Cheltenham Living Mar - Apr 2022

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IT'S ALL
FULLER’S PUBS HAVE TEAMED
UP WITH LEGENDARY CHEF,
BRIAN TURNER CBE, TO TELL
THE STORY OF FULLER’S
SUNDAY ROASTS AND ALL
THE TOUCHES THAT MAKE
THEM A CUT ABOVE THE
REST. FROM CAREFULLY
SOURCED INGREDIENTS
TO PASSIONATE PEOPLE,
FULLER’S PRIDE THEMSELVES
ON DELIVERING EVERYTHING
THAT MAKES A SUNDAY
SPECIAL AND EVEN BETTER
WHEN YOU CAN SHARE THESE
MOMENTS WITH FAMILY
AND FRIENDS. THAT’S WHY
THEY’VE INTRODUCED SHARE
SUNDAYS.
WE CAUGHT UP WITH CHEF
BRIAN TURNER TO FIND OUT
MORE...
How did you get involved with Fuller’s
pubs, and what made you choose to
carry on with it?
The way I got into Fuller’s was quite
easy. For 28-29 years I was the British
president of the UK team of the Bocuse
d’Or competition, which is a worldwide
cooking competition in Leon in France.
It was held every two years and then it
became every year and I was the judge
for the British team. And somebody
managed to make a connection between
Fuller’s and the Bocuse d’Or, wanting to
help sponsor it. So that’s how I met the
Fuller’s team. Listening to Fuller’s team,
I was really enthused and excited by the
way they approached their training of
chefs.
From what I understood, they want
to do something great as far as Chef
training is concerned?
Well, the reality of course is quite simple;
it is for the survival of the future of the
hospitality industry, which has been
amazingly good to me. And amazingly
good to lots of people. And those that
have taken the opportunity have actually,
I believe, got a better way of life. Even
if you get trained in the hospitality
business. If you get trained to be a chef,
and for whatever reason you need to
leave the industry, it leaves you with
life skills; knowing how to buy the right
product from the right place at the right
price, and then convert it to the right dish
on a plate. And then eventually, if you
leave the business, it’s a skill that you
need at home.
I remember when I was at school a
long, long time ago, we had domestic
science, which was two hours on a
Wednesday afternoon. It was a good
thing to do!
It was even better in my day. I was at
school in the 1950s and in those days
when we got to the third year in grammar
school, you had to choose a craft, a skill.
For boys it was woodwork or metal work
for girls needlework or cookery. I was one
of the few in Yorkshire that said ‘I want to
do cookery’. They said ‘no lad, you can’t
do that!’. But I did. Elsie Bibby, the lady
who taught cookery at the parish, after
the first month would say, “Okay girls,
let’s gather around Brian’s table because
his is always the best”. I was hated by the
girls, but loved by Elsie Bibby!
Is that when you first started cooking
or were you always interested in it?
No, I was quite fortunate in that respect in
that my father was conscripted and went
to the Second World War and served
in Belgium and he was drafted into the
catering corps. When he came back he
went back to his job in the Morley Co-op.
It would appear, having read the history
of Morley Co-operative society, that my
father gained a bit of a reputation for
being a bit of a whiz with the old food
knowledge he picked up in the war. So
he opened a transport cafe. He had four
children with my mother in five years so
consequently she was overworked. I was
the eldest, so whenever he could my dad
took me down to his cafe to get me out
of my mums way! So add Elsie Bibby on
top of that, I would say that’s how I really
got started in the business.
So what’s your first foodie
memory then?
As a young man I was in the Salvation
Army; I used to play in their band. And
they used to have a congress regularly
where all the Salvation Armys around the
area in Yorkshire would meet together
and have a jolly old singsong. It was on a
Sunday, but we had to eat so we had to
go out. We had elders who helped. And
they took us to an Italian restaurant where
I ate food like I’ve never eaten before.
So it was a very rare occasion and it was
just so special. And we only managed to
get to go there when we would do this
congress.
So what was your first job when you
actually did go into kitchens proper, so
to speak?
Well, if we count the fact that I worked
for my Dad in his transport cafe, so
eventually all four of us used to go on a
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