River Cottage Veg Everyday - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Has Gone Veg

We've been watching Channel 4s River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for the last few seasons and have enjoyed the idyllic English village life it presents from the River Cottage farm in Dorset, however we were always turned off, or at the very least, not interested in the scenes of the meat recipes.  

A few weeks ago we read in the Observer Food Monthly (OFM) that Hugh was named food personality of the year and noticed in the photo that he had lost an incredible amount of weight.  We also learned that he had also become a champion of a new European fishing policy after realising how many fish were being wasted due to the complexity of the fishing regulations at the time. 

Reading on, it was revealed that some health concerns at the start of the year led him to choose a vegetarian diet for some months, and naturally the TV series & book River Cottage Veg Everyday followed.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Before Becoming Vegetarian

For those unfamiliar with Hugh, he is a very English television chef with a reputation for being eccentric whose career with a brief stint as a sous-chef at the famous River Cafe in London, but claims that due to his messiness and lack of discipline he was not suited for a professional kitchen.  He then moved into River Cottage, a former game-keeper's lodge which became the setting for the River Cottage cookery television series' in which he had to produce everything himself, leading him to become a keen supporter of the organic movement.

The vegetarian series is currently being aired and we have spent the last few nights watching the first and second episodes.  It's interesting to watch a 'carnivore' learn how to put together vegetarian meals and it's lovely to watch the use of the wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables from the River Cottage farm.  To pull carrots, pick peas and broad beans and minutes later be eating them in a simple soup or salad is kind of a renewed modern dream.  

River Cottage Farm - the setting for the TV programmes

Haloumi Kebabs

In episode one Hugh visits Chef David Bailey & wife Charlotte who run the catering business Wholefood Heaven together and enjoys a meat free Asian meal and then takes their vegetarian food truck to a building site to feed the works and ask for their feedback.  Some of the recipes from the episodes so far include haloumi kebabs with tahini dressing, polenta with tomato sauce, tomato risotto and a monkey puzzle nut cous cous salad which he climbs 30 meters to obtain the rate nuts at the top of the monkey puzzle tree.

Monkey Puzzle Nut Cous Cous

Although some of the recipes are rich in eggs and cheese for our diet, we're really looking forward to watching the full series to see how the recipes and menus develop.  It's good to see vegetarianism becoming more mainstream as people realise for health and humanity it is a choice that can is positive all around and doesn't have to be boring.

Hugh has also instructed Tim, the head chef at the River Cottage Canteen & Deli to make up to half of the daily menu items vegetarian, something of challenge for Tim but one that has been inspiring to watch him rise to.  We are particularly excited about this aspect of the change as we had always wanted to visit River Cottage Farm and the cafe in Axminster, Devon but the menu didn't inspire us to make the trip, we also prefer to spend our money where people are making an effort with vegetarian dishes rather than one 'vegetarian option'.    

We are definitely make our way there this spring when we are back and settled in London and are really looking forward to it, and might enrol for one of the one day courses offered at the River Cottage.  Stay tuned for that post!