Growing up in the Cumbrian countryside meant Kevin Tickle knew his way around a hedgerow from an early age. After staying on at college to do his A levels, he was destined to start work as a fireman or electrician, but a part-time job at a pub ignited his love for cooking. ‘As I slowly started working more in the kitchen I decided to focus on the catering side of things,’ he tells us. ‘I did an apprenticeship with English Lakes Hotels for two years, working in five different kitchens at a two AA rosette level, then decided I wanted to push myself as much as possible. The only Michelin-starred restaurant nearby at the time was Sharrow Bay, so I went there to work as a chef de partie for a few years. After that, I moved onto L’Enclume, where I eventually worked my way up to sous chef and head forager, and stayed there for nine years.’
Kevin soon became well known for his vast knowledge of the edible herbs and plants growing wild in the British countryside, but at first he had no idea his expertise could help him in the kitchen. ‘I’ve always been into foraging way before it became fashionable,’ he says. ‘I grew up in a village called Kirby-in-Furness on the Duddon estuary so I’ve always been outdoors. I never went into town with the rest of the kids when I was younger; I would go out in the fields fishing and shooting. I’ve always had a rural upbringing – it puts you in touch with nature from a very early age. Back then I didn’t think that knowing about plants would help me in my culinary career, but as soon as I started working in kitchens I saw chefs buying foraged ingredients for £40 per kilo. I thought ‘hang on, I know where to find that down the road for free’ and everything started to click into place.’
After a few months at L’Enclume, Kevin started to expand his childhood knowledge in every way he could. ‘I was entirely self-taught,’ he says. ‘Obviously working with people like Simon Rogan and talking to his suppliers helped me realise what demand there was for specific ingredients, but I just built up my knowledge from what I had learnt as a child and read books until I was confident enough to move away from the common ingredients and seek out the rarer ones.’
But despite his appointed title as head forager, Kevin’s skills in the kitchen were more important. ‘I’ve always been a chef first, forager second,’ he continues. ‘I was sous chef at L’Enclume and then head chef at Rogan & Co., and because of that my cooking style has always been focused around natural produce. I don’t really go for all the gimmicky, flashy techniques though, and since I’ve stopped working for Simon I have focused more on the foraging side of things.’