Charitable and corporate partnership the recipe for cookbook success

Sunday 03 October 2021

An idea born out of lockdown has led to the creation of a cookbook containing some of the island's leading chefs' personal takes on popular dishes using GROW's fresh, local produce.

Deloitte in Guernsey has teamed up with GROW to create a cookbook featuring recipes from local chefs and restaurants on the island.

The initiative, which is fully funded by Deloitte and designed by Two Degrees North, aims to raise funds for GROW by celebrating the charity, its fresh produce and the transformative opportunities it offers to some members of the community. 

The launch event took place at the Chamber of Commerce this week, where The Bailiff, Richard McMahon, joined members of the Deloitte team, GROW and the local chefs to preview the cookbook before it went on sale.

Pictured: The cookbook will be available from many of the participating restaurants, several other outlets and GROW. The cookbook will be sold at £10 with 100% of the proceeds going directly to GROW.

Mr McMahon described it as: "a celebration of how a charitable organisation, a corporate organisation and the hospitality sector can come together to produce something that will be a lasting testament to all of them."

Deloitte Guernsey Partner Jo Huxtable said the team was delighted to have cooked up an innovative new way to raise both funds and awareness.

"The cookbook idea was born out of the first lockdown where members of our team were spending more time at home cooking and growing produce," she said.

"Our first thought was to create a small leaflet, but then we discovered that it had the potential to be so much more."

She added: "It wouldn’t have happened without the support of our Deloitte 5 Million Futures team, Two Degrees North, Black Vanilla, all of our chefs giving their recipes - but also their personalised tips - and the cooperation and enthusiasm for the project from GROW.

"The GROW Crew and all they do is a fantastic example of the Guernsey community."

Pictured: Ms Huxtable described GROW “as a wonderful local charity […] which has built on the horticultural heritage of Guernsey to provide an essential service to the island.”

GROW provides a safe and secure working environment, where people with learning and other disabilities can build up their confidence to be able to work within the community.

"This cookbook is a work of art," GROW Director Marguerite Talmage enthused. "It’s been so fascinating to see it come together. The pictures are beautifully taken and it’s great to promote a variety of GROW’s produce as well as some of the best chefs on the island."

Some of the contributing chefs attended the launch event, including Calum Le Noury from Sarnia Hotels.

"GROW is a fantastic charity that has been around for many years and it's great to support it," he said. "I think sometimes it gets forgotten what they have there on the planting side – with the flowers and shrubs – and all the fruits and vegetables."

Mr Le Noury, currently the Operations Director at the hotel group, uses Guernsey cream and raspberries from GROW in his 'Highlands and Islands' take on cranachan, in addition to a local recipe for ‘Black sea bream en papilotte’.

“It is a very old-school dish but it is very easy to prepare in many variations,” said Mr Le Noury, capturing the spirit of the cookbook. 

“It has got that 'wow' factor when you open up the papilotte.”

Pictured top: GROW Director Marguerite Talmage and Deloitte Guernsey Partner Jo Huxtable.