The head chef at Edgbaston Priory Club, Glenn Pennie, thought he was going to be a mechanic before he got the ‘food bug’ and switched to studying catering – and became a fan of Heston Blumenthal and Brum’s own Glynn Purnell
Tell us about your cooking?
I wouldn’t say I necessarily have a particular style of cooking. I do like more classical styles of food and I think that shows when I create menus. We get a lot of different requests for menus so it’s important to be able to adapt to the needs of guests.
How did you become a chef?
I never really intended to become a chef growing up. I always enjoyed cooking and my parents always cooked a lot and I would like to go in and taste the food and try to be a part of that. I originally was going to be a mechanic and spent two years studying mechanics before completely switching and then going to study catering! Once I started with that I’ve never looked back.
What do you eat at home?
If I’m being honest, I don’t cook anywhere near as well at home compared to the food I cook at work. Most nights, it’s something quick and easy. A couple nights a week though my partner and I do fancy something a bit nicer and it helps that we are both chefs!
Who’s the best chef in the world and why? And who’s the best in Brum?
The best chef for me would be Heston Blumenthal. I think what he does with food is amazing and how he can make ingredients that would never normally go together work so well is genius. I think I’ve always really liked Glyn Purnell as a chef. With him being from Birmingham, opening his restaurant Purnell’s and being able to attain a Michelin star has always been something that has stuck with me.
Share a cooking tip
It’s less of a cooking tip but something that will help everyone at home! Put a damp cloth under your cutting board before you start doing any prep work. This will stop the board from moving while you’re chopping and give you more control.
What was your favourite food as a kid?
Growing up I loved home-style cooking, so something like spaghetti bolognese was always a favourite of mine. Even when we would go out for a meal somewhere I can vividly remember always ordering spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread at one specific restaurant that we would go to a lot.
Food heaven and food hell?
Food heaven for me would either be a spaghetti carbonara or a simple sirloin steak and chips with peppercorn sauce – either of these two dishes could be my last meal. Food hell would be any kind of seafood. Seafood has never really appealed to me, I’ve continued to try new thing as I’ve got older, but that sea taste has never sat right with me. I’ve always really enjoyed cooking seafood and probably the dish that I would go to if I wanted to showcase my skills and my food would always be a fish dish.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten?
I can’t think of many unusual things that I’ve eaten, but if I had to pick one it would probably be tripe – the stomach lining from a cow. Tripe is a very old-fashioned dish and not something you would see on many menus anymore.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
I do think if I had never gotten into cheffing I would have continued down the mechanic path. I’ve always been someone who liked working with my hands.
TRY GLENN’S SUPER EASY SPAGHETTI CARBONARA:
A nice easy recipe for me would be spaghetti carbonara because there’s very few ingredients. All you need is spaghetti, traditionally guanciale which is pig cheek, but pancetta or smoked bacon will work fine, parmesan cheese or pecorino cheese, whole eggs or just the egg yolk for a richer flavour and cracked black pepper.
Start by cooking your bacon or pancetta slowly so you can render the fat down. Once the fat starts to render and the meat begins to brown start cooking your spaghetti in salted water. While the spaghetti is cooking you would mix your eggs with your cheese, I would typically suggest one whole egg or two yolks per person. You want to mix the eggs and enough finely grated cheese to make a paste and once you have made the paste add a little bit of the pasta water to temper the eggs which will help the eggs not to scramble.
Once you’ve done all this the pasta should be cooked and now you just want to add them all together. Take your pan with the pancetta off the heat and add the spaghetti straight into the pan with a little of the pasta water which helps make the sauce creamy. Once the pasta is coated in the oils of the bacon add your cheesy egg mix and mix well. As long as your pan isn’t too hot you should get a lovely creamy carbonara sauce. Enjoy!