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I started my working life as lighting man for Echo & The Bunnymen and had several hard years on the road. This developed into making music films and I became a producer and director of pop promos, making most of the Bunnymen's and Teardrop Explodes films, a couple each for Hipsway, Colourfield and Texas, a bad one for Feargal Sharkey, and all the KLF films (except burning the money). When I got a bit old for pop music I made wildlife documentaries and saw the world again, this time not in hotels.
Five years ago I thought it was time for a change. I grew up on a smallholding in a walled Victorian garden where my parents produced salad and fruit crops for sale on Northampton market. So I'd always loved food and cooking. I started working under Barny Haughton in the kitchen of Quartier Vert, one of the UK foremost organic restaurants. This led on to working on outside catering events for Prince Charles at Highgrove and becoming a judge at the Organic Food Awards which I have done for the last six years. I've now started doing large outside catering events which often feature spit-roast lambs and pigs.
I love sailing and have cooked on a fews posh boats (the main qualification is not being sick in the stew...) Because of this I was invited in 2005 to become ship’s cook on The Matthew, a replica of John Cabot’s 15th century caravel which made the first Atlantic crossing to Newfoundland in 1498. I've enjoyed researching Mediaeval and Tudor food, particularly mutton dishes and cured meats. These have formed the basis for much of my current style of cooking. Some of this was featured in a BBC TV programme called Working The Seas, which involved me teaching basic cooking skills to a group of inner-city youngsters.
I've always had a passion for pork pies and I've used my family’s recipe as a starting point to develop what I think is the perfect pork pie. I've developed a little fan-base and now supply veal and ham, pork, mutton and game pies to local cafes, restaurants, butchers and delicatessens. One of my pie fans is BBC Radio Bristol's Keith Warmington and I present a weekly food slot with him on his programme.
