Chef who appeared on TV with Gordon Ramsay launches business selling Caribbean patties, chutneys and sauces

Mr Douglas, 55, who ran the Caribbean restaurant Discovery Bay in Huddersfield for 12 years, is bringing his artisan patties, chutneys and secret-recipe sauces back with his Phat Patty Company.

The Huddersfield-born chef, who has appeared on TV with celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes, achieved a lifelong dream when he opened his own restaurant.

He later produced his own award-winning jerk pork pies and a hot pepper sauce. He reckons he must have sold 100,000 jerk pork pies over the years.

However, after closing Discovery Bay in 2017 and needing to spend more time with his family after the death of his father, he left the food industry and went into sales.

He has now returned to the industry as he launches The Phat Patty Company based in Huddersfield.

He said: “My passion for food and cooking is back and is burning bright. Barrington has got his mo-jo back.

“I’ve had the break that we all need at some time in our life and I’m back in the kitchen. I started in a small way making patties at home on a weekend and selling them via social media and the response was amazing.

“I quickly found I couldn’t keep up with demand so now I’ve turned what was a weekend operation into a full-time online venture with plans to grow and expand.”

He makes an artisan Jamaican curried patty, a twist on a Cornish pasty. The original recipe is based on his mother's from back home in Jamaica but over the last 10 years he has refined and perfected it.

“It’s a short crust pastry filled with a choice of fillings - beef, chicken or vegan. The filling is flavoured with curry powder, black pepper, scotch bonnet, garlic and thyme and a few more secret ingredients.

“It’s my own unique recipe. It also has a flavoured pastry so it’s not just your ordinary pastry which is just butter, flour and water. It is something special that you won’t have tasted before.”

Mr Douglas is also bringing his award-winning royal hot pepper sauce back. It’s medium-spiced and comes in 270ml bottles.

“Some sauces are just too hot and spicy and all you get is the heat and no flavour,” said Barrington. “My sauce is very balanced and has layers of flavour.

“It’s sweet, it’s like a chutney. It’s designed to complement my patties but because of the depth of flavours it will go with anything.”

He has launched his business with a website where customers can order deliveries to their door.

Customers can order a ‘Box of Sunshine’ which includes a choice of patties – beef, chicken, vegan or all three – as well as sauces and chutney.

Mr Douglas plans to expand his range to include a jerk BBQ sauce, a tomato and pimento chutney and a Caribbean spice mix. All have previously achieved success in the Great Taste Awards.

“But that’s for the future,” he said. “For now, I’m back in the kitchen following a lifelong passion for great tasting food.

“We’re an artisan business and I want to give the nation a proper patty that’s not machine-manufactured.”

To find out more about the Phat Patty Co go to www.thephatpattyco.co.uk.