Jackie Rose, a local girl who has travelled widely honing her cooking skills, has for the past two years returned to her home and has taken the brave step of starting her own business. Called Sutley Catering this specialises in outside catering including dinner parties for 18th birthdays, anniversaries, Rotarian evenings and other celebrations where Jackie's skills can be enjoyed in the first rate food she prepares such as at this evening's Gourmet Supper in the Pilton Working Men's Club which is a monthly event. Jackie considers that it is important to use local sources of ingredients whenever possible.
Jackie was raised in Pilton and attended local schools such as Whitstone in Shepton Mallet and also Strode College in Street. Leaving home at 17 years of age she took a job in Oxfordshire as a mother's help with a family of young children. Whilst doing this after a while she decided that she preferred, and had a flair for, cooking rather than changing nappies. So she enrolled at the London Bouquet Garni School of Cookery and gained the City and Guilds Professional Chefs Certificate. Armed with this she enrolled with an employment agency who supplied her with many interesting temporary jobs traveling to people's holiday villas in France, Italy and Greece as well as to a shooting lodge in Scotland. So she acquired the skills of utilising many different ingredients in the preparation of quality food.
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In November 1989 she took a three month job with Prince Loewenstein, the financial manager of the Rolling Stones. This job became permanent and she stayed with the Prince and his wife for 5 years, traveling with them to their second home in Beverley Hills where she cooked for members of the Rolling Stones and other guests at dinner parties. These guests included the likes of Princess Margaret, the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Margaret Thatcher, Nancy Reagan, Joan Collins, Goldie Hawn and Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Douglas.
After 5 years she moved on to work for a South African sculptress with houses in Berkshire, London and the South of France. Jackie soon became her personal assistant as well as her chef. After about 18 months Jackie moved on to work as chef for Lord and Lady Hanson which included working for 6 month a year in the winter warmth of Palm Springs, California.
There eventually came a time when, after over twenty years of cooking in the employ of others, Jackie decided to go in to business in her own right. So this young Somerset lady, who originally learned much of her love for cooking from her grandmother, came home to stay and hopes to make good her own business cooking for the good folk of Somerset.
Keep your eye on the
WHAT'S ON
page to see when the next Sutley Catering night is.
