margot henderson: britain's most underrated
DINING EXPERIENCES MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF?
MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF? V Written by Thomas Hobbs Images by Thomas Hobbs
Over a creative thirty-year career, Margot Henderson has seen it all. Thomas Hobbs caught up with the bubbly New Zealand-born chef
isiting Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen, the charming converted bike shed down the road from Shoreditch High Street, is an experience you won’t forget in a hurry. Together with business partner Melanie Arnold, she has helped transform the venue into a portal for culinary excellence and the go-to catering hub for the fashion world (the late Alexander McQueen was a fan). Starting life around a decade ago as a cafeteria for the artists who rent space at the adjacent Rochelle School, the Canteen has no licence, and you’ll only unearth its delights at weekday lunchtimes. If you manage to locate its humble entrance, which bears the word ‘BOYS ‘ boldly emblazoned above it, you’ll go on to experience a quaint rectangular shaped café, its basic chairs and tables evoking a clearly British minimalism. Inside, the kitchen, punctuated by Margot’s laugh and careful tutorage, sees her casting a careful but proud eye over the four young chefs who cater for a mix of exclusive events and passing members of the public, working amid a backdrop of endless pans and organic vegetables. Put simply, Margot is British cooking’s Big Star. Much like this seventies Memphis band you’ve probably never heard of; although admired by fellow professionals for a pioneering style and undeniable legacy; true mainstream notoriety has bafflingly eluded Henderson. Not that she cares. ‘I don’t do legacies, I just want to be seen as a woman that could really cook,’ she replies.
ROCHELLE CANTEEN
Open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4.30pm Rochelle School, London E2 7ES arnoldandhenderson.com
40
ISSUE TEN
Brought up in New Zealand, Henderson, who says that her ‘health nut’ mother’s insistence on brown biscuits ignited her desire to be a chef - a protest if you will - has progressed quite a bit since arriving in London thirty or so years ago. ‘When I first got here I lived in Wimbledon village and worked at Pizza Express. You could say I got a diploma in pizzaology,’ she giggles. But making all those pizzas certainly sparked something, with Margot’s CV reading like a greatest hits package of everything cool about the London food scene of the nineteen nineties. The chef plied her trade at Notting Hill’s 192, the Quality Chop House, and Clerkenwell’s The Eagle - at the latter, solidifying a relationship with her famous husband Fergus, now of St. John. ‘The first time I met Fergus was after one of my kitchen porters Simon left to work for him. I said ‘how can you leave me?’ and went to this club, they call them pop-ups now, that Fergus set up in Covent Garden to see what the fuss was all about,’ she explains. ‘Rose Gray and Ruthie Rodgers were there, I mean everyone was there darling, and we were all amazed at the minimalism and deliciousness of his pigeon and peas. I went upstairs and met him, and he says that’s when he fell in love with me, although I’m not so sure!’ The relationship fully took off a year later when the pair crossed paths at the iconic Eagle gastropub. ‘I said to his sister that night ‘me and your brother must open a restaurant together’, and he called the next night and said ‘let’s do it!’. We met that weekend and he charmed the pants off me, I don’t think we spent another night apart.’ In 1992, the couple opened the iconic French Dining Room in Soho, but despite the beaming smile and warmth
DINING EXPERIENCES MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF?
"I don’t do legacies, I just want to be seen as a woman that could really cook" ISSUE TEN
41
DINING EXPERIENCES MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF?
BACK TO BASICS: Rochelle's Kitchen has seen a return to an emphasis on fresh, seasonal flavours. NO CANTEEN FOR OLD MEN: Margot continues to take great pride in helping women take centre stage in commercial kitchens.
that transpires with the subject of her husband, you also sense a bit of a rivalry. ‘I definitely have been slightly rivalrous...is that a word?!’ replies Henderson. ‘Fergus is a well-centered, confident man who knows exactly where he is, I’m all over the place.’ Her husband’s decision to set up Clerkenwell’s much celebrated, Michelin-starred St. John, leaving Margot behind at the French Dining Room where she continued to prosper - albeit sporadically around the birth of her children - also sticks. ‘He would come in late and I’d be smashing clocks shouting ‘what time is this, I’m at home with these babies. Although I very much wanted to look after my kids, it was difficult to watch him achieve so much at St. John and become world-famous while I was stuck at home.’ You could say Margot has done quite a bit of parenting, with chefs like The Modern Pantry’s Anna Hansen passing through her kitchens and going on to achieve magical
42
ISSUE TEN
things. And helping women break through remains a priority. ‘Women still get sidelined and put in pastry, while men make all the business moves and get all the coverage, and as a feminist that pisses me off! Last year, I had seven women and two men in the kitchen on catering, and it was wild. I want to work with both sexes and help young people succeed, but it is a great feeling when you see a woman get to the top.’ Outside of championing young chefs, Margot says summer cooking also holds a special place in her heart, as her spectacular menu for Good Things attests. ‘We love catering for weddings and designing tables. You don’t need flowers; a decorative artichoke can be just as visually exciting,’ Henderson reckons. ‘Summer is all about seasonal vegetables, peas, radishes, samphire. I love to cook outside and barbecue lamb and lobster - the dishes are all so refreshing.’ And, although invigorated by the back-to-basics, lunchonly setup at the Rochelle Canteen, she says there are ambitions to get a restaurant license and move it out of the ‘hidden secret’ territory. But currently, it is the catering side of operations which currently appeals, with gigs in Moscow, Venice and New York all lined up over the coming months. ‘Thank god for the art world, they seem to love us! But catering is all about getting the jobs so, although intimate, it is tough.’ She jokes: ‘Look, I don’t want to make it sound too appealing; stay off my patch!’
