When a young Warren Brown was rejected for a baking apprenticeship because he was too short, the bakery world’s loss was fine dining’s gain.
Warren, executive head chef at five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, explains: “Originally I wanted to become a baker, but I was just a little bit too short to reach the top deck of the oven.
“But I’ve always loved cooking and that was because of my mother, who was a great cook. When I was five she had a cake shop and at the weekends I would go in and help her make cakes,” he recalls.
One of the most fascinating things for the small boy was putting a cake in the oven and watching it rise.
“I was intrigued by the science of it; the transition from raw ingredients to baked cake, in terms of the way it tasted and looked. It was these two aspects – the science and my mum’s cooking – that first sparked my desire to pursue a career as a chef.”
As soon as he turned 16, Warren, who grew up in Birmingham, wrote to 45 five-star hotels in London, but only heard back from two of them.
“One of them was the Four Seasons Hotel and the executive chef invited me down for an interview. He must have liked my answers because he offered me a three-year scholarship and apprenticeship programme at the hotel – and that was the start of my professional culinary career,” explains Warren, who has since worked in some of the world’s most prestigious hotels including the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
In a sweet twist of fate, he worked as a sous chef at Gleneagles in his early 20s so he was thrilled to be back in Perthshire to take over the position of executive head chef last autumn.
“It’s such an honour to come back to Gleneagles. As soon as I was offered the job, I didn’t need to think about it,” he smiles.
“I was only 22 when I last worked here, and the hotel has changed a lot since then. Back in those days, there were only two restaurants and cooking techniques and approaches have all changed dramatically too.”
Responsible for Gleneagles’ four head chefs and kitchen teams, he plans to showcase the wealth of outstanding Scottish seasonal produce on our doorstep, and get creative.
“We have four great seasons here for ingredients, and our menus will be rotating a little bit more frequently to celebrate this,” he says.
“I enjoy taking the best elements of dishes and adding my own stamp to them. I’m looking forward to introducing our guests to some really innovative flavours inspired by my travels, whilst keeping tradition alive with stable favourites.”
Game is currently a big feature on menus, particularly rabbit, wild duck and pigeon.
“It’s exciting for me because I haven’t had the opportunity to cook with game for such a long time,” says Warren. “There are some really wonderful ingredients available right now that offer beautiful colour to dishes – including ceps, spring cabbage, golden turnip, and wild sea kale – so these will be added to our menus over the next couple of months, going into spring.
“I’ve inherited a talented team at Gleneagles and feel fortunate to be working with chefs who pride themselves on delivering outstanding culinary experiences for guests,” he says.
“I’m a true believer that you get back what you put into life, and that’s a philosophy I’m always eager to pass on to the younger members of my team.”
Warren describes his base style as modern French with an Asian twist but acknowledges the recipes his mum passed down to him inspire him to this day.
“I still make a handful of her key dishes,” he smiles. “And at home when I’m cooking for my family, I usually make pasta, simple stews or nice hearty roasts – something homely, and often inspired by Mum’s cooking.”
Warren enjoys football, running, going to the gym and spending time with his family when he’s not working. However, he admits that being a chef is a demanding career, sometimes putting huge pressure on other aspects of life.
But the rewards outweigh the hardships: “It is also incredibly rewarding,” he says. “I take great pride and enjoyment from knowing I’ve helped to create thousands of people’s happy memories – and that is what keeps me going every day.”
“I take great pride and enjoyment from knowing I’ve helped to create thousands of people’s happy memories – and that is what keeps me going every day.”
Here are three of Warren’s recipes to try:
Smoked duck, pickled walnuts, celeriac and green apple salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
120g cold smoked duck breast
Salt
Cracked black pepper
60g of grated celeriac
32g mayonnaise
White pepper
50ml cider vinegar
50ml walnut oil
100ml sunflower oil
25g runny honey
30g pickled walnuts (chopped into small pieces)
16 mixed leaf salad
5g walnut dressing
1 green apple
1 sprig of flat leaf parsley
Olive oil
Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Season the duck breast with salt and black pepper and place into a very hot pan skin side down (no oil as fat will come out of duck skin).
Seal breast for one and a half minutes then turn to seal fully, then place into oven for three minutes.
After cooking remove from oven then chill.
Whilst the duck is chilling, grate celeriac straight into the mayonnaise (this will stop the celeriac from turning brown) and add salt and white pepper to taste.
To make the dressing, start with the vinegar and slowly whisk in the walnut and sunflower oils, then add the honey and white pepper and salt to taste.
Take the celeriac remoulade and pat down into a three-inch diameter ring, then top with the pickled walnut pieces.
Place 3g of the dressing on to the salad leaves, season with salt and black pepper to taste, and place into the ring.
Take the chilled duck breast, trim the ends and cut each breast into eight slices.
Place four slices across the salad.
Take the apple, slice into matchstick-size pieces and place five on to the duck in a pentagon shape (each end overlapping the next).
Take a sprig of flat leaf parsley and dip into a drop of olive oil for shine and drizzle the leftover walnut dressing around the salad.
Pan-seared Scottish beef with capers and red pepper, cucumber and celeriac crust. With a red wine and balsamic glaze, finished with asparagus.
Serves 1
Ingredients
160g beef tenderloin
10g red pepper
10g celeriac (peeled)
10g cucumber
10g pickled capers
50ml balsamic vinegar (reduce by half so it becomes sweet)
100ml beef jus
20g butter (unsalted)
10ml olive oil
2 sprigs of thyme
Directions
Trim the beef tenderloin, wrap in cling film and place in to the fridge to get firm.
Peel your red pepper, celeriac, cucumber and dice into small squares. Remove capers from brine.
Place balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and reduce to half (the more you reduce the sweeter it will be). Place beef jus in a pan, reduce until it can coat the back of a spoon, then add the balsamic to taste.
Place the butter and a little olive oil in to a pan to sauté off the diced celeriac first till soft, then remove and do the same for the rest of the ingredients.
Remove your beef, cut into 160g piece season and place in a frying pan with butter and little olive oil, sprig of thyme. Brown on both sides place in the oven (180) for 7 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Rest for 10 minutes.
Finish off the sauce with a little butter to give you a nice shine on the sauce
Rewarm the sautéed vegetables, season, add the capers and cucumber and place on top of the beef.
Place the warm finished sauce on the plate beef on top and garnish with veg of choice just blanched in seasoned water.
Banana ‘n’ rum fool, with banana loaf croutons
Serves 4
Ingredients for banana cake
4 eggs
170g sugar
160g flour
2g salt
2.5g baking powder
1.5g bicarbonate of soda
2g cinnamon
160g banana
35ml rum
Ingredients for banana fool
60g banana puree
35ml rum
4g gelatine
3 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
25g honey
250ml soft whipped cream
Banana cake trimmings for croutons
120g roasted peanuts to garnish
Directions for banana cake:
Preheat oven to 180C. Mix eggs and sugar to make a light custard. Mix all dry ingredients and add to the custard. Mash ripened bananas and add to the mix.
Spread thinly on a medium sized baking tray. Bake for 20 mins or until firm to the touch (or place a skewer in and if comes out clean it’s cooked).
Cut discs of banana cake with a cutter and place on the bottom of a jar or glass, soaked in rum.
Directions for banana fool:
Warm up banana puree with rum and add soaked gelatine. Make custard of egg yolks, sugar and honey.
Add the custard to the banana puree and rum mixture, folding in the semi-whipped cream. Pour into prepared jars. Make croutons from banana cake trimmings by drying them in warm oven. Turn up the oven and toast peanuts in it.
When croutons and roasted peanuts are done garnish the top of banana fool.
