A Letter from Co-Founder Edward

Dear All

Right, I’m going to get straight to the point. I am generally quite a happy soul but this horse meat scandal has made me absolutely, bloody furious.

When Dale and I set up COOK 16 years ago, the whole point was to do things differently to the supermarkets. Our founding principle was: "To cook using the same ingredients and techniques that a good cook would use at home so everything looks and tastes homemade." That remains the aperture through which everything we do is judged.

When it comes to mince, we actually go a step further and do what a good butcher would: we buy whole joints of beef, trim off any excess fat and then mince them ourselves at the Kitchen. All our beef comes from the UK and Ireland and can be traced back to the farm and the animal it came from. This is the only way we can be sure of the quality of our mince - simple.

The whole point of COOK is that you can trust the quality of our food and how we make it. It’s what we stand for.

The scandal that is unfolding is ultimately about fraud. But the backdrop is of suppliers being under constant pressure to cut costs. It highlights why we have chosen never to supply one of the big six supermarkets, despite the sales potential. It means we can remain a proudly independent food business, free to cook according to our founding principle.

I’ve got quite worked up writing this so better go for a lie down, but I hope you will come and see us soon.

All best,

The Mincer of Truth

You've probably noticed that mince can tell you a lot about the way things are. It's easy to hide things in a bowl of mince. Which is why at COOK we take whole cuts of prime beef from the UK and Ireland, and whole legs of lamb, and mince them ourselves at our kitchen. That way, we know that only 100 percent pure meat goes into our meals. Don't mess with the mincer of truth.

Ken, 'The Gatekeeper' at the kitchen is a chef with over 30 years' experience and he checks in all ingredients that come into the kitchen with the same diligence as a sergeant major inspecting his troops on the parade ground. He has become increasingly rigorous about the quality level of meat coming into the kitchen in his old age (sorry Ken!). 

As well as our faith in quality ingredients - each and every one of our meals is prepared by hand by chefs, with every batch tasted every day to ensure it is of the highest quality before it leaves the kitchen.