Profile on Rosa Rigby – Pure Taste’s Accomplished Pastry Chef

As part of the familiarisation process with Pure Taste, and really embodying our community spirit, we will be profiling our superstar staff. For our second profile, we are talking with Rosa Rigby, Pastry Chef at Pure Taste. Rosa is working her dream job, which is a lucky coincidence, because she is a dream to have!

Rosa has been working in catering for the past two and half years until we were fortunate enough to cross paths with her. She mastered canapés, parties and private dinners. A year of this time was spent balancing her job and doing a Hospitality and Catering course at her local college. Once you read this blog, you will be forgiven for thinking that Rosa is older than her years. But she isn’t – she’s just mighty accomplished.

Rosa had a wonderful idea to set up her own baking business. She has long been interested in nutrition and healthy eating and saw a niche in making and selling her own produce to local markets and suppliers. And then the story changed….

We asked Rosa some pointy questions:

What appeals to you about Pure Taste?

Rosa was introduced to us by Ollie our Graphic Designer. He thought it would be a wonderful connection to make, given the way that Rosa liked to cook. Little did she know when she met Holly and Adib, they would offer her a job to work in their kitchen. By her own admission, she was shocked, delighted and a little bit speechless at that point. What would be better than being able to learn at the elbow of the Gluten-Free Queen and her team? Rosa knew that her ideal job involved making food like this, experimenting and practicing and here it was just offered to her!

What do you do in your spare time?

There are few places alongside the kitchen that Rosa would rather be in. A gym, a hot yoga studio or a cafe with friends. But mostly, she just loves to cook. She has a passion and genuine interest in learning and cooking nutritional food. She makes fresh juices, and has a library of nutritional books. She is currently doing an online nutritional course with the Open Study College.

Rosa’s favourite books are Eat Pretty by Jolene Hart, 1001 Home Remedies & Natural Cures by Esme Floyd and The Body Book by Camron Diaz. She recently took the Diaz book on holidays. It now resembles the actress in a photo shoot….wet and covered in sand. Rosa will read any kind of cook book and of course is a fan of the Great British Bake Off.

What are you passionate about?

Cooking healthy food. Baking. Nutrition. Rosa has learned that the right food can change your health. It’s a big point that people seem to skip past and overlook. In her experience, it will be a medical intervention first. Very few people actually look at what they are eating and think it might just have an impact on their overall wellness. If we can change that about the majority of people, life would be much easier and healthier!

At the risk of sounding like a total food nerd – Rosa loves any and all fruit and veg. If she doesn’t have her share in a day, things turn nasty!

Tell us something interesting about your background.

Rosa was born in Petersfield and grew up in Chichester. She was a horse-riding fanatic from the age of 5 to 15 years old. She really is the epitome of the farm to table story. Having had her own chickens and ducks from a young age, she grew up in a garden with a mix and match of home grown fruit and vegetables at her fingertips. No matter which corner of the family you look at there was always fresh home grown food available. Seeing this circle of life from a young age has given her the foundation of her understanding of nutritional food.

Her mother would grow sprouting veg and began Rosa’s love for juicing. Her father is a lover of all great food. Having Danish roots means Christmas at their house is a black tie affair with goose and rice pudding and all the trimmings of a divine feast!

Every chef has to be asked….what would your last supper be?

This posed quite a difficult question for Rosa as her mood for food changes daily. She is a great lover of warming home comfort food and anything with a colourful salad– something with crunch.

Dessert would be frozen banana “ice-cream” her favourite combination being almond milk to blend, hazelnut butter, crushed hazelnuts and cacao nibs.

What a meal to go out on. Even when she has the choice, there is no choice – nutritional food is the only option!

You can find pictures of the fabulous food Rosa cooks on instagram @rosarigby.