RECIPE
CONFIT RABBIT AND GREEN BEAN SALAD ●
RECIPE
RECIPE
MACKEREL PÂTÉ ●
SERVES: 4 AS A STARTER
A great dish to take on a picnic; eaten spread on some barbecued toast while you’re waiting for the main attraction to cook.
INGREDIENTS • • • • • •
RECIPE
TO SERVE: • sourdough toast • good butter
COLD CUCUMBER, YOGHURT AND LOVAGE SOUP ●
2 whole smoked mackerel ½ a lemon, juice only 125ml crème fraîche a pinch of Cayenne pepper 1 tsp fresh horseradish (or from a jar) sea salt and black pepper
METHOD Gently peel the skin off the mackerel and carefully bone the fish, being very thorough to remove every bone. (It’s best to check a couple of times and also warn your friends that there might be a bone or two.)
SERVES: 2-4
This is the perfect starter for an outdoor lunch on a hot day
INGREDIENTS
Using a fork, mix the picked fish with the remaining ingredients - the texture should be smooth enough to spread on toast. Check for seasoning; it may need another squeeze of lemon; and serve with toast and butter.
• 2 cucumbers, halved, deseeded, and chopped • 240g Greek yoghurt • 1 clove garlic, grated • 2 tbsp chopped lovage • ½ a lemon, juice only • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
SERVES: 4-6
This salad is a meal in itself; the rabbit sits so beautifully snuggled up with all the vegetables. It’s a bit like eating Mr. McGregor’s garden with Peter Rabbit. The rabbit legs can be confit-ed a few days before using, and need to be dry-cured overnight to enhance the flavour and texture of the meat.
INGREDIENTS • 4 wild rabbit legs FOR THE OVERNIGHT DRY CURE: • 3 tbsp coarse salt • 1 tbsp coarse black pepper FOR THE CONFIT: • ½ a bunch of fresh thyme • 3 bay leaves • 8 cloves garlic, peeled • 1lb duck fat, melted FOR THE MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE: • 1 tsp Dijon mustard • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar • a squeeze of lemon juice • 120ml extra virgin olive oil • sea salt and black pepper, to taste FOR THE SALAD: • 200g green beans, topped and tailed • 1 head washed red chicory leaves • 1 large bunch watercress, washed • 1 handful of breakfast radishes, halved • 1 bunch of baby carrots • 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley • 1 tbsp capers • 1 tbsp cornichons • 5 tbsp mustard vinaigrette (see recipe) • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
METHOD A DAY AHEAD: Sprinkle the rabbit legs with the salt and pepper. Leave in the fridge overnight. ON THE DAY: Preheat oven to 150C. Brush the salt and pepper off the rabbit legs, and pop the legs into a snug-fitting oven tray with the thyme, bay, and garlic. Pour the duck fat over the rabbit legs until completely submerged. Cover with greaseproof paper foil and place in the oven for 2 hours. Meanwhile, make the mustard vinaigrette and salad. For the vinaigrette, whisk together all ingredients and season to taste. Reserve and cook the green beans until just tender, then plunge into iced water.
METHOD In a blender, combine the cucumber, yoghurt, garlic, and lovage. Blend until smooth, then leave in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the ingredients get to know each other.
Check the rabbit after 2 hours - it should collapse off the bone skewered with a knifepoint. Lift out of the fat and allow to drain. When cool enough to handle, flake the rabbit into decent chunks and allow to cool.
