Chefs: Greg Milne, Head Chef at St Michael's Mount
There’s not much happening in the catering world at present, so I thought I’d give a shout out to the various chef’s I’ve known and interviewed down the years. They are all highly skilled and talented people - let’s hope they’ll be cooking for us again soon…
This article was featured in the Western Morning News and it was all about a charming young guy called Greg Milne - who is head chef at the amazing St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. Here’s what he just messaged me… “Haven’t grafted in a year - but still there. Currently working on menus for this year - so all is looking bright…”
Head chef at Michael’s Mount: Gregory Stewart Milne
Imagine coming across a dazzling, colourful, many facetted jewel on a treasure island… Surely such things don’t happen in real life? Or do they? I certainly came across a sparkling jewel on a Cornish isle the other day - and it happened to be edible and thoroughly delicious.
The thin shards of home-cured pollack fillet shone translucent as pearls, while the foraged flowers which studded the dish gleamed like so many amethysts and emeralds - and the whole crown-jewel was brought together with the ceramic artistry of a stinging nettle mayonnaise and green diamonds made of wild garlic oil.
The young wizard who works on the magic island and who was responsible for this jewel on a plate had enchanted this food writer by taking him on an early morning quest under the great walls of the legendary castle.
There, above the boulder beach and below a mysterious forest did we search and forage, until we had enough wild morsels for chef Greg Milne to weave his magic spell.
All of which is maybe just a bit too ethereal and fairy-story like for a young man who used to play with some international success in a heavy metal band.
Having said that, Gregory Stewart Milne, to give him his full name, does not leap around smashing pots and pans at The Sail Loft restaurant on St Michael’s Mount - indeed he is extremely calm and laidback (to the extent that the play The Archers and Radio Four’s Food Programme in the kitchen) - but you get the feeling that his frenetic energy and youthful exuberance are only just quivering beneath the control that is required by a head chef.
Greg in the Sail Loft on St Michael’s Mount
“Smashing bloke,” muttered a young boatman called Josh who took us on a trip around the isle in a mercurial light, just after dawn the other day. “St Michael’s Mount is lucky to have him.”
And that, indeed, is the sort of thing I’d been hearing about Greg - who is one of a burgeoning army of young culinary stars now working west of the Tamar.
“Gregory, an avid forager, has embraced the local, seasonal and sustainable ethos of St Michael’s Mount’s with this spring’s menu,” gushed a public relations person who sent me an email. “From handpicked crab landed fresh across the bay, to local cheeses and homemade chutneys, he has scoured the county to bring the best produce to this most singular of eateries – accessed only by foot, across an ancient causeway when the tide allows, or by boat when the tide is in.”
She added: “The emphasis at The Sail Loft is on fresh, locally landed fish, seasoned with herbs from The Mount’s very own kitchen garden. The changing daily menu might include Fowey mussels, cider, pancetta and thyme or grilled brill, Lelant Downs asparagus, green salsa, béarnaise sauce or a favourite such as crispy pollock, creamed leeks, bacon and broad beans, chorizo jam.”
This description was enough to tempt me to travel 150 miles west, but I did so with my journalistic cynicism at the ready. After all, PR people are paid to paint colourful pictures, but the reality is sometimes different.
I need not have worried, The moment I crossed the famous causeway which links The Mount to the Cornish mainland at low tide, I knew that this proposed food feature was in safe hands. Greg bubbles with enthusiasm and, even early in the morning, he has a passion for cooking, the likes of which I have not witnessed in a long time. Indeed, it is hard to put into words what pleasure an older journalist gets when he’s in the company of a younger person who: A) is able to eloquently describe their drive and passion, and B) who knows what they are doing.
All very impressive for a young man who’s never been to catering college but who used to be both a rock guitarist and a National Trust warden.
“I still play a bit now, actually, but I used to be in a band called Krocus and we did a couple of European and UK tours. It was quite heavy, to be honest - we’d better not get bogged down with that,” he told me. “But we were doing really well in our scene.”
To see just how well - and how heavy the metal - have a look at one of their live gigs on YouTube. For some, it might be enough to make their nettle mayonnaise curdle.
Anyway, fast forward and Greg was drawn to the lure of the culinary world, working first as a kitchen porter at the celebrated Pump House in Bristol. “It was like watching magic. The chefs went out every Monday morning super early before work and used to bring back punnets of St George’s mushrooms and the like. I fell in love with it.
