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Robin Popham

@create_terroir

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Creating a space that encourages intention has become invaluable since I’ve become self employed.
On the opposite wall to my desk is a wooden chest beside a big arm chair.
This chest has become the daily story and rhythm of ‘work’. A snapshot of what’s been, now and coming.

A new pan, freshly seasoned, for a few private jobs this month. New oven cloth as its partner.

Sharpened knife.

‘Steak Turner’ hand made and forged by a good friend. A birthday present from a couple of weeks ago.

Loxin hemp oil to re-coat my boards ahead of the weekend.

This months ‘Chef’ magazine waiting unwrapped for a quiet moment.

The flow of this month.

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir taken in Terroir by @create_terroir

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11 days ago

It was the final Woodland Feast with @secret__adventures last weekend. These truly authentic and unique events are magical.
Beginning with a stroll through the woods to a private clearing where you are greeted with a @cockburns_port white port cocktail made with wild botanicals brewed by me.
The evening is then spent enjoying a 3 course fire cooked meal with @kadai.uk before finishing with time around the fires toasting homemade marshmallows and a foraged tea.
These events are never the same twice, the food and woodland ever changing in tune with the seasons.
Locally sourced produce from
@sandylanefarm
@chilternvenison
@newwaveseafooduk
@nettlebedcheese
to name a few.
We will all be back in 2027.

With thanks to Alison @viewpoint.images for documenting this whole season for me.
@ridgeflowevents Sean is without question the best front of house I could hope for.

Heritage | Environment | Craft

#yourterroir #chilternsfood #eatlocal #firefood #woodlandfeast taken in Secret Location by @create_terroir

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19 days ago

It has been a long time since I last walked through these doors, in fact these doors were at a different location back then. I look back on my time as a student and teacher at Leith’s with great fondness. At the time I didn’t full appreciate the opportunity. I was not mature enough to see it, despite the principle’s best efforts.

I was lucky enough to return this week which got me thinking about a great many things aside from reminiscing.

My mind first drifted to “what is the one skill that has been invaluable over the years”?
The answer was immediate. Skills can be taught, especially at institutions such as Leith’s. What makes the difference between a learnt skill and a craft is curiosity.

Curiosity takes the skills that are taught and elevates them to create something new, different and personal.
Without a proper grounding and without high quality training, curiosity is left unprepared to reach its potential.

It has been a wonderful day returning to such a place.

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #leiths #craft taken in London, England by @create_terroir

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20 days ago

It is always the simple foods I get most excited about. I’m not sure if it’s a reaction to being immersed in the complex with ‘work’ for so long, or if it’s more about how I like to eat? That’s a thread to save for another time.

At any rate a batch of sausage rolls never disappoints (crazy paving glaze from over stretched pastry aside).

Pork mince, onions, fresh herbs from the garden, nutmeg and lots of black pepper. A smear of homemade beer mustard over the pastry aside it rolls around the meat and bake.

So much of the appeal comes from the meat. Not just scraps turned into mince with too much fat. Considered cuts minced twice on a coarse plate.

But before any of this the animal, the meat. The flavour and texture given by its environment and the heritage of its farmer. This is where the sausage roll begins, and in my opinion ends.

Focus on what brings value and where there is value to be had. The terroir of life.

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #farmtotable #shoplocal #localproduce #farmfresh by @create_terroir

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a month ago

Regardless of the calendar, Autumn is here and easing me in gently. The local fields are a blush with green apples on the turn. Tart and full of character. Thoughts drift to cinnamon and nutmeg with a touch of green peppercorns.

It’s not quite hot pudding season but warming spices are knocking at the door.

Baked custard tart with green apple jam.

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #seasonal #localfood #slowfood taken in Terroir by @create_terroir

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2 months ago

Memories of a past summer and very different stage of life.

Where my wife and I were known as a single entity, “Mumdad”, and new discoveries plentiful.

We now find wonder in watching them carve their independent path.

Even now the shared memories stem from food. “Where was it we had schnitzel in that brewery on the big town square”? “Which holiday was it with the shrimp on seaweed”?

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir taken in Summer Holidays by @create_terroir

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2 months ago

Spurred on by Colin @groundupcookeryschool I’m having another go with slow olives. The last batch were just on the blush. These almost ripe but not quite.

Kalamata’s, for example, are lacto fermented to remove the bitter flavour compounds before finishing in a seasoned brine. They have a deeper olive flavour rather than just the texture in a brine.

Sloes have tannins which respond differently to the fermentation, not disappearing entirely but let’s see how that goes.

The idea is the underlying flavour of the ingredient comes forward with fermentation (as long as the flesh is firm enough which it isn’t in the case of plums for example). The brine leaches out the tannins and balances the texture.

… well that’s the theory and please pass on any and all opinions in the comments. I’m basically winging it!

📷 @viewpoint.images

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#yourterroir #seasonal #forage #wildfood #homemade taken in Oxford, Oxfordshire by @create_terroir

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2 months ago

When thoughts drift to a distant New York Deli memory…

Cheats pastrami made with topside, dry brine overnight with the spices. Roasted rare (54). @rosedalesorganicfarm beef.