Just before serving, add the lemon, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the rabbit, green beans, chicory, watercress, radishes, carrots, parsley, capers, and cornichons, toss gently with the reserved vinaigrette, and season. Serve in a large bowl for everyone to help themselves, with lots of crusty bread and butter. Wash down with rosé and preferably sit outside! ●
All recipes courtesy of Margot Henderson arnoldandhenderson.com
ISSUE TEN
43
MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF? V Written by Thomas Hobbs Images by Thomas Hobbs
Over a creative thirty-year career, Margot Henderson has seen it all. Thomas Hobbs caught up with the bubbly New Zealand-born chef
isiting Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen, the charming converted bike shed down the road from Shoreditch High Street, is an experience you won’t forget in a hurry. Together with business partner Melanie Arnold, she has helped transform the venue into a portal for culinary excellence and the go-to catering hub for the fashion world (the late Alexander McQueen was a fan). Starting life around a decade ago as a cafeteria for the artists who rent space at the adjacent Rochelle School, the Canteen has no licence, and you’ll only unearth its delights at weekday lunchtimes. If you manage to locate its humble entrance, which bears the word ‘BOYS ‘ boldly emblazoned above it, you’ll go on to experience a quaint rectangular shaped café, its basic chairs and tables evoking a clearly British minimalism. Inside, the kitchen, punctuated by Margot’s laugh and careful tutorage, sees her casting a careful but proud eye over the four young chefs who cater for a mix of exclusive events and passing members of the public, working amid a backdrop of endless pans and organic vegetables. Put simply, Margot is British cooking’s Big Star. Much like this seventies Memphis band you’ve probably never heard of; although admired by fellow professionals for a pioneering style and undeniable legacy; true mainstream notoriety has bafflingly eluded Henderson. Not that she cares. ‘I don’t do legacies, I just want to be seen as a woman that could really cook,’ she replies.
ROCHELLE CANTEEN
Open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4.30pm Rochelle School, London E2 7ES arnoldandhenderson.com
40
ISSUE TEN
Brought up in New Zealand, Henderson, who says that her ‘health nut’ mother’s insistence on brown biscuits ignited her desire to be a chef - a protest if you will - has progressed quite a bit since arriving in London thirty or so years ago. ‘When I first got here I lived in Wimbledon village and worked at Pizza Express. You could say I got a diploma in pizzaology,’ she giggles. But making all those pizzas certainly sparked something, with Margot’s CV reading like a greatest hits package of everything cool about the London food scene of the nineteen nineties. The chef plied her trade at Notting Hill’s 192, the Quality Chop House, and Clerkenwell’s The Eagle - at the latter, solidifying a relationship with her famous husband Fergus, now of St. John. ‘The first time I met Fergus was after one of my kitchen porters Simon left to work for him. I said ‘how can you leave me?’ and went to this club, they call them pop-ups now, that Fergus set up in Covent Garden to see what the fuss was all about,’ she explains. ‘Rose Gray and Ruthie Rodgers were there, I mean everyone was there darling, and we were all amazed at the minimalism and deliciousness of his pigeon and peas. I went upstairs and met him, and he says that’s when he fell in love with me, although I’m not so sure!’ The relationship fully took off a year later when the pair crossed paths at the iconic Eagle gastropub. ‘I said to his sister that night ‘me and your brother must open a restaurant together’, and he called the next night and said ‘let’s do it!’. We met that weekend and he charmed the pants off me, I don’t think we spent another night apart.’ In 1992, the couple opened the iconic French Dining Room in Soho, but despite the beaming smile and warmth
DINING EXPERIENCES MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF?
"I don’t do legacies, I just want to be seen as a woman that could really cook" ISSUE TEN
41
DINING EXPERIENCES MARGOT HENDERSON: BRITAIN’S MOST UNDERRATED CHEF?
BACK TO BASICS: Rochelle's Kitchen has seen a return to an emphasis on fresh, seasonal flavours. NO CANTEEN FOR OLD MEN: Margot continues to take great pride in helping women take centre stage in commercial kitchens.
that transpires with the subject of her husband, you also sense a bit of a rivalry. ‘I definitely have been slightly rivalrous...is that a word?!’ replies Henderson. ‘Fergus is a well-centered, confident man who knows exactly where he is, I’m all over the place.’ Her husband’s decision to set up Clerkenwell’s much celebrated, Michelin-starred St. John, leaving Margot behind at the French Dining Room where she continued to prosper - albeit sporadically around the birth of her children - also sticks. ‘He would come in late and I’d be smashing clocks shouting ‘what time is this, I’m at home with these babies. Although I very much wanted to look after my kids, it was difficult to watch him achieve so much at St. John and become world-famous while I was stuck at home.’ You could say Margot has done quite a bit of parenting, with chefs like The Modern Pantry’s Anna Hansen passing through her kitchens and going on to achieve magical
42
ISSUE TEN
things. And helping women break through remains a priority. ‘Women still get sidelined and put in pastry, while men make all the business moves and get all the coverage, and as a feminist that pisses me off! Last year, I had seven women and two men in the kitchen on catering, and it was wild. I want to work with both sexes and help young people succeed, but it is a great feeling when you see a woman get to the top.’ Outside of championing young chefs, Margot says summer cooking also holds a special place in her heart, as her spectacular menu for Good Things attests. ‘We love catering for weddings and designing tables. You don’t need flowers; a decorative artichoke can be just as visually exciting,’ Henderson reckons. ‘Summer is all about seasonal vegetables, peas, radishes, samphire. I love to cook outside and barbecue lamb and lobster - the dishes are all so refreshing.’ And, although invigorated by the back-to-basics, lunchonly setup at the Rochelle Canteen, she says there are ambitions to get a restaurant license and move it out of the ‘hidden secret’ territory. But currently, it is the catering side of operations which currently appeals, with gigs in Moscow, Venice and New York all lined up over the coming months. ‘Thank god for the art world, they seem to love us! But catering is all about getting the jobs so, although intimate, it is tough.’ She jokes: ‘Look, I don’t want to make it sound too appealing; stay off my patch!’
