This week on WHITEBALLOON INSIGHTS we loved hearing from professional caterer Sophie Mauleverer from The Secret Chef. Sophie tells us about the service she provides helping families with catering for funerals and celebrations of life, and the values that underpin her business.
Q: Hi Sophie, can you start by telling us a bit about you and your journey in to creating your specialist catering business, ‘The Secret Chef’?
I set up The Secret Chef when our youngest began nursery. At first the business was all about dropping food off. I wanted to be a dinner party service where people could serve my food as their own, therefore allowing them to get all the praise and me to be at home in the evenings with 4 young children.
With hindsight, it wasn’t a a great business model!
But miraculously it grew. These days, we are much more present at parties and of course, it’s not just the food people look forward to – but the ease of not clearing up as well!!
Q: We love that you source your ingredients from as close to your North Dorset kitchen as possible. Can you tell us why this is important to you and other steps you take to ensure everything is of the highest quality?
I love sourcing my food locally. Not only do I have a much better relationship with my suppliers because they are local to me, but it’s also a great way of supporting each other. I love that my butcher can tell me which farm all his meat comes from, and I love that my ‘micro green supplier’ grows her herbs within 10 miles of my kitchen. Not only has the food travelled less and therefore arrives to me fresher, but it’s fantastic to know where it all comes from. I am a small business and all my food is made with care, similarly to cooking for my own family. I want to serve my family and my clients the very best because I believe this is how you achieve the very best results.
Q: You cater for many different types of events, but you are particularly drawn to helping families at funerals and celebrations of life. These are the most difficult of days, are there other aspects that you help with to ensure it runs smoothly on the day?
When you cater for a funeral, the family and friends are often at their most vulnerable. Everything has to be perfect – but unlike a wedding, which takes months of planning, they are often very last minute. Catering for a wake is often a ‘big last minute pulling together’ and I really enjoy being able to do this for people. I want be an invisible presence during the day – I just want everything to be a smooth and easy for them as possible. Often when catering for a funeral I will organise a lot more than the food – the hire, the flowers, the lay out of the room. I think the family have enough on their plate and I just want them not to worry – to know that the things, and them, have been taken care of.
Q: You can also deliver fresh or frozen food to people’s homes. This must be a particularly helpful service for people who are grieving and who maybe don’t have the energy to shop or cook for themselves or their families?
There are various times in people’s life when feeding and looking after oneself takes a back seat – having a baby or losing a loved one – two polar opposite of life – are prime examples of this. To open the fridge and find a home cooked dish, just needing to go into an oven, is a huge comfort for them. Sometimes food is the most perfect gift to show someone you are thinking of them.
Q: You are based in Dorset, do you cover other surrounding areas too?
We are based in North Dorset but I am happy to travel to other counties. Once my van is loaded, I am ready to go! I can either prep everything from my own kitchen or we can finish at the venue – we are very used to working in large catering tents, small village halls and ‘regular’ house hold kitchens – often leaving them tidier than when we arrived!
Q: Is there a particular book or person who has inspired you over the years?
There are so many well known chefs these days – the internet is bubbling over with new recipes and I can lose myself for hours of an evening looking at videos on youtube.
The recipe book I find myself coming back to most often, is Ottolenghi’s Simple. Nothing Ottolenghi does is particularly simple – but by goodness it’s good! His understanding of flavours is incredibly unique and his recipes are so original I believe he has changed the way so many of us cook.
I also very much enjoy books of Nigella Lawson and the Hairy Bikers, whose recipes are perhaps, much more straight forward – but they are still foolproof and fabulous for feeding a crowd which, even at home, I find myself (and love) doing often.
Q: And finally, when you are not cooking and running your business, is there a favourite hobby or activity that you like to do to unwind?
When I am not found in the kitchen, I am found outside walking our two cocker spaniels or running around the lanes. In the summer, I am kept busy in the garden. I am not knowledgeable about plants but I stick to the basics and most plants are kind! I also love an afternoon mowing with an audible book playing into my headphones!
But I have to admit, if I have nothing else to do, you will probably find me cooking something….
Thank you Sophie for sharing these insights
To find out more about Sophie and the service she provides, please go to The Secret Chef.