Britain and one of Devon’s most respected chefs. Peter’s impressive career began in 1980, leading him through some of the finest kitchens in Great Britain and internationally. Many will recall his successful tenure as chef/proprietor of the Carved Angel restaurants and cafés, and the acclaimed Horn of Plenty in Devon.
Driven by a passion for the future of the industry, Peter now focuses on his role as an ambassador for Tamar Fresh, where he conducts many teaching and training courses covering subjects such as vegan cuisine and seasonal British produce for chefs. Alongside this, he runs a consultancy business for hotels and restaurants both at home and abroad. Living in Devon with his family, Peter brings with him a wealth of experience, including years spent at his Michelin-starred establishments. Join me as we explore his remarkable journey and gain insights from this culinary master.
What does your Monday morning routine look like?
I normally check my ‘to do’ list, which I completed the night before, then I go and have my coffee. I ideally start my day with two Weetabix and a coffee, and that’s it. While I’m working on location, currently in Cyprus, I will always go and say hello to all the chefs and then I start hitting the different areas I need to go into. When I’m not working, I tend to take the dog out for a walk after breakfast with my wife.
What’s your all-time favourite movie, and why?
I love movies, so I have a lot of different ones and it depends on the mood I’m in! I like action movies, I like comedies and, believe it or not, I like vampire movies and children’s cartoons. I love Finding Nemo – watching something like that allows you to switch off completely. I like Lord of the Rings and fantasy movies like that because it’s escapism where you don’t have to think about work.
What’s a hidden talent or skill that most people don’t know you possess?
I’m a rugby coach! I trained as a fitness instructor and gym instructor while I was cheffing, and I used to play many years ago. I played until I was in my early 40s and then had to stop because age was catching up with me. Everyone’s getting bigger and stronger, and I know my limitations! I ended up coaching my son. He played a lot of rugby as a back for Tavistock Rugby Club. He recently asked me to give him a bit more training as he was going back to playing. I said yes, and he cracked my ribs! My wife was laughing because the first thing she said to him was ‘Do not hurt your father’ and of course I came back holding my ribs… I told a bit of a porky at the hospital and said I’d fallen over. I wouldn’t normally lie, but I felt so embarrassed!
If you could visit any place in the world right now, where would you go?
Japan. I love Japan. I love the culture, the people, the discipline. It’s somewhere I would love to go and visit and chill. See the cherry blossoms, eat a lot of sushi!
I also like Greece and Cyprus because they’re very family-orientated, as am I. They really care, and the Mamas are chief and they’re respected.
What is your most memorable foody childhood memory?
Not much from my childhood. My childhood was a bit different. My mother died when I was 8, of breast cancer, which was very sad. My father was a bit old school, and I didn’t get on with him, so I left home just before my 16th birthday. I slept rough for a few weeks on a bench, and I moved in with friends, so I didn’t have memories of really great food. The memories I have of food are probably ham, egg and chips, and beans. So, not what everybody would imagine. I was offered a job as a washer-up in a restaurant, which at the time I didn’t know, was a really good restaurant in Swansea called The Drangway. It was owned by the chef Colin Pressdee and it was amazing. I worked all hours because I had nowhere to go, so they loved me. I fell in love with cooking. Catering became my family. I got promoted very quickly because I was working all the time, and before I knew where I was, I was a Chef de Partie and then a Sous Chef. I crammed into four or five years what most people would cram into eight years.
Share a quote or motto that inspires you or by which you live your life.
Treat people how you want to be treated – it’s as simple as that. Be kind, and if people are struggling, support them.
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?
I would like to have the ability to help people with autism so that they can understand things in life and to make their life a little bit easier. My daughter has autism, and I think the good thing that has come from that is that because of her, when I’m in kitchens, I can see when people are struggling, and I want to be able to help them.
What job is the favourite you’ve ever had and what made it so special?
