Interview with Cai Ap Bryn FEATURE
PICTURES:TIM PILBEAM & CAI AP BRYNhttp://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.uk 91»
W
elcome to the second in my irregular
series of interviews with characters from the
huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ community. We
follow them in magazines, or watch them on
various TV shows and internet-based channels, but what are
they really like? What’s their passion? What is it about
fieldsports that motivates them to become experts and, in
some cases, what challenges can they task me with in their
field of expertise?
This interview is taking place in the middle of a quiet wood
in Sussex. I have asked a few friends to join me to
experience open-fire cooking with Cai Ap Bryn, the young
chef, film presenter, international hunter and entrepreneur.
I strap the microphone to his shirt and throughout the next
three hours he casually answers my questions while
preparing the food for eight people. No pressure, Cai!READY,
STEADY COOK!
Tim Pilbeam meets Welsh hunter and game cook, Cai Ap Bryn, and gets a venison
cooking challenge into the bargain
TP: I have to ask, where does your name come from?
CAB: It is a Welsh name. Bryn is my dad’s name, Ap
means ‘son of’, so I am Cai, son of Bryn! Welsh was my
first language.TP: You now live in Sussex. What brought you down to this
beautiful part of the country, renowned for the sun, the sea
and the retired?
CAB: Until I was eight years old, I lived with my family in
Snowdonia, where my father worked in a power station, but it
was shut down, so we moved to Kent, as did many
Welshman, to work at the Dungeness power station.TP: What pays the bills?
CAB: My full-time job is a team leader for a construction
company. My sanctuary is my cooking!BELOW: Cai Ap Bryn
offers field cooking
workshops at his
base near Hastings