The reluctant restaurateur

Taking on the cooking wasn't part of Sandra Jefferies' plan when she bought the Fighting Cocks in Shropshire. Mark Taylor reports

Despite the fact that her cooking would put most pubs to shame, Sandra Jefferies gets very uncomfortable with the word 'chef'.

The owner of the Fighting Cocks, in the sleepy Shropshire village of Stottesdon, admits she never even wanted to cook at the pub when she took over in June 1998.

'I was just going to run the bar, so I employed somebody as chef at first and it didn't work,' Jefferies says. 'I ended up with somebody in the kitchen who I was stressing about so much, it just wasn't what I wanted. So I decided it was easier for me to do it and I took over the cooking myself.'

She adds: 'I call myself a cook, not a chef. That's because, most of the time, I find that chefs can't cook. They can make a lovely sculpture on the plate, but they ruin dishes by using too many different flavours and too many rich sauces. They go over the top, don't they?'

Until she bought the Fighting Cocks, Jefferies had only ever cooked for her family.

Although her grandmother was 'brilliant' at pastry and cakes, she is self-taught, claiming her only inspirations are 'what I remember, what I like - you just have to go by your own tastes'.

Her food is good, solid stuff. It's not gastro pub fare, but back-to-basics British cooking which is entirely without pretension.

Seasonal food drives the menu

In other words, this is not a pub menu that features fashionable cheffy terms like jus, foam or emulsion.

There are no printed menus at the Fighting Cocks, simply because the bill of fare changes so frequently and because Jefferies writes the menu around what is seasonal and what arrives in the kitchen.

Dishes are chalked on the board - rabbit with wholegrain mustard and cider, locally reared steaks and a variety of handmade pies, for which this reluctant cook has become well known throughout Shropshire.

Jefferies says: 'At the end of the day, I'm a pub and I want to stay a pub. I don't want the food to take over. I don't want to lose the drinkers because they are the lifeblood of the village.

'I want to keep the pubby atmosphere and not give it a restaurant feel because it's the village community pub.'

What is also noticeable from the menu is the impeccable sourcing of the produce.

Almost everything is locally produced and traceable - the beef and lamb from nearby Detton, chicken from Heath Farm, cheese and cream from local dairies and vegetables from local growers.

The idea for using as much local produce as possible came from her partner, Malcolm, a former racing journalist who now works part-time delivering beer for the Hobsons Brewery at Cleobury Mortimer, near Kidderminster.

Village shop boosts pub's trade

On his travels, Malcolm would notice signs for various farms and producers in the Shropshire area. He would buy samples, bring them back to the pub and these artisan products would then find their way onto the Fighting Cocks' menu.

After a while, customers started asking where they could get their hands on this exceptional produce and it was at that point that the idea of the Fighting Cocks' own shop started.

Stottesdon hadn't had a village shop for more than 12 years and the nearest was four miles away. Jefferies decided to do something about it.

She contacted the local parish council about the idea of turning an empty outbuilding next to the pub kitchen into a shop. The council referred her to the Countryside Agency, which eventually decided to give her a grant for the project.

The total cost of the development was about £30,000. The Countryside Agency provided £15,000 of that and the rest was raised by Jefferies (thanks, in part, to a £10,000 interest-free loan from Hobsons Brewery).

The shop, which opened in June last year, has been an enormous success.

Local food fits the bill

Unlike most village shops, this one sells virtually all local produce - cheese, milk, meat, vegetables, fruit - as well as staples such as carefully sourced oils, dried goods and kitchen essentials, mostly organic or Fairtrade.

A quick look round this Aladdin's cave of fine food reveals Hartington Dovedale cheese from Wenlock Edge Farm, smoked Cheddar from the Organic Smokehouse, organic live yoghurt from the Dairy House at Weobley in Herefordshire and bacon from award-winning butcher Reg May at Ditton Priors.

Says Jefferies: 'I think people appreciate the shop because it's different and we sell almost entirely local produce. People want to see vegetables with dirt on them - these potatoes were only dug up this morning.

'Some people spend up to £70 a week here now. Others come in for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. Some weeks we take £2,000 and most Saturdays we take between £300 and £500.

'We also sell papers and stamps and advertise local events. It's become a place where people stand and chat and meet friends while they buy their weekly shopping.

'Like the pub, I like to think it's become the hub of the village.'

On the menu

Starters

Smoked duck and goose breast with salad

and red onion marmalade (£4.95).

Serrano ham with an

olive-dressed salad (£4.95).

Deep-fried Brie & cranberry chutney (£4.25).

Main courses

Local leg of lamb steak

with garlic potatoes (£8.95).

Braised local oxtail in red wine

with cinnamon (£8.50).

Pan-fried organic salmon with

a red pesto sauce (£8.95).

Desserts

Lemon basil cheesecake (£3.50).

Bakewell tart (£3.50).

Chocolate bread and butter pudding (£3.50).

Facts and figures

Wet/dry split: 60/40

Covers per week: 100

Average spend per head: £16

GP: 55%

Pie's the limit

Sandra Jefferies has built a reputation for her homemade pies at the Fighting Cocks. There are seven types of pie on the menu and the biggest sellers are roast chicken and mushroom, steak and kidney in Hobsons bitter and steak in Guinness with horseradish. They cost £7.95 each. Sandra says the pies are the best-selling dishes on the menu all year round. There are also vegetarian pie options, including red pepper, tomato and bean tagine or sag aloo.