Shaun Rankin shot to culinary fame in 2009 as the South West champion in BBC Two’s Great British Menu wowing the judges with his now famous Treacle Tart. He has been recognised for many years as one of the British Isles’ most talented chefs (he was named British Chef of the Year by The Independent’s food critic Terry Durack in 2006) and is head chef at Bohemia Restaurant, which holds one of only two Michelin stars in the Channel Islands. He has since regularly appeared on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and has this year been the face of the national campaign for Jersey Royal new potatoes.
Shaun's latest projects have been based at home in Jersey and on the other Channel Islands, and in November 2010, he launched his TV series "Island Feast" and his first recipe book "Seasoned Islands". The six episodes see Shaun travelling across Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm to meet three of the best producers, trying out their jobs before combining the ingredients into a dish that he will cook up. We see Shaun cooking both ‘on location’ and in the studio.
Shaun's first cookbook
'Shaun Rankin's Seasoned Islands' is a collection of over 75 recipes created by Shaun, coupled with over 50 pages of stunning photography of the Channel Islands by celebrated local photographer Matthew Porteous.
The book showcases the local products and suppliers, that he uses at the The Club and Bohemia, complemented by images that show the islands at their very best. Recipes have been created with the adventurous home-cook in mind. They are delicious yet accessible; reflecting the food that Shaun would cook at home with his family.
You can order the book now from Shaun's website, an ideal present for yourself or anyone who loves good food.
The book is £20 + £2.50 delivery, click here for more information.
'A Chef for all Seasons' by Roger Thomas
Treacle tart can’t be that difficult to make, can it? Well, it all depends.
Take one Reasonably Priced Car, for example, and drive it as fast as you dare around a racetrack (they do it all the time on Top Gear). Then put Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s seat (they did that too). The difference is startling.
It’s the same with Shaun Rankin’s treacle tart. It won’t be like yours. It recently won him a top spot in the Great British Menu series on BBCTV, which culminated in a homecoming banquet for our troops from Afghanistan. The judges were simply over the moon, with comments like: ‘The best treacle tart in the world,’ and ‘To make (it) that good is high art.’
Not your average treacle tart, then. Its creator is one of two Michelin-starred chefs working in Jersey. He’s the driving force at Bohemia, the restaurant at St Helier’s Club Hotel & Spa.
Here’s his story:
So what’s a Durham man doing in Jersey?
I’ve been living and working here for 16 years. On rainy days in Durham there wasn’t a lot to do. Mum was a really good cook and I started helping her with Sunday lunch. She’d use a battered old recipe book, but nothing was measured out – it was a cup of this and a bit of that. I just loved it.
What do you like about island life?
I love it. We all get a bit claustrophobic now and again, especially in wintertime. I look forward to the summers, the beaches, the outdoors and the open air. It takes me very little time to get to work, which is a bonus because of the hours I put in. It means that I get to spend some time with my son Ethan, who’s just 19 months, in the afternoons. Jersey is a great place for my family to live. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
What’s your style of cooking?
It’s the produce that drives me. I can’t wait for the seasons to start. I treat the produce with total respect, working on combinations of flavours using classic cooking methods but revamped in my way. I like to think of Jersey as my own little nine-mile garden. The late arrival of autumn is really nice, and I can’t wait for the game season to get venison and partridge back on the menu. I have dishes on like red mullet, which you can catch in abundance on local shores this time of year. One of the great flavour combinations I use is scallops with red mullet and white chocolate with blue cheese.
How do you keep that Michelin Star shining?
You beat yourself up really, because you never know when the inspector is arriving. To keep up the level you have to be confident in what you do, so I don’t move the menu too much apart, of course, from adapting it to the seasons.
Bohemia or that banquet for the troops – what was the most nerve-wracking?
There was a lot of pressure when we opened Bohemia seven years ago because we were doing something new to Jersey. The TV was a different kind of pressure. They’re continuously pushing and pulling you different ways while all you want to do is get your dish done. But you soon forget the cameras and get on with it.
