Chef Profile: Meet the Black Bull's Rob Burling

He’s been head chef at Balsham’s The Black Bull for less than three years, but Rob Burling has already won both an AA Rosette and a fast-growing foodie following for the 16th century free house. As he tells Velvet’s Alice Ryan, the kitchen has always felt like home

I didn’t grow up in a particularly foodie house: my mum and dad were busy with work, so the meals we had were usually pretty quick and easy. But Mum would always do a roast dinner on a Sunday, no matter what, and Dad would sometimes go fishing and come back and cook the fish with hand-cut chips, pretending he was in a fish and chip shop and wrapping it up in paper - as a kid, I loved that.

I had to decide what to do for work experience and at the time I was watching all these TV cooking shows, so I thought I’d give [cheffing] a go and something just clicked, pretty early on. I was only about 13 when I first went into a kitchen for the two weeks’ work experience and I never looked back.

I left school at 15 and got an apprenticeship at Trinity College. It was like a family there. I was with older adults, really patient teachers. It was a great starting place - I ended up staying 11 years.

Chris Oakes, head chef at Trinity at the time, sent me down to Emsworth to do a five-day stage with a chef he’d trained, Raymond Farthing, who had a Michelin star. After I’d done the five days, Ray offered me a job. That took me to 36 On the Quay and my first Michelin-starred kitchen.

It was a massive shift in every respect. Trinity was about huge numbers and really classic cooking; to go from that to fine dining was a big change. Working for Raymond, who had a Michelin star for 28 years and never lost it, was also quite daunting. It was hard work but it was the best decision I ever made, because it pushed me to be the best I could be.

After four years at 36 On the Quay, I got the opportunity to work on Mustique in the Caribbean. That island is a really special place and I stayed three years. But my partner, Daisy, and I wanted to start a family and decided to come home for Ellie May, our eldest, to be born, and I took a couple of months off.

Then I saw The Black Bull was looking for a chef, had a chat with the boss, Alex, and came over to see it; I just thought it was a stunning place and saw the potential to put it on the map a little bit. That was between the first and second Covid lockdowns, summer of 2020.

The food is British-based with both classic and a la carte options, but I’d say what makes it a bit different is the influences which come through from my time spent in other kitchens and places; I like to bring dishes I’ve learnt along the way, so we might do sushi, jerk wings. . . As soon as I put authentic Caribbean jerk chicken on as a special it sells out! As well as doing specials, we change the main menu every two to three months, so there’s always something new to try.

As well as serving people great quality food, we want to take them on a bit of a culinary adventure. I try to get people to try things they wouldn’t have at home - to come out and have an experience. If they come in, have a great experience and go home happy, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? As a chef, that’s what you put the years and the hard work in for.

Locally grown, in-season ingredients are at the heart of our menus - I think every chef would say that. In the spring, I always put lamb on the menu, and as soon as the local asparagus season starts, you’ll be seeing that on the menu too. As we get into summer, kohlrabi is a great one, along with peas, runner beans. . . I look forward to them all.

We’re coming to the end of game season now, but the venison dish we’ve had on the main menu - saddle with hay-baked potatoes, celeriac, purple sprouting broccoli, chestnut and shallot crumb and a game reduction - has been incredibly popular. I also did a pig’s cheeks dish which went down brilliantly. We’ve developed a bit of a reputation, I think, among foodies now - people who want to try something a little bit different.

My culinary heroes would have to be the guys that trained me - David Woor at Trinity and Raymond Farthing at 36 - and took me under their wing at such a young age. They’re my inspiration: rather than looking to the people out there cooking now, I often look back to what those guys taught me, then put my own twist on it. They put so much time into me, you know? The least I can do is give back and aspire to be as good as them.

One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever eaten was at Core by Clare Smyth in Kensington - she trained with Gordon Ramsay. It was flawless from start to finish; even the front-of-house was so on-point, it was like watching a piece of theatre. We had the six-course tasting menu and every aspect of it - the pickled vegetables, the beurre blanc sauce, even the Jersey Royals were just so full of flavour - was amazing, next-level.

To be a good chef you need consistency, dedication and to pay attention to the details - but you also need to be creative. To have that flair, you need passion. They are long hours in the kitchen and it’s not always easy, to be completely honest, so passion is key.

The appreciation for what you do is the real reward. Yes, we all work to pay our bills, but it’s about more than that. Having ideas for dishes, putting them together, sending out the plates and them coming back clean with lovely compliments passed on by the front-of-house - even if it’s a pie, which we have on our classic menu, and someone says ‘That’s the best pie I’ve had in a long time’ - that’s what you really do it for. Another reward was achieving the AA Rosette for the restaurant last year; that was big for me.

Just as a plumber isn’t going to go home and feel like putting a bathroom in, I don’t go home and feel like cooking. My partner’s great and makes meals most nights, but on a Monday, after the madness of the weekend, it’s usually a takeaway curry - we love Monday nights!

Mothering Sunday will be all hands on deck and, because it’s a Sunday, our roast will be the main event. We’ve introduced seasonal tasting menus too, which is something to look out for - the next one is March 11. They’re one-off five-course menus, each with a different theme; we did one in October which featured Balsham's own Messiah Mushrooms in every course. Talking of veg, I’m hoping to work with some of the local allotment holders through the year: when you walk your dog past the allotments, you often see gluts of different vegetables coming in, and I’d love to take those and show what you can do with them.

We live above the pub - me, Daisy, Ellie May, Rosie, our latest addition who’s only six weeks old, and Sally the dog - and it’s definitely home for us now. As soon as I saw The Black Bull, I fell in love with it, to be honest: even though I’d been on Mustique, cooking for the rich and famous, I thought ‘Are you good enough to do this?’ It’s a stunning place and it deserves stunning food.

The Black Bull is at 27 High Street, Balsham, Cambridge CB21 4DJ. For sample menus and to book visit blackbull-balsham.co.uk