Introducing Amelia Richmond-Coggan

I’d firstly like to say how excited I am for this incredible opportunity that Maryann and Martin have given me. To not only join the Green Farm team but fulfil a lifelong dream at the same time. For many years, food as always come second to my career but has always been my first love. Now I get to put it front and centre which is truly amazing.

Life on a Plate

For as long as I can remember I have loved food. Some of my earliest memories include tasting local oysters during summers on the Suffolk coast, trying fortified wine over fresh peaches in the Canary Islands, making perfect pavlovas and profiteroles with my mother and grilling freshly-caught fish in Portugal. Thinking back now, I see how very lucky I was to enjoy such fine things so early on in life and have such an adventurous palate.

My cooking journey also began from a young age, encouraged by my mother and an obsession with raiding the fridge for ingredients after watching Ready, Steady Cook, I would give anything a fair go. But having spent the last 10 years living in the Middle East and Australia, two vastly different cultures but both with vast melting-pots of influences and ingredients, I learnt to respect traditions, appreciate produce, whilst being open to new flavours and combinations.

But being British born and bred, I have always been drawn to the traditions and flavours of food from Europe and the British Isles. Particularly, the simple cooking methods, the seasonal ingredients, the rich food heritage and history, and the incredible dishes that have been born from the most humblest beginnings. The French have two words which I particularly adore: ‘terrior’ meaning ‘of the land/region’ and ‘paysanne’ meaning ‘country-style cooking.’ To me these words accurately define what I aim to achieve as a cook and all that my food embraces.

Good Food and Green Farm

Good food is such an important part of the whole Green Farm experience and identity. Being a small-scale working farm at its heart, with a focus on conservation farming, it is all about enhancing our land for the wildlife that calls it home, creating the best soil for our vegetables and plants to thrive, and producing highest quality Beef, Lamb, Mutton and Pork in the most natural way possible.

As a cook, I couldn’t ask for anything better to have right at my fingertips and as an advocate for our Green Farm practices, we really want our guests to taste the difference such farming methods make. We also want our guests to feel the difference eating good food does too, so whether you’ve come to escape for a Yoga Retreat Weekend or to enjoy a fabulous Spa Day, I want all our guests to go feeling nourished and well-fed with healthy, honest, homemade dishes that are packed with nutrients, well-balanced and full of flavour.

Menus will be kept simple , seasonal and ingredient-driven based on what is growing well that week in the community garden and what meat is at its best. Flavours will be grounded in British traditions, with a few influences from our neighbours across the Channel. Nothing pretentious, nothing unauthentic. There will be options to suit all dietary requirements as well as great selection of local wines and spirits too. To get a flavour of what I will be cooking, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

As well as being in the Green Farm kitchen, I also hope to run a regular pop-up restaurant that really puts on a plate who I am as a cook and person. Dishes that I love to eat when we go out that might not be on your everyday meal-plan but still remain true to my food philosophy and values. Additionally, you can expect to see me helping out at our pop-up shop serving some homemade sausage rolls or talking about our meat and produce. Am always here for any recipe or cooking advice.

The food has always been great at Green Farm. I’ve had the pleasure of Martin and Maryann cooking for me over many years and I also only have to read the rave reviews. All I hope is to now bring it a little bit more to the forefront of our Green Farm experiences and offering with a touch more of my own personality and passion for creating really fantastic, flavoursome food.

My food values

These are values that I don’t preach but truly believe in. They also fully coincide with Green Farm's existing ethos.

WHOLE FOODS - produce should be organic or spray free, sustainably farmed and as unrefined as possible. As nature intended them to be.

HAPPY ANIMALS - the meat we eat should be ethically raised, naturally fed and honoured by using all of the animal. Eat less meat but better quality.

HATE WASTE - reuse, recycle and reinvent your food waste and leftovers. Nose to tail, root to flower, gill to fin eating.

HOMAGE TO THE SEASONS - respect the seasons and what they produce. What grows together, goes together.

HOMEMADE - real, honest food means making things from scratch, no unnatural nasties in sight.

HEART - respect others who have different food beliefs, diets and cultures. Try and cater for them as much as you can.