I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was the time I spent at The Walnut Tree in Wales. Franco Taruschio was probably one of the leading Italian chefs going back to the 80s and 90s, and he was at The Walnut Tree for 40 years. I learned so much, but I didn’t realise what I was learning! Franco would buy £20,000 worth of black and white truffles, and all the best chefs in Britain were coming over to visit Franco to buy them, and I was exposed to that. I was meeting all those chefs and food writers, like Elizabeth David. It was great fun because we were very busy every day!
What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t had the chance to yet?
Let me have a think about that one… I’m the type of person that if I want to learn something, I’ll make sure I do it. Something I would like to learn more about is wine. I love it, and I’ve learnt quite a bit over the years having to buy wine for my restaurants, but I would like to know more – but a skill? I would’ve loved to have learned the saxophone, but it’s a bit late for me now! I love music. I would like to learn how to sing. I’m Welsh, and being Welsh I should be able to sing, but I can’t. I’m totally tone deaf. Everybody would run a mile if they heard me sing!
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Don’t work for money in the beginning. Learn. Listen. Be courteous. Listening is the most important part. Be a sponge, absorb as much as you can because money will come if you accumulate the skills. Also, don’t be afraid to fail because you learn more from failure than you do from success. Don’t beat yourself up about it – you now know what the mistake was, and you won’t do it again.
What’s your favourite season and what do you love about it?
I love Spring. The reason for that is everything is bursting to life. It’s not too hot, it’s not too cold, the sun starts shining through, you can go for lovely walks… It’s a beautiful time of the year. Daffodils coming out, lambs being born – it’s amazing! I think the older I get, the more I appreciate nature and getting out in it. When you’re a chef, you’re always in the kitchen behind all these walls. Now, for my sanity, I like to go for a walk an hour a day just to clear my head if I can.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
I’ve done a few things. I’ve travelled a lot. When I was younger, I travelled to many countries – I was in Australia where I climbed Ayers Rock (Uluru) and went all through the centre of Australia and up the Gold Coast to Darwin and into Kakadu. I saw the crocodiles. I went to Thailand and went all over. I suppose it’s adventurous to see the world a little bit like that, you know what I mean? An adventurous thing I would still like to do is skydive. I haven’t done it yet because I’m afraid of heights, so I’ll have to get over that first!
What would you do if you weren’t in the food, drink & hospitality industry?
I would have wanted to become a professional rugby player, but I wasn’t good enough. Probably I would also like to do teaching. I am doing that within the industry, but I would have liked to teach people with learning difficulties.
What inspires you?
Positivity. Anybody that is positive. I also get inspired by other people and their achievements, and I’m not talking about big achievements. It doesn’t matter what they do – any achievement. I’m not good with negative people. I don’t have time for that because I feel life is hard enough. We all have issues sometimes. It inspires me when I know I can train people in catering now who turn out to be good chefs in their own right, because it feels like I’ve achieved something. I had a Michelin star for 10 years, and I was one of the best chefs in Devon and involved in 18 television programmes in the early days – I’ve done all that, but it doesn’t inspire me. It’s more about helping other people and the positivity that I love from being around positive people because I think it’s infectious. If you’re around positive people, it makes you positive.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
I’ve eaten a lot of stuff! I’ve eaten bugs. I’ve eaten tarantula, witchetty grubs, mealworms, locusts… So, I would probably say insects. In the beginning, it was a bit squeamish, but I learnt a lot from an entomologist professor in Plymouth, and now I’ve got to understand insects, and I know how to cook them. In Thailand, the kids would get a net out at night and catch crickets and then take them to school where they would be cooked in a wok with chilli, soy or fish sauce. There would be something English too, but most of the kids would go for the crickets and rice! To be honest, insects are the way because there is a lot of protein in them, and with global warming and so forth, we’re going to have to use a lot more insects for our protein source.
What do you want to shout about at the moment?
I know I’m away at the moment working in Cyprus, but I think we’re very lucky living in Devon. I think we have some of the best local produce in the world. Our cheese and our wines look really great at the moment. Our lamb and beef… I would like to shout out about the local Devon products and producers!
You can contact Peter through these channels:
Website – www.petergortonchef.co.uk
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Mobile 07896 144240
