A Day Spent With Schöffel Country

There’s something about Yorkshire that gets under your skin – the moody skies, the ever-changing weather, the fields that roll for miles. It’s wild, it’s honest, and it’s home. So, when the team from Schöffel Country came up to visit to film for their 'Ruralist' campaign, I couldn’t have been happier to share a slice of our world with them.

I’ve been wearing Schöffel since I was old enough to need a decent coat (or gilet!) – whether it’s trudging through wet fields every morning with my dog, shoot days, or nipping out to check the garden at The Black Swan. So to have them spend a day with us in Oldstead felt like the perfect meeting of minds.

We started the day, Le Chameau's firmly on, taking in some of the surrounding landscape with a foraging trip to some of our nearby hotspots. We wandered through the hedgerows, woodlands, fields talking about how the land feeds everything we do. Anyone who's visited The Black Swan before knows that the seasons aren’t just a backdrop here, they’re at the very heart of our cooking.

I was especially proud to show them around The Black Swan, our little corner of creativity. It’s more than just a restaurant. It’s where our team spends hours refining the smallest details of a dish, where we experiment with what we’ve foraged or grown, and where we tell the story of the land on every plate.

The Schöffel team couldn’t have been more enthusiastic, full of questions about how we use wild ingredients, how the garden shapes our menus, how even a humble root vegetable can become something remarkable with the right kind of care. We visited the affectionately known 'Palace of Preserves' for an insight into the myriad of produce that we pickle, ferment, salt, freeze and dry. It's always humbling when people take such a genuine interest in what we do.

We rounded off the day with a bit of food and a lot of laughs. We filmed a video on how to cook the perfect venison steak - because it's one of my favourite things to cook, and I believe everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy it where they can. Yorkshire showed up with its finest drizzle, of course, but no one seemed to mind. That’s the beauty of it, when you’re dressed for it. You embrace the elements, rather than run from them.

I’m chuffed to have had Schöffel up here, and even more so to see how much they connected with what we do. There’s a shared respect for craftsmanship, for doing things properly, and for staying rooted in the land, whether it’s a jacket that lasts a lifetime or a dish that tells a story.

Thanks for coming, Schöffel. You’re welcome back any time.

Please visit the following links to find out more about my day with Schöffel Country:

SCHÖFFEL BLOG POST - The Chef Who Takes His Wellies To Work

SCHÖFFEL INSTAGRAM POST - A Day At The Black Swan

SCHÖFFEL INSTAGRAM POST - Three Must-Forage Autumn Ingredients

SCHÖFFEL YOUTUBE - How To Cook The Perfect Venison Steak

SCHÖFFEL YOUTUBE - How To Cook Incredible Pheasant Goujons