Rosemary is a talented and versatile chef, who loves talking
about food as much as she loves cooking. She is a natural extrovert and
communicator, whose professional career includes a period working for
Pierre Koffman - at the internationally famous Tante Claire restaurant in London and also a period working for Jean-Christophe Novelli.
Rosemary was Head Chef at Amhuinnsuidhe Castle from 1998 till 2002,
running her renowned cookery course for hundreds of eager students over
the four years. Her first cookery book, Rosemary - Castle Cook was published in 2001. Described by food writer Michael Raffael as "an object lesson in handling the finest produce".
Rosemary is passionate about food and she teaches with an infectious
enthusiasm. Her "passion for the subject and desire to impart her
knowledge, which she does with warmth and verve, cannot fail to fire
those fortunate enough to be her pupils" (Claire MacDonald).
In the summer of 2000, TV production company Wall to Wall filmed six
students taking part in one of Rosemary's cookery courses. The six part
series, Rosemary - Castle Cook was broadcast on Channel 5 in January 2001 and led to a second series, Rosemary on the Road,
broadcast by Channel 5 in September 2002 to excellent reviews. Rosemary
worked on a number of other television projects including an eight
part contribution to the Carlton TV series Nosh, broadcast in the summer of 2001.
She has now taken her cookery school to Swinton Park, where her lessons are as popular as ever. You'll find details of the content and timing of her courses elsewhere on the site.
In 2005 Ladette to Lady series 1 blasted on to our screens, followed by series 2 and 3 over the next few years. In 2008 Rosemary filmed Ladette to Lady USA followed by two series of Ladette to Lady Australia for Channel 9.
The popular School for Cooks, set at the cookery school at Swinton Park, aired in 2008 on ITV, with series 2 following soon after. Her second book, 'School for Cooks' was published by Dorling Kindersley the same year.
In December 2008 Rosemary led her team to win the ITV cross county competition Taste the Nation. In 2009 she co-presented a new factual entertainment series for ITV called All At Sea. Since 2005 she has been the resident chef of the Alan Titchmarsh Show and in 2011 she continues to appear regularly with Alan in the studio. Rosemary has done Georgian cooking on Supersizes for BBC2, made appearances on Market Kitchen and can often be seen on This Morning.
As a presenter of Royal Upstairs Downstairs, a twenty part series for BBC 2 shown in March 2011, Rosemary traveled in the footsteps of Queen Victoria to the stately homes, castles and houses that she visited during her reign, exploring the rich culinary history that existed during the era.
Her third book 'Rosemary Shrager's Absolutely Foolproof Home Classic Cookery' published by Octopus is on sale from May 2nd 2011.
She regularly demonstrates and teaches her skills at shows and events across the country and abroad.
Photography by Russell Falkingham
