Staff Spotlight: Ross Burgess, Head Chef

Today we talk to Ross Burgess, Head Chef, about fine Scottish ingredients, lunches for 500 people and seven course tasting menus, as well as a surprising guilty pleasure for a MasterChef Quarter finalist!

Staff Spotlight: Ross Burgess, Head Chef

Tell us a bit about yourself, what you do and how long you have worked at Gordonstoun?

I've been at Gordonstoun for nearly four years, having been in Edinburgh for a few years beforehand and abroad for quite a while too. Initially, I arrived at Gordonstoun as a chef and was then offered the role of Head Chef within my first 10 months.

Just prior to arriving at Gordonstoun though, I had taken part in Series 13 of MasterChef, the Professionals, with it being shown shortly after I started here in 2020.

I've never worked anywhere of Gordonstoun’s size before. I was at fine dining restaurants, sixty seats, that kind of work. I still remember being shown around by Jamie (Gordonstoun’s Catering Manager) and they were preparing lasagnes. Jamie said they do them in the big trays and I thought maybe they made 4 or 5 trays? I asked how many do you make and he said 22! I was like, ‘Oh my!’ It blew my mind and then, it's just like anything, you adapt.

Sometimes we get the chance to do very, very fine food. It takes weeks and weeks to develop the menu. It's funny that we can prepare, in a few hours, dinner for 500 people. But, to do a dinner for eight at that finer level takes weeks of planning, trialling dishes and elements and sourcing products. You'd think it would be the other way around but doing the smaller events is harder than doing the 1400 a day.

What do you enjoy most about working at Gordonstoun?

Every day is different. I think that's the thing that I probably do enjoy the most. When you're working in restaurants, you were booked up maybe three or four weeks in advance. So, you knew you were doing 60 for lunch, 60 for supper, you were in your section and you just did the same food. I did love that, and I still do, but every day is different here. There's always wee things to adapt to, because obviously when you're dealing with such a high amount of food ingredients, there's often something not coming in or something missing or someone’s accidentally used it for something else or the quality is not right and our standards are very high.

We're constantly adapting, changing things up, all the seasons are different and you've always got big functions; the Leavers Balls, the 90th Birthday, Open Days or Christmas suppers. Then there's Halloween or the Summer School, and even the Hahn Walk involved 700 rolls. Yes, every day is different.

We try to change the menu, not the whole menu, but a few dishes at a time. Between lunch and dinner, for a week, there’s 14 meals and we work on a three week cycle. You don't want to see the same food too often, but there’s a few staples we have to keep on. I think if we tried to take off their southern fried chicken, the students wouldn’t be happy! We also involve the student-led refectory committee in the menus and they give us very honest feedback on what’s working and what isn’t!

What is happening in your department right now? Any new initiatives/exciting events for this year?

We’ve just had the Gordonstoun International Summer School (GISS) and a whole new batch of students that don't know the school and I think it takes you back a bit. You realise how integrated our regular students are here. You see young people over the summer that have never been to Gordonstoun or the UK before and don't know how this all works, so it’s sort of going back to scratch and adapting to make it work for them.

In terms of the department though, we've got Braemar Highland Games coming up. That's a highlight for me as last year I got to do a VIP dinner of six or Seven courses as well as finger sandwiches and canapes. Events are when we get to really experiment and be creative. I think it's quite a common misconception that we’re all just ‘dinner ladies’. But, I think all of us have some pretty special skills hidden away that these wee events show off.

I think we're probably one of the best places in the world for food too. I mean, look at our venison and our cattle in terms of Aberdeen Angus and then Langoustines and scallops that are some of the best in the world. It seemed like we were just known for turnips and potatoes, but we've literally got some of the best ingredients in the world at our doorstep.

I think being able to have guests coming to school from all over the world, and really show off what we've got, is special. We always strive to be better, constantly saying ‘advance forward’ and I think that's been showing recently. We've won quite a few awards over the last few years as well, which I think is testament to the team.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I now have a 14 week old which is miles above anything I've ever done. I thought ‘family’ was a cliche thing to say until it happened. But, yes it's my daughter, Olivia, and my wife.

My wife and I have been together for 17 years and I think we're literally best friends. We went travelling for six years - booked a one year working holiday visa for Australia and then ended up being away for six years, visiting 52 countries.

I've also been a chef for 17 years and as big foodies we travelled to the places we liked the food of. I think that’s a great way to do it. You'd always find us in the back streets of Vietnam or Cambodia or whatever it was - never in the shopping malls. Back streets on tiny little plastic chairs, just in amongst it; hot, sweaty, no air con and eating real local food.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

That would be 100% somewhere in Southeast Asia or just Asia in general (I've got a love of Asian cuisine and it was even my signature dish on MasterChef) with the food smells, a beer and my family - you'd struggle to wipe the smile off my face.

What is something surprising about you?

Sea kayaking - I've always liked fishing and I used to go to the rivers and in the last few years I've been doing a lot of sea fishing off the harbours with my kayak.

When I worked in New Zealand, I worked on a catamaran, as Head Chef, and we used to take clients to little islands and around Auckland. I actually got my kayak guide certificate so I could take people out on these tours.

I enjoy kayaking. I could be out there from 8:00 AM and then when you turn around you're suddenly quite far out and the only noise is the tiny bit of water hitting the side of the kayak. It’s very very peaceful.

What talent, real or fictional, would you most like to have?

To be more musically gifted, I think, like guitar. Going around hostels in Australia, there's always somebody playing the guitar. I've actually got a guitar at home, but I just can't seem to master the chords and the fingers. So, if anyone's reading this, that could help, that would be fantastic. I will happily trade for cookery lessons.

Is there a quote or saying you live your life by?

I’ve always said ‘I'd rather do something and regret it, than spend the rest of my life wondering what could have been’.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I think as a chef, people always assume that you eat very well and I’m just very, very basic. When it comes to food at home I like Angel Delight (everyone seems to be butterscotch, but I'm strawberry), trifle, frozen chicken kievs and processed food. I know it’s terrible, but I don’t have to cook it!

Thanks Ross for taking the time to chat with us!

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