Private chef Rebecca

Pairing Scottish and Gascon cuisine

Private catering by Rebecca, prepared and served to you in the comfort of your home, holiday accommodation or work place in the Scottish Borders.

A flavoursome culinary dining experience of either 3 or 4 courses served to you at the table, or if you prefer a ‘fork’ buffet style of dining or maybe a few ‘nibbles’ served as canapés to accompany an apéritif. Influenced from my 17 years of private catering in the French Pyrénées I may prepare and serve to you an array of dishes enhanced with the addition of fantastic local Scottish Borders produce and organically homegrown / foraged produce.

Leave me to shop, cook, serve and leave your place spotless, enabling you to relax and enjoy the moment with your guests, family and friends….. À TABLE !

Tart au citron, lemon tart
Pork and sweetbread terrine by private chef Rebecca Banks
Duck confit with wild garlic pesto by Rebecca Banks
Homemade artisan breads, nuts, seeds, herb breads by Rebecca Banks.
Individual canapes made to order from Rebecca Banks
Leeks vinaigrette with raisins soaked in Pedro Ximénez sherry by Rebecca Banks.
Garden pumpkin stuffed with lentils, oyster mushrooms and chestnuts, wilted greens and pea shoots by Rebecca Banks.
Lemon Verbena crème brûlée with lemon meringues and torched lemon by Rebecca Banks.
Chanterais melon, cured jambon and basil sorbet by Rebecca Banks.
Cherry Clafoutis served with vanilla bean ice-cream by Rebecca Banks.
Cucumber cup canapes with strawberry and chives
Violet ice-cream with poached rhubarb and butter biscuits by Rebecca Banks
Canapes of cherry tomato, feta, olive, coriander and lemon kebabs
Scottish venison cured in treacle, private chef Rebecca Banks

Hungry for homemade deliciousness ?

Having grown up with a wooden spoon in my hand and an apron wrapped around me, shadowing my mother in the kitchen during her Cordon Bleu days, it was inevitable that I would develop a love for cooking and enjoy eating delicious food.

From the age of 16 I began my studies in the kitchen. Over the years my passion for cooking, travel and discovering local artisan produce has lead me to becoming a private cook in the French and Swiss Alps and more recently the French Pyrénées, 2005 - 2021, where my husband and I created a ‘Table d’hôte hérbergement’.

Catering for our residents and welcoming outsiders too for an informal dining experience. Creating delicious menus made from the freshest homegrown produce (Gascon pigs, Ariègoise sheep and chickens) accompanied with ‘field to table’ organic produce from our ‘potager’ vegetable garden.

Having relocated to the Scottish Borders with 30+ years of culinary delights to offer, I’m reluctant to hang up the apron. I continue to cook privately for small gatherings, with the emphasise of using the finest local suppliers for sustainable meat, fish and cheese, accompanied with seasonal and our home grown organic produce. Delicious homemade dishes, attentively presented and served to you.

  • Organic home grown vegetables from our garden and cooked for you in the Scottish Borders

    Freshest and Finest

    Organically homegrown seasonal vegetables, fruits, berries and salads pair together with freshly foraged ingredients, seasonal and locally sourced beef, lamb, game, cheese, seafood and shellfish.

  • Gin and Juniper cured Scottish Salmon gravlax roasted beetroot from the Scottish Borders

    à Table

    Marrying up the complimentary flavours of some of the fine produce which may be sourced in the Scottish Borders.

  • Scottish Borders venison prepared by a private chef at home

    The Scottish Borders and homegrown produce

    Keeping it local, seasonal and sustainable. Preparing seasonal dishes packed with flavour to serve to you as an informal yet delicious dining experience.

  • Scottish Strawberry dessert. Strawberry tart with crème pâtissière and rich shortcrust pastry by Rebecca Banks. private chef.

    Seasonal and packed with flavour

    Dessert…..the grand finale to your meal !

    Fulfilling your dining experience with a taste explosion.

….À TABLE!

Menus may be developed for each client, taking into account the season, availability and of course the event.
Be it a gathering for a celebration - to a warm filling feast after a day in the wilds…. browse the ‘example dishes’ below to help get you started!

3 course dining Example dishes
£55 per person

  • Citrus cured chalk stream trout, apple, pickled cucumber ribbons, pink peppercorns.

  • Potted Eyemouth crab, warm homemade seeded bread.

  • Crispy duck, haggis, pickled red onion and spinach salad, sweet chili dressing.

  • Beetroot, fennel seed tarte tatin, quenelle of whipped goats cheese.

  • Venison and game terrine, cucumber pickle, cranberry compote.

  • Asparagus, Labneh, honey’d walnuts.

MAIN COURSE

  • Juniper salt cured duck confit, seasonal greens, 'riz au four', wild garlic pistou.

  • Slow roasted pork belly. Fennel and potato gratin, caramelised apple.

  • Roasted rump, or filet steak, watercress sauce, griddled roasted potatoes, caramelised onion.

  • Green herbed crusted rack of lamb, rhubarb, sauté potatoes, summer salad leaves.

  • Roast hake / Scottish salmon filet, pearl barley risotto, lemon, herbs, tomato confit, basil oil.

  • Pan fried duck breast caramelised honey and orange sauce, chard and orange potato gateau.

DESSERT

  • Elderflower panna cotta, raspberry sorbet, almond biscuit.