The Chef’s Table at Bohemia – what’s that all about?
It’s an extension of the restaurant into the heart of the kitchen, designed for a group of four to six diners. I saw the first one when I was working in Chicago. It was a small canteen table in the middle of the kitchen with four little café chairs and white tablecloth – and that was it. The idea is the same at Bohemia, through we’ve gone to the other end of the scale. It’s a really different dining experience. You’re not even four feet away from the hot plate, so you see everything that’s going on with me and my team, but in a nice environment with leather chairs, glass walls and air conditioning, so you don’t get too hot. You’re brought in at about eight o’clock, given some champagne and canapés, I’ll come in and have a chat with you to explain the menus and what’s going on in the kitchen. Then you’re there for the whole evening.
That famous treacle tart – what’s the secret?
For a start it was the combination with Jersey clotted cream ice cream and raspberries. But the secret is mainly in mixing the butter with the golden syrup and then seasoning with salt so that it’s not too heavy or sticky, and has that savouriness.
So now you know.
As told to Roger Thomas.
Great British Menu
Series II, 2009
In a tough competition, Shaun Rankin from Bohemia Bar & Restaurant was named South West champion in the fourth series of BBC Two’s Great British Menu. (May 1st, 2009)
Shaun returned to our screens to compete in the final where the eight regional finalists battled to win over the judges and the public with their menus. Shaun successfully won the dessert course and then served his Treacle Tart to the British armed forces at a glorious homecoming banquet for the men and women, and their families, who had returned from active military service in Afghanistan.
Taking Rankin to the final was his four-course ‘Taste of Home’ menu that incorporated an array of local Jersey produce. For the starter, Rankin prepared a three hour cooked free range duck egg with new seasoned buttered asparagus, shiitake mushrooms and herb sabayon. Next came the fish course, for which he served a spectacular Jersey lobster and crab cocktail with marinated baby fennel salad, sunflower bread and herb mayonnaise.
As the pressure built through the week so did Rankin’s dishes with a main course consisting of slow cooked belly and glazed cheek of pork with preserved apples, roast local scallops, watercress and crackling, minted Jersey Royals. However, what really stole the show was his dessert, a treacle tart accompanied by Jersey clotted cream and raspberry ripple ice cream. The really great news for Bohemia diners is that Rankin’s full four course Great British Menu has been added to the Bohemia menu portfolio.
In the regional heats Rankin was up against acclaimed chef Nathan Outlaw from Nathan Outlaw Restaurant in Fowey, Cornwall, who holds a ‘rising two Michelin star’. Rankin describes his opponent as tough competition “Nathan prepared a fantastic mix of dishes and I have to say I was extremely impressed”. The show also looked at both chef’s hometowns and restaurants, showcasing Jersey’s spectacular coastal scenery, as well as a number of Shaun’s regular suppliers and the sophisticated Bohemia Bar & Restaurant.
Casting an impartial eye over the proceedings in Shaun's heat was former Great British Menu champion Mark Hix, who cooked the main course and dessert at the Ambassador's banquet in Paris as part of the 2007 series of Great British Menu. In the end, judging came down to a panel of experts, including author, chef and entrepreneur Prue Leith, food writer Matthew Fort and restaurateur Oliver Peyton.
In the final round of Great British Menu each of Rankin’s four courses was judged individually against the seven other regional finalists.
Michelin Starred chef Shaun is perhaps Jersey's best known purveyor of fine food as he's the face of Jersey Royal Potatoes.
Shaun's recipes for his Great British Menu & from his Saturday Kitchen appearances are available from the BBC Food - Recipe database.
If you'd like to sample Shaun's food, then make a reservation at his Bohemia Restaurant, St Helier.
Or if you'd just like the find out more about the man himself, visit www.shaunrankin.com