The Hand and Flowers pub in Marlow was opened by Tom and Beth Kerridge in 2005. It is the first pub to have been awarded 2 Michelin Stars. Here, Tom tells us all about his love of food, his new book, TV show and amazing career...

 

I have always been a huge lover of food. The moment I walked into a kitchen as a kitchen porter/commis chef, I knew what I wanted to be. The camaraderie and the jokes, the hard work - it all appealed to me.

   I first started cooking in the West Country in country house hotels, and then I moved to London in my early twenties. [He cooked at Odettes, Rhodes in the Square, Stephen Bull and The Capital.] I spent nearly 10 years there before finally moving to Marlow.

   Marlow is a fantastic and incredible town full of great spirit. I knew it fairly well from living in London and visiting, and it’s the most I have ever felt at home. We are very fortunate that around here we have so many great places to eat out. I am a huge fan of the Hind’s Head in Bray and
the Royal Oak in Paley Street. And a curry from Maliks in Cookham is pretty special!

  I have worked for Gary Rhodes, but the most influential and incredible chef I have worked for is an unsung hero - Jon Bentham, who taught me how to get the most flavour out of simple strong cooking.

   There are so many influential and great people in the catering industry. Whether they be producers, suppliers or chefs, but it goes without saying that the Roux brothers are by far the biggest influence
and greatest inspiration to everybody who cooks or runs a catering operation today.

   I'm always inspired by simplicity and base rustic flavours. Seasonality is also key. My produce comes from suppliers all over the country. I have tried to find the best that I can find, no matter where it is from - local doesn’t always mean good. We have a new dish of grouse with spiced lentil dahl and carrot cake on the menu - it's delicious.

   I have got to where I am now through a huge amount of hard work, long days and lack of sleep, but also by surrounding myself with great staff who share the same vision as me and, above all, love their jobs.

   Having two Michelin stars is an incredible achievement for the whole team and everybody involved, and to be the first pub to have ever achieved it is something that we are all very very proud of.

 

'My wife's first sentence to me was: "Give me three pounds for the stripper." I knew then that she was someone special'

 

Home life

My wife Beth is an incredibly driven and passionate person. We have been together for 15 years. We met in a comedy club in North London where her first sentence to me was: ‘Give me three pounds for the stripper.' I knew then that she was someone special. She is an artist 

who has a studio at home, where she works as a sculptor in mainly
stone carving, bronze casting. She went to the Royal College of Art and worked with the great sculptor Sir Anthony Caro for nine years.

   I once said I don’t often cook at home and my oven is the least used appliance in my house. This used to be true, but since making that original statement we have moved house and I have a much more
‘chef friendly’ kitchen that works more like a commercial space than a 

domestic one, so I try to take Sundays off. There is nothing I like better than cooking a late brunch or Sunday lunch whilst watching the football and reading the papers. I’m a huge fan of football and I try to support Marlow FC’s every home game.

   So, tips... If any mums are cooking for a dinner party, I would suggest opting for dishes that are slow-cooked and easy to control without much last-minute preparation or running around. It is all about time organisation, which I am sure busy mums are very good at.

   As a chef for 22 years, I have had hundreds of disasters in the kitchen. But as an upstanding member of the catering community, I’m afraid I can’t tell you about them! Shh, it’s a secret!

   Cookbooks are always a massive source of inspiration and they always help to spark ideas or to push us in the right direction for when new dishes come around. If you are looking for something simple and easy
to cook at home, there is nothing wrong with anything written by 

Jamie, the Hairy Books, or even my new book, Tom Kerridge’s Proper Pub Food. I sat and wrote it on my last holiday - we went to Antigua at the beginning of this year, which was my first holiday in 24 months. If you're after a quick, easy recipe, try my lemon posset (see the recipe below). 

   I do like watching cookery programmes on TV. If I’m ever at home
I either have Sky Sports News on repeat or the food channel. And funny you should ask about me wanting my own show, because my new series started on BBC on 23rd September, 8.30pm: Tom Kerridge’s Proper Pub Food. Make sure you watch it, ladies!

   As for the future, I am very conscious of being part of Marlow’s community and love it very much. We are extending the pub to make the bar bigger to encourage more of a drinking trade, but also allowing us four bar stools at the bar that cannot be reserved, so that the locals of the area can pop in for a bite to eat. We have no great expansion plans, we just work very tightly as a family-like unit, and we will see what happens!

 

 

 

Lemon posset with fennel biscotti

This has been on the Hand & Flowers lunch menu and is a real favourite of mine. My pastry chef loves this dish when it's on as it is so easy to do and sets very quickly. If you just fancy making the biscotti, they go very well with a great cup of coffee.

 

¾ pint double cream

4 ½ oz sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

190g butter

340g sugar

4 whole eggs

450g plain flour

3tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

100g chopped toasted almonds

1tbsp fennel seeds

Icing sugar for dusting

 

Bring the cream and sugar to the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook out for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool for about 5 minutes. Skim off any air bubbles and pour into your glasses. Set in the fridge for at least 2 

hours. Cream together the 190g of butter and the 340g of sugar and then add the eggs. Sift the flour and baking powder and salt, and then mix
into the butter mix. Fold in the toasted almonds and the fennel seeds.

Shape into a loaf and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for about 20-25 minutes until cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slice the loaf widthways, into biscotti, and lay the biscuits out onto a cake rack that will fit in the oven. Place the rack into the oven and dry the biscotti out. Remove the oven and dust with icing sugar. When cool, serve with the lemon posset.