This September, the new school year saw a new face in the busy Refectory kitchen at Clongowes. Following the retirement of Chef Tommy Corcoran, who led the team for over four decades, our new Head Chef Jason Lelievre, stepped into the role. As food is so important in Clongowes, we were all excited to meet him.
We sat down with Jason to find out a bit more about the man behind the food!
We detect an accent, where are you from?
I am from a small farming town in Canterbury called Cheviot, South Island, New Zealand
As a New Zealander, do you share our interest in rugby?
I started playing rugby from the age of four and was smitten. I played all over the backline, settling on half back by high school. I got a rugby scholarship to Christchurch Boys High and we won the New Zealand Schools cup two years running. From there I played New Zealand Schools, New Zealand University, New Zealand Army and New Zealand Combined Forces. In later years I have become a referee, in fact my first exposure to Clongowes was as a ref.
Tell us about your professional life to date?
Originally I wanted to be an artist ( I have an MA English) but found that the workplace of a commercial artist did not match my ideas of what a working artist would be doing. Then someone sold me on cooking, using the plate as my canvas but with the ability to utilise many mediums (smell, hot v cold, texture, flavour).
I gained my London City and Guilds 706/1 and 706/2 in the army then was fortunate enough to work for some of New Zealand’s better chefs, Charles Nouville, Rick Rutledge Manning and Bruce Griffiths. they honed my fine dining skills and set me up to work in Ireland where I was Head Chef in Cafe Le Seurre restaurant, Village at Lyons as well as Head chef in Carton House and Luttrellstown Castle.
What led you to making the decision to join Clongowes?
The rugby tradition, the serenity of the estate, the history, a better life balance and proximity to home.
What’s your favourite dish to make?
Slow smoked BBQ Pork Ribs
What is your vision for food at Clongowes?
The great thing about food is its ability to work as a facilitator for memorable moments. It works in the background of social occasions, firing up endorphins and smoothing social discourse (think Christmas dinners, birthday dinners, celebratory meals). In New Zealand, we have a term, “whanau” that in its most basic translation from the Maori language means family. But it also means more than that, it means “of this place” and both ideas seem to me to encapsulate Clongowes Wood College and our students and their time here. They become both family and of this place.
Tell us something about you that people wouldn’t know
I am an avid follower of both modernist and postmodernist philosophers and literary minds. I write poetry myself and have a particular love for Irish poets, Yeats being the key figure for me, spanning the romantic and modernist movements.
Thank you Jason for telling us a bit about yourself and we look forward to enjoying your food this year!
