Oxon can attract top French chefs

More than a decade has passed since I first tasted food cooked by French chef Romain Alinat from Marseille who made Oxfordshire his home in 1992.

As a member of Slow Food movement he had prepared a barbecue to showcase his cooking at Summertown’s Wine Café. I had been lucky enough to be invited to the event, and I say lucky because even now I remember the superb flavours that he managed to conjure up on barbecue coals using only local ingredients. Romain, who trained in the Marseille Catering School for three years, has moved on since then, having taken over the kitchen at The Swan, Tetsworth, a historic Grade II Elizabethan coaching inn said to have once accommodated both Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria. The Swan is an antique centre now, selling an exceptional range of fine items that both monarchs would have been proud to have among their collections of precious objects.

Romain works closely with another French man Antoine Chretien, the restaurant’s owner manager from Normandie where the popular liqueur Benedictine was first created in 1510. So, although local produce features prominently on the menu, this two-man team make no apology for the classic French dishes they serve.

With a working knowledge of Oxfordshire food producers, Romain is able to stick to his conviction that local produce is best when cooking for his customers, many of whom travel from London to combine a day browsing the 40 rooms filled with antiques with a leisurely meal in the Swan’s restaurant.

At the moment he spends much of his spare time at the asparagus beds of Rectory Farm, near Stanton St John, where customers are encouraged to cut their own. As Romain points out, things don’t get much better than that, particularly as the asparagus he harvests early in the morning is being garnished with a soft poached pheasant’s egg, smothered with Hollandaise sauce and served as an entrée by midday. He also uses Rectory Farm for rhubarb, which is exceptionally good this year. Wilja potatoes, runner beans and strawberries too, when they are ready. Other vegetables and fruits he obtains from Roots of Oxford. Romain likes the fact that Roots focus on providing a personal service to small local eateries in Oxfordshire that are looking for quality produce.

His beef come from Plested Farm, Chinnor, lamb from Touchwood Farm, Brill and flour from Wessex Mill, Wantage, which is the mill that actually prints the name of the farm that the grain comes from on each sack of flour. The pheasant, eggs which are a pale green colour and taste simply delicious, come from Adlestrop Game, who also supply his cured back bacon. The fish, which varies from day to day, is delivered overnight from fishermen in Corn-wall, lemon sole being one of their specialities.

There’s one item he serves that is not local, however. It’s the salt, which on the day I ate at The Swan was Black Coal salt from Hawaii. This is served with an unsalted butter and Gatineau bread. Romain changes the salt weekly, also serving Pink Himalayan salt, Persian blue salt and Camargue black truffle salt from Provence.

However, for general cooking, Romain uses English Maldon as he finds it more subtle and gentle for seasoning hot dishes. He also uses Fleur de sel from the Camargue, which he sprinkles on vegetables along with a drizzle of olive oil.

It was Romain’s grandmother who introduced him to the joys of cooking and making the most of the ingredients around you.

“It was her apricot jam that first woke up my flavour buds and taught me the joy of producing food that offered that extra something,” he said, going on to explain that although he was just a boy he would stand alongside her as the various dishes developed, and tried to copy her skills.

“When it came to apricot jam my task was to break open the stone and remove the kernel which grandmother then stirred into the jam for extra taste.” This task might appear a very simple one, but like so many seemingly simple kitchen tasks, it helped to infuse extra flavour which made the jam special, just as his assortment of coloured salts helps highlight different dishes.

He admits he cooks naturally, cooking from the heart and having fun as he does so. His aim now is to help the next generation to acquire a love for food and he intends to begin this quest by taking on apprentices that he can train.

My meal at The Swan included his signature dish Lapin a la moutarde served — it was superb. Romain had managed to transform a simple rabbit into a food for the Gods. The Navarin of lamb was great too, thanks in part to the slow cooking that both dishes were subjected to in a hot water bath oven that never went above 64C.

It is reassuring to know that Oxford-shire can attract top-quality French chefs and restaurant managers who are prepared to share the skills they obtained in France.