The Black Horse has been in Thame since 2017. I caught up with the General Manager to ask about how the recipes come to be and to find out more about their approach to sourcing their ingredients. As a bonus they also shared a recipe that you can try at home – Pea and broad bean salad which they serve with goats’ cheese in breadcrumbs – yum.
About the Head Chef
Trent Phillips joined us as a Sous chef in 2017 and was part of the team that opened the Black Horse in 2017. He was then promoted to the position of Head Chef and is now in charge of the overall food operation at The Black Horse.
Who designs your recipes?
Executive Chef, Clive Fretwell designs most of our dishes in collaboration with Raymond Blanc – including the recipe we’re sharing today. Chef Clive is also responsible for training, overseeing the training and development of our kitchen teams. With Clive being the main contact for training and staff development we are able to maintain the same high quality across our whole team.
Our chefs, the vast majority of which have been with us since the opening, then prepare the ingredients according to the recipes designed by Chef Clive and Ramond Blanc.
About the ingredients – keeping it fresh
We pride ourselves on having a seasonal menu so we can make the most of fresh and in-season ingredients. All of our food is created and plated from scratch to maintain the freshness of ingredients.
The menu is updated four times a year with the next update to the menu happening on 23rd September ready for Autumn.
We are very proud to be sourcing the freshest ingredients we can – this is supported by the supplier we work with. Our suppliers are at the heart of everything we do. The suppliers that help us put this particular dish together are:
- All veg supplies: Wellocks (https://wellocks.co.uk/)
- Goats cheese: Aubery Allen (https://aubreyallen.co.uk/) who also supplies all of our meat
- Dressing: Belazu (https://www.belazu.com/)
Produce from the above suppliers, delivered fresh 6 days a week comes together on a plate and is very much loved by our guests.
What recipe can you share with us that we can try at home?
A recipe that most people can put together any night of the week is our pea and broad bean salad. We serve this particular salad with breaded goats’ cheese which is a very popular dish (shown in the photo at the top of the page).
For the centrepiece – Pea and broad bean salad – you’ll need
- Garden Peas
- Broad beans with shells removed
- Curly endive/frisee salad leaves
- Peashoots tendril microgreens
When you put this dish together you can add the extra ‘wow’ factor by using a circular mould. You place your mould on the plate and pack your fresh ingredients inside nice and tightly so the shape holds when your remove the mould. Then simply lift the mould before serving.
To serve
- Piquillo peppers
- Shallot rings
- Broad Beans: Fried & salted
- Pomegranate Molasses
- Goats cheese discs fried in breadcrumbs
- Tomato and chilli dressing