  • Crème brûlée with fruit compote, mint, lavender and citrus shortbread.

  • Lemon tart with summer berries. 

  • Spiced poached peach, lemon verbena ice-cream.

  • Pillowy meringues, vanilla bean ice-cream, seasonal poached fruit.

  • Chocolate tart with hazelnut, rosemary, orange. Hazelnut crème.

Canapés of Choux Bun, Dijon Cream, Rare Filet Beef, Apricot, Black Olive.

Dessert of Orange marmalade and Chocolate Tart.

Buffet style dining
£35-40 per person

A more casual approach to entertaining is with a ‘buffet style’ spread of savoury and sweet dishes laid out for you to help yourselves. Mingle and enjoy the company of your guests.

Seasonal menus are created to suit each clients budget and tastes.

Proposed* selection of 1 centrepiece dish, 1 second main dish (with salad garnish), 2 salads, 1 savoury tart, 2 desserts. *£35 per person. 

MENU EXAMPLE

Centrepiece

  • Fillet of beef, oyster shiitake mushrooms, French beans, Madeira sauce.

  • Whole baked Scottish salmon.

  • Honey mustard glazed ham, pickles.

    * * *

    Second Main Dish

  • Middle Eastern chicken, spinach and chickpea salad, cumin yoghurt sauce, pickled raisins, pickled red onion.

  • Rosemary, lemon, ginger chicken, bed of warm new potatoes, asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, balsamic dressing.

  • Flaked ‘hot smoked’ salmon / smoked salmon salad of asparagus, butter beans, dill and lemon.

  • Salmon en-croute, mascarpone, lime, coriander, parsley, ginger.

            * * *

    Savoury Tarts / Quiche

  • Carrot and pecan pastilla.

  • Turnip Tarte Tatin.

  • Caramelised onion tart.

  • Roasted vine tomato and mustard tart.

  • Smoked mackerel, pea, feta quiche.

  • Crab and watercress soufflé tart. 

    * * *

    Salads

  • Bulgar wheat salad, feta cheese, spring onions, toasted hazelnuts, chives, parsley, mint, pomegranate.

  • Mixed green leaf salad, orange, pear and walnut.

  • Grilled seasonal greens / Roasted winter roots with chermoula dressing.

    * * *

    Dessert

  • Chocolate pavlova, whipped cream, fresh cherries, blueberries, raspberries.

  • Tarte au Citron.

  • Raspberry and hazelnut roulade.

  • Baked coconut and lime cheesecake, passion fruit caramel sauce.

  • Eton mess cake of vanilla sponge, meringue, vanilla and elderflower cream, fresh strawberries / raspberries.

  • Chocolate, hazelnut, rosemary orange torte.

    (Add optional cheese board, bread, chutneys or swap dessert for cheeseboard).

Canapés
£10
4 per person

Apéritifs in the garden during the sunny days are calling out for that accompanying savoury and sweet nibble!
So too are those cozy wintery ‘get togethers' by the fireside. 4 per person. 

CANAPÉ EXAMPLES

  • Cheese Gougères.

  • Parmesan, poppy seed sable biscuits.

  • Roasted celeriac and prosciutto nuggets.

  • Vietnamese caramel pork skewers.

  • Haggis bonbons.

  • Prawn Lollipops and chili dip.

  • Blini with smoked salmon, pistachio, fennel fronds, lemon crème.

  • Brochettes of dry cured duck breast, pickled beetroot, pineapple.

  • Choux buns filled with Dijon mustard crème, rare filet of beef.

  • Rosemary & cheese sablé biscuits, houmous, pickled red onion, nigella seeds.

  • Cucumber cups, mackerel rilletttes, pickled radish, chives.

  • Smoked salmon courgette roulades, cottage cheese, avocado, dill.

  • Cherry tomato kebabs, smoked paprika & herb feta, black olives and prosciutto ham.

    CHEESE BOARD £8.OO PP
    Optional extra course

  • Selection of local cheeses, bread, oatcakes, pickles.

Canapés of Cucumber Cup, Mackerel Rillettes, Pickled Radish.

Dessert of Violet Ice-cream, Rhubarb, Raspberry, Butter Biscuits.

Homemade ORGANIC breads.

wholemeal,
seeded,
Mixed nuts,
herbS.

500g bread - serves 2 to 4
£4.00
_________

1kg BREAD - SERVES 4 TO 10
£7.00

Catering for minimum of 4 to maximum of 20 guests.

Menus are composed and adapted to clients tastes, season and budget.

Dietary requirements may be catered for but may incur additional costs.

A few of my local suppliers:-

The Plot Thickens, Earlston - seasonal organic vegetables, salads, herbs, soft fruit, autumn fruit.
Weigh Greener, Lauder - organic flours.
Ednam Farm, nr Kelso - organic free range eggs.
Clifton Lodge Smallholding nr Kelso - rare breed free range pork.
Burnside Farm, nr Kelso - feathered game and venison.
Doddington Dairy, Wooler - cows milk, hand crafted award winning cheese.
Errington Cheese, Lanark - ewe and goat dairy, award winning farmhouse cheese maker.

I am happy to discuss your catering needs, please feel free to get in touch using the ‘contact’ page on this website or give me a call.

Happy to cook.

Rebecca.

Private chef in the Scottish Borders, field to fork, seasonal dishes served at home.