Quick fridge pickles with cucumber, onion and fennel tops. @sandylanefarm

Mustard mayo and a really good cheddar in a ciabatta bun. All those lovely holes to capture puddles of mustard mayo.

Not the authentic article but satisfied that itch.

I always get a bit of a kick out of cobbling something together using local ingredients that transports me somewhere else entirely.

Then there’s the excuse to get cooking. Dreaming of something that then takes a day and a half to make, all from scratch (not the cheddar) and all with love.

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #farmtotable #shoplocal #supportlocalfarmer #localproduce by @create_terroir

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3 months ago

Paying a visit to my local farm shops is a joy! @sandylanefarm and @rosedalesorganicfarm this morning.
The pleasure of engaging with a community and feeling part of something beyond yourself is the most human of qualities. A quality overlooked at times.

… and the question of what to eat is easily answered. Inspiration everywhere!

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#yourterroir #farmshop #localfood #firefood #slowfood by @create_terroir

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3 months ago

You do not have to be a forager to appreciate the wild larder that is all around us. This is a world I admire from a distance, occasionally taking my socks off to have a paddle.

Life changes very quickly but the constant nature of the seasons is always comforting.

Our labrador is no longer with us and the boys are moving on, but my wife and I still walk the local routes, not throwing sticks or finding trees to climb, but picking.

I keep a modest wild larder at home, a few cordials, pickles and the odd ferment. Not extensive but just enough to remain curious. A curiosity I bring into my work.

It is fascinating how a few wild ingredients shift expectations and create moments of intrigue.

Venison has long been a favourite and a staple on my menus, I have @chilternvenison to thank for that. Bringing wild ingredients into the mix seems logical and fitting. Almost necessary.

Blackberries are one of those forages that captures everyone’s interest, but there is far more to this plant than the black gold we put in an apple crumble.

Rob @cotswoldforager introduced me to what I affectionately refer to as Green Bullets. The various stages of development in the life of a blackberry, all edible and all delicious in their own way.

My favourite is when they just begin to blush but remain largely green. The little blobs are swollen, skin tight with juice, but still very underripe. The first blush of pink indicates the beginning of sugar, and this is when I pick them.

Still far to unpleasant to eat as they are, but when bathed in a hot sweet pickle brine, the flavours come forward, no longer trapped by acidity.

They are simply delicious and make great company with meats and the richer foods as any pickle does.

On my July menu they accompanied venison haunch that had been dry brined in wild garlic salt and cooked over fire. Blistered lettuce, grilled pattypan and a sauce of blistered tomatoes and coal roasted onion.

Little lifts and curious moments, all from a walk with my wife.

Wonderful images @viewpoint.images

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #chefsofinstagram #wildfood #forage #outdoordining by @create_terroir

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3 months ago

So often the best dishes are stumbled upon by chance, discovered by having to make quick decisions and changes of plans.

I have a habit of championing the underdog. Produce that gets overlooked or under appreciated. The steady hand that’s always there.

I had planned the July woodland Feats @secret__adventures to finish with a little nod to the blackcurrant. Thoughts of cheesecake and pastilles filled my head.

I arrived at the P.Y.O to find the heat had shrivelled those that hadn’t given up the fight and fallen to the unbaked ground.

Well that’s a bit frustrating! The day before and no fruit to be the star of the show!

The blackcurrant field lay beyond the redcurrants and artichokes @rectoryfarmpyo There they hung, jewels of sparkling red dripping from their bushes. Clearly no one was that interested bar the birds.

… and the nicest little dessert was transformed.

Redcurrants marinated in the welcome cocktail of white port and meadowsweet.
White chocolate cultured cream
Tarragon sherbet
Blackcurrant gel (I worked hard for that 1/2 kilo so I wasn’t wasting them)

A happy accident.

Effortlessly captured by @viewpoint.images

Heritage | Environment | Craft
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#yourterroir #chefsofinstagram #outdoordining #slowfood taken in Chiltern Hills by @create_terroir

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3 months ago

Public facing events are the highlight of my year. I know you should never have favourites but they really are great fun. A community becomes almost tribal, especially around food, made tighter in such exceptional surroundings.

There are always the interesting random chats led by curiosity or background, but some questions become commonplace. Perhaps the most frequent is about kit, more specifically BBQ’s Fire Pits and fire cooking kit.

My favourite answer is to say the best kit is either the one you have or the one you can afford.

This seems like a bit of a brush away comment but it is the honest truth. Cooking is rarely about kit, it’s about the process. Curiosity led experimentation, followed by a healthy dose of failures or ‘not quites’, then overwhelming pleasure at the first bite of success.

While @kadaiuk fire bowls may not be perfect, this is what makes them the obvious choice for cooking in the woods @secret__adventures . Beautiful, simple, honest and loads of fun. They make the woodland feasts authentic.

All beautifully captured by @viewpoint.images

Heritage | Environment | Craft

#ChilternHills #WildKitchen #FireCookedFeast #SupperInTheWoods #yourterroir taken in Chiltern Hills by @create_terroir

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3 months ago