RECIPE
CONFIT RABBIT AND GREEN BEAN SALAD ●
RECIPE
RECIPE
MACKEREL PÂTÉ ●
SERVES: 4 AS A STARTER
A great dish to take on a picnic; eaten spread on some barbecued toast while you’re waiting for the main attraction to cook.
INGREDIENTS • • • • • •
RECIPE
TO SERVE: • sourdough toast • good butter
COLD CUCUMBER, YOGHURT AND LOVAGE SOUP ●
2 whole smoked mackerel ½ a lemon, juice only 125ml crème fraîche a pinch of Cayenne pepper 1 tsp fresh horseradish (or from a jar) sea salt and black pepper
METHOD Gently peel the skin off the mackerel and carefully bone the fish, being very thorough to remove every bone. (It’s best to check a couple of times and also warn your friends that there might be a bone or two.)
SERVES: 2-4
This is the perfect starter for an outdoor lunch on a hot day
INGREDIENTS
Using a fork, mix the picked fish with the remaining ingredients - the texture should be smooth enough to spread on toast. Check for seasoning; it may need another squeeze of lemon; and serve with toast and butter.
• 2 cucumbers, halved, deseeded, and chopped • 240g Greek yoghurt • 1 clove garlic, grated • 2 tbsp chopped lovage • ½ a lemon, juice only • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
SERVES: 4-6
This salad is a meal in itself; the rabbit sits so beautifully snuggled up with all the vegetables. It’s a bit like eating Mr. McGregor’s garden with Peter Rabbit. The rabbit legs can be confit-ed a few days before using, and need to be dry-cured overnight to enhance the flavour and texture of the meat.
INGREDIENTS • 4 wild rabbit legs FOR THE OVERNIGHT DRY CURE: • 3 tbsp coarse salt • 1 tbsp coarse black pepper FOR THE CONFIT: • ½ a bunch of fresh thyme • 3 bay leaves • 8 cloves garlic, peeled • 1lb duck fat, melted FOR THE MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE: • 1 tsp Dijon mustard • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar • a squeeze of lemon juice • 120ml extra virgin olive oil • sea salt and black pepper, to taste FOR THE SALAD: • 200g green beans, topped and tailed • 1 head washed red chicory leaves • 1 large bunch watercress, washed • 1 handful of breakfast radishes, halved • 1 bunch of baby carrots • 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley • 1 tbsp capers • 1 tbsp cornichons • 5 tbsp mustard vinaigrette (see recipe) • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
METHOD A DAY AHEAD: Sprinkle the rabbit legs with the salt and pepper. Leave in the fridge overnight. ON THE DAY: Preheat oven to 150C. Brush the salt and pepper off the rabbit legs, and pop the legs into a snug-fitting oven tray with the thyme, bay, and garlic. Pour the duck fat over the rabbit legs until completely submerged. Cover with greaseproof paper foil and place in the oven for 2 hours. Meanwhile, make the mustard vinaigrette and salad. For the vinaigrette, whisk together all ingredients and season to taste. Reserve and cook the green beans until just tender, then plunge into iced water.
METHOD In a blender, combine the cucumber, yoghurt, garlic, and lovage. Blend until smooth, then leave in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the ingredients get to know each other.
Check the rabbit after 2 hours - it should collapse off the bone skewered with a knifepoint. Lift out of the fat and allow to drain. When cool enough to handle, flake the rabbit into decent chunks and allow to cool.
Just before serving, add the lemon, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the rabbit, green beans, chicory, watercress, radishes, carrots, parsley, capers, and cornichons, toss gently with the reserved vinaigrette, and season. Serve in a large bowl for everyone to help themselves, with lots of crusty bread and butter. Wash down with rosé and preferably sit outside! ●
All recipes courtesy of Margot Henderson arnoldandhenderson.com
ISSUE TEN
43
