Private Chef Philippa Davis Explains Why We Must Connect To The Land Which Feeds Us

From the world of Michelin starred restaurants to a life travelling across the globe with high-profile clients, Jenny Jefferies gets the inside story from Philippa Davis on her life as a private chef.

Interview: Philippa Davis

Philippa Davis is a private chef, writer and TV presenter who grew up with her extended family on a small holding in Dorset. Having worked in some of the city’s top restaurants including The River Café and Moro, Philippa set up what was to become the award winning Mudchute Kitchen on London’s largest city farm.

In 2010, Philippa made the adventurous leap into freelance private cheffing and has since then travelled across the UK and the globe for a range of high-profile clients. Philippa also writes for BBC Food, has a monthly column in The Field magazine in and creates the recipes for the Deepest Book series which celebrates the roots of unique communities in the West Country.

Where did your love of food come from?

I was incredibly lucky to grow up on a small farm in Dorset with my parents, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents. Struggling with dyslexia, my family decided I should be home schooled so once my daily lessons were done I got to help out with the animals, in the vegetable garden and the kitchen. We all sat down to eat together at least once a day and mealtimes were noisy, fun and centred around the food we had produced. My somewhat unusual childhood meant that from an early age I had an understanding and interest in where ingredients came from as well as experience of the joys of cooking and sharing food.

How important is it to try bridging the urban and rural divide?

Not only is it important, it is vital if we want to secure the health and food security of our nation for the future. Having lived and worked in cities across the UK, I totally understand how you can feel disconnected to who and how your food is produced and the challenges urban shopping can present if you want to eat British seasonal produce. With my deep connections to the countryside, I also understand farmers feeling overwhelmed and struggling with changing government polices that jeopardise their ability to keep producing nutritious food. It’s hard to sympathise and support anything we don’t understand or feel connected to which is why I feel if we want to keep producing good food as a country, its crucial everyone has a strong relationship with the land which feeds them.

Where and how are the best places for us to source our seasonal food from, both in the UK and around the world?

I’ve just had the privilege of presenting a six part TV show on Amazon Prime called A Taste of Dorset, which really bought home to me how many exciting ways there are to get hold of great food in the UK. From markets to mail order, and from farm shops to honesty boxes tucked into hedgerows, there really seemed to be an impressive mix of places to get ingredients.

For me, whether private cheffing, recipe writing or cooking at home I tend to shop at a range of places including farmers markets, supermarkets, vending machines, delis, and online. Wherever I purchase my food from I make a conscious effort to make sure much of it is local.

What are the unique challenges of being a private chef and what do you love the most?

There is no rulebook or consistent guidelines to being a private chef, only plenty of blurred lines and dizzyingly high expectations so my first few years were filled with challenges, adventures and new experiences. One of the biggest changes I noticed from working in restaurants was that rather then being safely tucked behind the pass I was suddenly living and travelling with the people I was feeding which at times was incredibly intense.

After 15 years of being in this role I think I would find it very hard to work in a restaurant again as there are so many unique sides to this corner of the hospitality industry that I love. From the excitement of not knowing what the day will hold when cooking for the jet set (I once cooked for a job where the day started in Provence then the boss decided we should all go to Italy so ended up in Tuscany) to being able to travel to the ingredients (I once travelled to the olive groves in Greece and another time cooked with wild Scottish venison on the estate it came from).

You master a different and unique side of the hospitality industry with your in-depth, global travels. What has been the most significant element that you have learnt along the way?

A plate of food has the ability to connect us all.

What is your favourite cuisine to cook?

Variety is definitely the spice of life for me and I love that I have been able to discover the world through food. My clients also include a wide variety of nationalities which has been a great way to expand my knowledge of cooking different cuisines. However, my favourite part is getting to use incredible produce in whatever I make.

What’s your food philosophy?

I think my principles to food and cooking are largely shaped by my grandparents and time on the farm when I was a child. Respect the produce, don’t over complicate a dish and encourage the young to get involved in mealtimes in some way. It builds confidence and makes them feel part of something positive.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Jam donuts from Reeves the baker in Shaftesbury.

What is your most vivid childhood food memory?

The smell of tomatoes in the green house. Every time I smell a proper ripe summer tomato it takes me straight back to being a child. Well that and when I tried to make flapjacks once and they somehow exploded across the oven and took a week to come off!

Who would you most like to cook for?

As a private chef its been interesting and fun getting to cook for a huge variety of people from fashion icons to movie stars and from tech billionaires to royalty but probably, like most chefs, the people we most love cooking for are those who really enjoy and appreciate the moment of sitting down and sharing a plate of food, which could be anyone!

What is the Deepest Book series?

Ah! This is one of my favourite projects I have worked on. The series is a collection of books which celebrate the roots of unique communities in the West Country. They look at the people, places, arts, industry, history and food of a county and so far we have covered Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset. I write the recipe sections which champion the local food and drink producers of the region. The sales from the books are donated to local charities and so far we have raised over £100,000. We were particularly thrilled when King Charles wrote the introduction to our latest book, Deepest Somerset, where he talked about the importance of connecting to the land and people around us.

Copies are available from deepestbooks.co.uk