Pamela Cheshire Caterers
We are a family owned business established by my mother Pam Clegg in 1972. Based in Acton Bridge we have catered successfully for virtually every type of function imaginable in the last forty five years or so. In that time we’ve learnt alot. We know how important food is to any function, we know what works and what doesn’t and we know what people eat.
How it all began
My Mum Pam was always a bit of foodie an as a child I always remember the kitchen table being covered in recipe books by the Chefs of the day like Kieth Floyd. She was always trying something new and it seemed to me that she spent every waking hour making food. One weekend she was hosting a dinner party for a few friends and one of the guests was a medical rep for one of the big pharmaceutical companies. He asked if my Mum was interested in catering for him when he sponsored meetings in Hospitals and Doctors surgeries. She accepted and the business was born.
My Involvement
Towards the end of my school life my mum asked me if I wanted to help in the business. I’d helped at various times growing up and had learnt quite a bit but the business was growing and mum needed much more help. I decided to bite the bullet and enrolled at catering college.
For the past twenty years I have been the head chef in the business. About ten years ago my mum retired to open a guest house www.wallhillfarmguesthose.co.uk and I have taken over the business. Not much has changed and I’m still happiest in the kitchen. My children are showing some interest in food but I think they view it as too hard work to stay in the business. We’ll see.
Our Food
We’ve always focused on making our own food and dishes. In fact, the only thing we don’t make is bread and that is only really because we don’t simply have the time. The food we produce is important to me and the quality of food is paramount which is why we make everything. I’m not comfortable in buying anything in because you then put your reputation in the hands of someone else and it only takes one mistake. I also wouldn’t get any satisfaction if I bought desserts or canapes in. I couldn’t really call myself a chef or a caterer and it rather defeats the point of going to catering college.
We focus on traditional flavours and dishes that we know are popular and know work well at a variety of functions. All the recipes are are own that we have refined over the years.
I should also be clear about what we don’t do. I believe that you can’t do everything so I don’t do any form of fast food like chips or burgers. Although there is a market for that I never found that sort of catering challenged me and there are companies who do that very well. Also we don’t do any form of fine dining or nouvelle cuisine. Although I occasionally like this sort of food it does create logistical difficulties when done off site and we feel it is far better to focus on what we like doing. If you do want something of a fine dining experience there are some very good companies that specialise in this area.