Five Questions for Rosie Gardel

Rosie Gardel is an expert in cheesemaking and fermentation. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu in France and still teaches through the school, and France has been home for fifteen years. Her husband runs an organic and biodynamic farm with dairy cattle and Aberdeen Angus, and between the herd, the kitchen garden and the piglets, Rosie is raising their three-year-old twin daughters to know where their food comes from. She is also navigating a French food culture that has no real idea what brunch is.

We asked her five questions, from the Brie de Meaux that transfixed her at three to the salt she still finds extraordinary.

What's the first food memory that hooked you?

It is of course cheese! Cheese has become a lifelong obsession, and I can still remember the first taste and smell of a perfectly ripe Brie de Meaux that struck the imagination of my then three-year-old self.

If I close my eyes, I can see it sitting proudly on the table, and as each person helped themselves to a slice, the hole that had been created gently closed up. I was transfixed by the flowing state of pale yellowness that never seemed to lessen in size. Not to mention the smell and the taste. All of the other dishes that were precariously perched around this mesmerising platter have gently dissolved into the background of my memory.

What moment changed how you cook?

This is a difficult question, because I think my cooking is always evolving and changing. I love any opportunity to try new ingredients and taste new things and talk to people about their own approaches to cooking and gastronomy.

But I think the major standout moment was eating in Italy. I spent six months in Venice, across three years, as an artist in residence.

I was overwhelmed by the quality of food. The seasons were really celebrated, as were individual ingredients. I learnt an enormous amount about treating ingredients respectfully and about the art of perfect food pairings.

What's one thing home cooks could start doing tonight to cook better?

Taste your food!

I would really recommend tasting as you cook. It is such a simple thing to do, but so often people forget. If you taste at each step of the recipe, you will have plenty of time to adjust your seasoning and add layers and different depths of flavour to your food.

What spice or ingredient do you always reach for, and how do you use it in a way most people don't?

This is such a brilliant but tricky question! I've reflected on everything I have cooked with today… bay leaves, sage, lemon, ginger, garlic, piment d'Espelette, paprika, Vietnamese cassia, quince, nigella seeds. But I think the answer is salt.

Salt is something that I still find extraordinary. From salt brines, to salt cures, to ferments, to enhancing flavours… the list goes on.

But also its role in the world of cheese. It is fundamental in preserving cheese, creating texture and flavour profiles, and also in helping rinds to develop.

I also love how a pinch of salt can add such complexity to a sweet treat. Salt and chocolate is one of our favourites.

How did you find World Spice, and what keeps you coming back?

My wonderful friend Kathryn, who I met when I was teaching French cooking in an immersive French school, came to visit me and gave me a fabulous selection of World Spice spices. It was such a special treat!

I was so impressed by the quality of the spices and all of the different flavour combinations. I have been an avid fan ever since.