The call of the wild inspires top chef Stephanie

People in parts of rural North Yorkshire may have spotted the acclaimed chef and her team rummaging in the undergrowth and would be forgiven for wondering what was going on.

Stephanie, renowned for her calm attitude in the kitchen compared with many hot-headed chefs, has not had a personality change. She is launching a new blog to promote wild, and free food which is widely available across the region.

"We are so lucky in Yorkshire. We have everything on our doorstep

if we just went out and looked for it," she says.

Stephanie has a passion for hunting out the finest free food from the region's fruitful countryside and using the best locally-sourced produce at Rudding Park, Harrogate where she is consultant chef.

"The 'Wild Cook' is all about going back to basics to find the finest ingredients which are readily available in our hedgerows, rivers and moorlands," says Stephanie.

"I want to share everything I know about foraging and also give tips on sourcing great seasonal produce from local suppliers. My aim for the 'Wild Cook' blog is to give readers the tools and enthusiasm to create meals which are delightful as well as kind to the environment and easy on the pocket."

And it is clear watching this farmer's daughter striding across the fields that there is nowhere she feels more at home. It all seems a long way from cooking for royalty, pop stars and top politicians.

It has been an interesting few months for the 40-year-old, who started her cooking career at Craven College in Skipton.

"I only just made that by the skin of my teeth," says Stephanie, whose mother was a journalist. "They took me on as an extra on the course, which was full, or else things could have been very different."

For the last five years she has been executive chef at Rudding Park, but recently took a career decision.

She is now consultant chef at Rudding Park and also works part-time at Leeds College, helping other budding chefs on the first rung of the ladder.

"I suppose people helped me along the way and I think it is important to help and inspire others and get them on the right track. If you can help someone to learn how to cook, you are passing it on for the next generation."

Stephanie's first break came at the end of her course, when one student was chosen to go on work experience to the Dorchester and that year it was her.

"I was 18 and went from a girl growing up on a farm where our nearest neighbour was a mile away to living in a hostel in London, working for Anton Mosimann at the Dorchester," she recalls.

"I was the fourth commis chef; you can't get much lower than that, but I loved it and slowly worked my way up."

She says she learnt everything from Mosimann and the 86 other chefs at the Dorchester.

"I was very much the little girl – there were only six women in the kitchen and I was very much adopted by the older guys."

She remains friends with Anton Mosimann – he recently attended her 40th birthday celebrations at Rudding Park.

"He taught me about standards and that you never stop improving. No matter how good you are, you can always be better."

But when the Dorchester closed for a while in the 1980s, Stephanie was made redundant, aged just 19-and-a-half.

Without a job, she decided that she wanted to travel and where better than Switzerland, where her mentor originated from?

"I had always wanted to travel and I felt it was important to learn about other styles of cooking so I moved to St Moritz."

From there she travelled to Germany and lived with a German family teaching the daughter English while learning German.

When the Dorchester reopened, she was asked to return and tried her hand at being pastry chef.

"I didn't know anything about making cakes or ice cream. Everything was made fresh every day. I started work at 10am and finished at 12am and it really taught me the importance of fresh produce," says Stephanie.

But she still had wanderlust and moved to Amsterdam for a year, before moving to The Hyatt in Sydney, Australia where she was awarded

the coveted gold medal at Salon Culinaire.

"I loved Australia and got to scuba dive with sharks which was terrifying," says Stephanie.

Despite all this, Stephanie was a Yorkshire girl at heart and knew that was where she would settle eventually.

After a spell at Coniston Hall, eight years ago she started work at Rudding Park where she has pursued her love of seasonal, regional produce.

She introduced the Yorkshire Food Hero menu to the Clocktower Restaurant before "local produce" became the buzz words in restaurants up and down the land.

Her eye for detail and demand for quality has won her many accolades, including Yorkshire Life Chef of the Year 2005/06 and she is Deliciouslyorkshire Champion 2009/10.

She even met the Queen and other members of the Royal Family when she was named "young achiever".

She has cooked for Mikhail Gorbachev, Michael Jackson, George Bush and Bill Clinton to name but a few, but she seems more nervous preparing for the finals of the British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year competition being held in London on March 1.

"I can't believe I made it through to the finals," says this modest chef with a nervous smile.

"There are some really big names in the top 10 and I know that I don't have a chance of winning."

Chefs are given two hours to prepare three of their favourite dishes, but it is all down to the details.

"I have been practising my three dishes quite a lot," says Stephanie, who will be judged by some of the industries top Michelin- starred chefs.

The Michelin star is one accolade that seems to have eluded her, despite being hotly tipped for it.

She smiles. "It is brilliant that we now have so many Michelin-starred restaurants in Yorkshire, it just shows you what amazing food we have now."

As well as inspiring a whole new generation of cooks, Stephanie also helps struggling restaurants and pubs to thrive, in a similar way to Gordon Ramsay, but without the TV crew and swearing. Although she doesn't rule out some sort of television role in her future.

"It would be quite nice," she says, "although I wouldn't want it to get in the way of all the other things I do." This is one very busy and committed lady.