“The head chef there saw something in me and said he thought I could cook - and that’s how I learned to be a chef. I did the staff meals and I kept building from there, But ultimately that all fell apart because of the drudgery of the hours - in the end it got a bit too much and I wanted to do something else. That is when my passion for conservation and trees took over and I went to work as a voluntary warden for the National Trust on Dartmoor.”
Greg was doing so much foraging for wild salads, vegetables and fungi in order to supplement his non-existent income, he was beginning to realise that what he really enjoyed was cooking. Fast forward again and Greg returned to Cornwall where he’d spent most of teenage and applied for a job with Ben Tunnicliffe at the Tolcarne in Newlyn.
“He was the best chef in the area, so I wrote him a letter and he took me on,” said Greg who learned a huge amount seafood cookery with Ben.
A year-and-a-half later Greg was offered the head chef post across the bay at St Michael’s Mount and he’s never looked back, although being the boss didn’t come easy at first. “I enjoy all the extra work now because I am a people-person - and I’m quite relaxed. I’m not an angry guy, but very forgiving. That’s a good attribute - and I like running a team. But I never wanted to be a boss - it’s been the biggest learning curve for me. It falls on my head to be the tough guy sometimes - so yea, it’s a big one.
“The menus have to be very Cornish-occentric. When people come onto the island they have this idea… seafood, crab particularly. People think of Cornwall and they think of crab sandwiches - so that’s what we do as best we can. Sometimes I’ll do a dish of turbot with wild garlic sauce and sea vegetables which is quite challenging here because this is a tourist restaurant. People might ask - what is a sea vegetable? Some people don’t want the challenge - in July and August we are perhaps at our most basic. But then September comes along and we have more retired people who do want to try things.”
Greg took me on a foraging hike around the island, using private paths which are normally only open to gardeners and estate works, and we picked various sea vegetables as well as wild edible flowers and woodland herbs. He was particularly keen to pick a bag of young nettle leaves with which he later made the most amazing, vibrant and zingy mayonnaise. And, no, there was no sting - amazingly, the raw nettle leaves gave the sauce the fresh flavour of cucumber…
At The Sail Loft kitchen Greg assembled the fabulous dish which I have called the jewel of the island, the recipe for which we have here…
I have a feeling we West Country foodies will be hearing a lot more about the heavy metal conservationist who rules the culinary roost on a magical island with his wizardry and his enthusiasm for food.
Line caught Pollock, wild garlic, nettles and wild herbs from the Mount
Line caught Pollock, wild garlic, nettles and wild herbs from the Mount
This dish is perfect for a summers day, light, fragrant and cooling.
Pollock Cure
500g fillet weight of good quality pollock fillets
100g salt
100g caster sugar
70ml water
Finding an appropriate container for the pollock, place the fillets skin side down inside it. Mix the dry ingredients with the water and pour over the fillets making sure to cover completely. Cure in the fridge for 2 hours. Wash, dry and slice thinly.
Wild Garlic Oil
500ml Rapeseed oil
100g wild garlic
Pinch of salt
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and drop the wild garlic in. When it’s all submerged quickly take out and lay on a dry cloth. Taking care not to burn yourself squeeze out the excess water, place the wild garlic into a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blitz on full for 25 secs, infuse for ten minutes, strain the mixture with a cheese cloth.
Nettle salsa
50g Nettles
17g Flat leaf parsley
25g Gherkin
25g Capers
15g Anchovy
½ tbsp Dijon mustard
45g Rapeseed oil
45g White wine vinegar
Salt to taste
Place all the ingredients into your blender and blitz until emulsified, check the seasoning and leave to one side.
House Mayonnaise
4 x egg yolks
1½ tbsp of Dijon
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
400ml rapeseed oil
2 tbsp water
Salt to taste
Add the yolks, mustard and vinegar into a blender and start blitzing. In a steady stream emulsify the rapeseed oil into this mixture slowly at first and as it begins to thicken and take the form of a mayonnaise you can add the oil more quickly. With all the oil emulsified add the water to let it back slightly and give the mayonnaise a beautiful silky texture. Season to taste.
To Plate
Mix equal parts of the nettle salsa and mayonnaise in a bowl and check the seasoning. With a clean plate take slices of the pollock and lay to create a pleasingly circular shape. Dress the pollock with splashes of wild garlic oil and spoon dots of the nettle mayonnaise inside the circle. Finally garnish the dish with finely diced cucumber, common sorrel to add a pleasant sour note and borage flowers to echo the fresh cucumber flavours.
