Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a man who loves this time of year.

Television chef, presenter, journalist and campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talks to our Founder James Day about his journey to River Cottage, and sharing the love of his own version of ‘S.L.O.W.’ food.

Hugh’s River Cottage Cookery School is part of our renowed ‘Cookery Collection‘ and has been Accredited by ICSA, the Independent Cookery Schools Association as a ‘Centre of Excellence’. Located in the heart of Devon, and registered ‘Organic’ it provides inspiration and solace of many a foodie who travel from all over the World.

But where did it all start for Hugh, and what does a renowned cook and food writer serve up at this time of year?

“We lived in Gloucestershire when I was growing up and I loved being outdoors; on my bike with my friends, or walking through the woods looking for birds’ nests, that kind of stuff. So, when the weather was too wet to go out, I went a bit stir crazy. My Mum, who is a great cook herself, started to get me involved, helping her get the supper ready and also helping her prep and cook for her amazing 70’s dinner parties. I loved making cakes and puds and eventually this became my speciality. I would make profiteroles, chocolate rum gateau, lemon mousse, strawberry roulade, that kind of stuff.

Hugh moved from London to Gloucestershire as a child, and discovered the joy of eating your own hard-earned harvest from an early age, decades before he replicated this ethos at River Cottage, launching his television career.

”I remember the day we moved from London to Gloucestershire. My Mum and Dad were escaping the city life, just as I was to do years later. They rented a farmhouse in this tiny village, and it already had an amazing veg patch from the last tenant. The very first day we arrived it was June, and we picked pods of peas and baby carrots, and sat and ate them on the lawn. You can’t beat a fresh pea for flavour. If it can’t be ‘minute-fresh’ then the closest thing is a frozen pea. After that, dad was in charge of the veg garden, so we had fantastic ingredients to cook with, especially in the summer.”

The next phase of his cookery education came about a number of years later,  almost by accident when he himself returned to London, he was lucky enough to get a job at renowned The River Café, a restaurant which earnt its Michelin star in 1998, and has launched the careers of many chefs, including fellow TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Hugh explains: “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. A friend of mine was working there as a waitress. She knew I loved to cook and she also knew that the owners, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, (now Lady Ruth Rogers), I had no formal training, and so she thought they might give me a chance. 

“I worked in The River Café kitchen for six months and learned so much: butchery skills, fish skills, how to make fresh pasta and great polenta, all stuff that I’ve been doing on a daily basis ever since. I also learned the importance of fantastic ingredients. Often when the suppliers came in with great veg, or olive oil, or rare breed pork, Rose would sit down and have a coffee with them. It was such a brilliant way to understand that you can only make great food from great ingredients and you need to respect the amazing people who grow and produce them.”

Hugh left The River Café to pursue a career as a food writer. He wrote for newspapers and magazines, including Punch, The Evening Standard, and The Sunday Times, as well as a regular column later in the Guardian Food Supplement. Simultaneously, he was pitching ideas for television shows.

“I had a friend, Andrew Palmer, who had just finished a film-making course in Manchester and wanted to make TV shows. So we started pitching ideas. That led to a programme called ‘A Cook on the Wild Side’ and later to River Cottage.”

Hugh’s television debut came with A Cook on the Wild Side – where Hugh would travel the UK discovering local cuisines, creatives and cooks, using naturally sourced ingredients. Despite being shown nearly 30 years ago, the message is as relevant as ever today.

“It certainly inspired me and set out my style and ethos of sourcing real food, and sustainable ingredients,” says Hugh.

This was followed by the show that made him a familiar face, forever associated with real food, the first River Cottage TV series, which is coming up to its 25th anniversary this year.

Hugh explains how River Cottage grew from an idyllic holiday home, to becoming the premise of a popular television show.

“Some friends of mine and I decided to rent a cottage in Devon for summer breaks. I fell in love with the cottage, the region and, of course, the food. I decided to begin to write there as much as I could in between living in London and grabbing breaks in Devon when I could. Then one day, I woke up and thought, why not start to live and write down here permanently? That led to some short films, and the River Cottage Series launched on Channel 4 in 1999.

“There was national and even international interest in what we were doing at River Cottage. However, the original cottage was small. We needed to find somewhere that was more suitable to sharing our passion for amazing produce, and realise my passion to inspire and teach people to cook real, sustainable food.

Discovering River Cottage

“One day I came across what is now our current location for River Cottage HQ. I remember the first time I walked around that now famed farmer’s track, down to what was then an almost organic dairy farm nestling in the valley. I fell in love with the look and feel of the place. It felt kind of magical!

“We then spent the next few years, and a lot of investment of time and money converting it to what you experience today – assisted by lots of organic top soil and hard graft. We are now certified organic, and practice ‘no dig’ in our gardens which makes a huge difference to yields and flavours in our produce. We are also very lucky have lots of similar minded producers locally, many themselves organic so we swap produce, ideas and passions on a day-to-day basis.”

River Cottage is now a world-renowned hub, dedicated to sharing Hugh’s SLOW ethos. The River Cottage cookery school is ICSA Accredited as a ‘Centre of Excellence’, and offers a wide range of cookery classes and extended courses, both in person and online, all with the aim of connecting people with food.

“We are blessed with a great team of excellent cookery school teachers. They all share our passion for wonderful seasonal local food. Many being employed by us for a number of years, including Conner who has recently returned as head chef tutor.

Our guests see the passions shine through whilst they are staying here, and attending our cookery classes – its lovely to see them holding a freshly picked cauliflower, squash or newly dug spuds and see their faces as they can feel and smell how fresh they are, and indeed taste!”

Hugh hopes that everyone who spends time at River Cottage is in some way inspired by the experience.

“It’s partly about giving an extra few skills to take home, but in a way it’s more about sending them away feeling that they’re part of the ethos.

“Time you spend with good food is an opportunity to expand the quality of your life, and share with family and good friends where possible.”

iver Cottage Online

River Cottage’s online courses have also become popular, and are well-regarded for keeping that personal interaction with other students, despite being virtual.

We have also invested online courses which have really taken off. Uniquely our ‘Peer to peer’ courses on the ‘Learning with Experts’ platform provide full 360 degree feedback to the students. That was very important to me when setting up River Cottage online. Not only are they in a virtual room with other students, like being at River Cottage, where students can comment on each others work, but I also love responding personally to their questions and seeing their dishes. Many then book to visit River Cottage and attend in-person courses or even stay with us and you can see and taste their creations – its such fun and so rewarding.

We even offer our River Cottage Diploma for those who seek professional experience, perhaps for a job or new career. Those courses are accredited by CDP for the course content towards continuous learning and career development, and of course by ICSA for their teaching standards. It’s all very exciting.

“What we’re trying to do is to encourage people to understand the connection with the source of their food, and show them how good that can be for their well-being in every sense. Not just for their physical health, but just for their joy in life.”

“Connecting people to great food is very special,” he says.

Ends.