Chef of the month: John Pomfret, Barchester
Head chef John Pomfret tells us what’s on the menu at Barchester’s Iddenshall Hall and Beeston View care homes
Tell us about your background and how you joined Barchester
My interest in food and cooking began with part-time jobs washing up in pubs and restaurants while at school. After leaving I studied hotel and catering management at college and moved into pub management, but my real passion has always been in the kitchen and cooking good honest tasty food, often covering shifts cooking for the restaurants and pubs I managed. So when I was made redundant, the obvious choice for me was to pursue my love for cooking while considering my career. I spent a year working as an agency chef, a time I thoroughly enjoyed, learning lots of different ideas in kitchens in many various businesses, schools, hospitals and homes all over Cheshire. This led me to Barchester Healthcare and Iddenshall Hall in particular. I was booked for a week – that was 15 years ago and counting.
What is special about working at Iddenshall?
Iddenshall Hall has become like a second home for me. I’ve made some very good friends among the residents and staff. There’s a very real community feel about the home. The old manor house itself is fascinating, with nooks and crannies and a very special character. I like to imagine how it was when a family lived here, with kitchens in the cellar and servants’ rooms in the attic, fresh meals from the produce grown in the extensive gardens and maybe cider made from apples out of the orchard.
How do you vary your menu to provide choice for residents?
I try to keep the theme of fresh locally produced and grown food as much as possible, changing our menu to reflect the seasons. Cheshire new potatoes with plenty of butter and a dash of home- grown mint are a seasonal treat. We still use apples from the orchard, but more often for a lovely crumble or apple cobbler rather than scrumpy now.
What does your typical weekly menu look like?
A typical week’s menu here at Iddenshall Hall and Beeston View will see lots of fresh home baking. Our moist fruity carrot cake and sticky toffee puddings with lashings of custard are particular favourites. Meals are mostly traditional, with freshly battered cod or haddock, hearty roast dinners with Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings, and lighter choices such as home-baked quiches all being enjoyed. We do, however, have more adventurous palates covered, as well with warming moussaka, lamb tagines and home-baked focaccia breads all being tried recently.
What’s your most popular dish?
One of our best loved puddings is our trifle. There’s always seconds and rarely any leftovers.
What’s your favourite dish?
My own favourite must be our toad in the hole. I like to make individual ones so everyone gets a toad and plenty of hole, with lashings of gravy of course.
How do you meet residents’ nutritional and health needs?
As we are a care and nursing home, our resident’s nutritional needs are something I give a lot of consideration to. Some days people may feel a bit under the weather or not particularly feel like eating. I make sure there’s always something tempting available, be it a fresh fruit platter, a freshly baked cookie or maybe a healthy and nutritious smoothie with yoghurt and honey. I like to be present at mealtimes as much as I can, talking with our guests, getting to know them and their preferences. Making sure everyone is enjoying the food as much as I enjoy making it.
How do you cater for residents living with dementia?
Catering for people living with dementia is a large part of our role here at Beeston View and something I am passionate about. Sometimes people will not remember they have eaten, or if they are hungry. Smells can be a very good prompt or reminder so we try to get as many aromas and flavours into the home as we can. Baking bread in the ovens and bringing in freshly grilled bacon for breakfast times are great appetite prompts. If a resident wants cornflakes and toast at three o’clock in the morning or two bowls of trifle for breakfast, yes, that’s great too, no problem. They’re happy and comforted and feel a little bit more at home.
How do you make the dining experience special for residents and their families?
Mealtimes are not only about our delicious food, they are also a very important social occasion for our community, a time for people to get together, chat about their day, welcome visitors and maybe celebrate a special occasion. We welcome families and visitors regularly, catering for special birthdays and events such as anniversaries, either in our dining rooms or our beautiful conservatory or grounds, weather permitting. We love a good party and have recently hosted an afternoon tea party for one of our families and of course a coronation party for King Charles. I’m proud of our home here at Iddenshall Hall and I enjoy welcoming old and new residents, visitors and staff. Last year I attended Barchester’s own chef training academy. This year I am passing on the knowledge and skills I have gained to other chefs within the company at our very own training kitchen here at Iddenshall Hall.