at home with James Martin - December 2012 - (Page 36)

FROM THE chefs’ mouths Ten celebrity chefs reveal their foodie favourites, guilty pleasures and regular restaurant haunts James Martin Jamie Oliver Earliest food memory ‘My gran, who’s now passed away, used to have an old enamelled gas grill, you know, one with the little red knobs on it. She used to make a bacon sandwich with bacon from Scott’s Butchers in York, which has shut down now, and bread from M&S. It was just the best bacon sandwich I’ve ever eaten – nothing has beaten it yet.’ Earliest food memory ‘The smells coming up from the kitchen at The Cricketers (a pub his parents own) when I was about three. I grew up in the pub that mum and dad still run in Essex – it must have been one of the ﬁrst gastropubs. Upstairs, mum did most of the cooking. She was amazing at roasts and shepherd’s pies, which she made in the commercial kitchen when the chefs had clocked off. Her ﬁsh pie was my favourite. She made it with smoked haddock and cod and sometimes prawns and salmon, too, so there was always a little surprise when I ate it.’ Guilty pleasure ‘My mother’s roast dinners. She gets the gravy granules out and the beef extract, then I’m there reducing stuff to make jus to go with it! I still travel all the way back to Yorkshire for my mother’s roast, it’s great. I love her roast potatoes, too, served cold with butter. Then there are ﬁsh and chips from Whitby. I also love the fresh crab.’ Guilty pleasure ‘I’m really not a health-minded chef. I am a chef and love all kinds of food. What I want to teach people is that you can eat anything you want, as long as it’s once in a while and part of a balanced diet – and in reasonable portions. I love burgers and I love pizza.’ Favourite restaurant ‘It’s called Per Se. It’s in New York and it’s run by a chef called Thomas Keller, who is probably one of the best chefs in the world. In the UK I like Koffmann’s; Pierre Koffmann’s French restaurant which is underneath the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, London.’ Favourite restaurant ‘I went back to Moro (Exmouth Market, London) recently and God I forgot how good the chefs there are. I had the most fantastic meal there from Sam and Sam Clark who I used to work with.’ Nigella Lawson Favourite food ‘Ticking off the holy trinity of sugar, salt and fat – salted caramel is the class A drug of the confectionery world,’ says Nigella. ‘I am in the middle of a love affair with salted caramel. It’s heady, it’s passionate, it may not be entirely healthy, but I take the view that few people in this world have the luxury to be blasé about pleasure.’ Heston Blumenthal Earliest food memory ‘Coffee ice cream from Regent Snack & Milk Bar on Edgware Road on a Saturday with my sister. I was six or seven years old. My gran used to take us to Marylebone’s Church Street Market and at that age it was the last thing I wanted to do but the reward was we’d stop and get ice cream. The shop had a big plastic cone above the door.’ Guilty pleasure ‘First, I don’t believe in feeling guilty about pleasure. You can’t enjoy the pleasure if you’re too busy feeling guilty. I really like hot dogs – there’s no way I don’t like my hot dog. I like it with cheese, or, actually, chili dogs are my favorite, with a side of onion rings. The hot dogs from Shake Shack (in New York City) are fantastic. I also like it topped with greens.’ Guilty pleasure ‘I love pork pies. I live, breathe, sleep, dream how to get every beneﬁt out of ingredients, and tweak and tweak and tweak and tweak, so eating that kind of stuff sometimes is such an enjoyable thing. I can just switch off. And an Indian takeaway once a week is lovely.’ Favourite restaurant ‘I’ve been going to Maliks Tandoori (in Cookham, Berkshire) for years, and ordering takeaways there, too. About once a week, to be honest. The food is ﬁrst class, and so fresh: the chefs cook the naan only when the takeaway car is ready to leave with your order.’ Favourite restaurant Nigella is a regular diner at seafood restaurant Scott’s (she goes a few times a week!). The restaurant, located in London’s Mayfair, serves everything ﬁshy from oysters to luxurious caviar. 036 | DECEMBER 2012 WORDS: JESSIE BLAND | PHOTOGRAPHS: PA PHOTOS

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of at home with James Martin - December 2012

DIARY DATES
YOUR CHRISTMAS KITCHEN
UP THE ORANGE APPEEL
MEET MR MARTIN
THE CHEF DIARIES
FLAVOURS OF THE FUTURE
COOK LIKE A PRO
THE STAR EVENT
COOKING SOS
UNDER THE SEA
VEG OUT
JUST DESSERTS
WINE O’CLOCK
TASTEBUDS ON TEST
GUYS’ GIFT LIST
SANTA SPOILS FOR HER
FOR FOOD LOVERS
CHINESE, PLEASE?
THE ROAST WITH THE MOST
MARY CHRISTMAS
BAKE LIKE THE BEST
THE BIG CHEESE
FAT’S YOUR LOT
CLEAN UP
PINES AND NEEDLES
WINTER FOODIE BREAKS
ALL ABROAD
COFFEE BREAK
‘MY FOOD FANTASY TURNED INTO REALITY’
LAST WORD
EDITOR’S LETTER
FESTIVE WELCOME
NEWS AND VIEWS

at home with James Martin - December 2012