Food

I was sure my first blog would have bored the tits off  everyone. But no! I had some really kind personal e-mails, so let's test the water with one of my real passions - Cooking and food history.

I have been a chef since I left Plymouth catering college in 1977 and I still have a passion for food
So where do I start on this one?

The individuals who are my personal Gods of cuisine, whether chefs or writers - these are the people who have inspired me and the British world of food.

 

Auguste Escoffier- "king of chefs and chef of kings"
His recipes are rather heavy and out dated now but many a modern Michelin star chef has got to where they are my doing a clever  escoffier 'remix'.
Alongside the recipes he recorded and invented, Escoffier's food was actually based on that of Antoine Carême His achievement was to simplify and modernize Carême.
Escoffier's greatest contribution to cooking was to elevate it to the status of a respected profession by introducing organised discipline to his kitchens. He organized his kitchens by the brigade de cuisine system,which is still used today.

Elizabeth David
Diva. Goddess. Words fail me. If you don't know who she is, find out. Its your loss if you don't!
Credited with introducing olive oil, garlic and flavour to British cooking, she is a blog all by herself...

Jane Grigson

A wonderful woman and writer. Her books helped the nation to not just learn how to cook things but to understand the ingredients, history, culture and joy of food.

Jane Grigson's books are for me the starting point and text books for information and recipes on mushrooms, fruit and veg and of course charcuterie. 

She is also a bloody good read:

• Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery (1967)
• Good Things (1971)
• Fish Cookery (1973)
• English Food 1974 -awarded  Cookery Writer of the Year
• The Mushroom Feast: A Celebration of All Edible Fungi
• The Vegetable Book (1978) - for which she received the Glenfiddich Writer of the Year Award)
• Food with the Famous 1979
• The Fruit Book (1982) - awarded the André Simon Memorial Fund Book Award

Oh and gave birth to Sophie Grigson in her spare time!

Delia Smith
Often unfairly criticised - but with her tried, tested and foolproof recipes she brought the country out of the dark ages and into the modern world!

A lot of her recipes came from the top chefs of the land and many of my star "signature dishes" were based on hers (no one ever knew). 

 

Marguerite Patten
A true war hero. While working for the Ministry of Food she created nourishing and inventive recipes, using the food that was availabe under rationing.

Rationing went on well after the War due to the punitive interest rates the Americans forced upon us - an exhausted Britain - to pay after it had stood alone defending Europe against Hitler. Both Germany and Japan got more support from the Americans.

My god  - bananas were on ration well into the late fifties!

 

Marguerite Patten was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. She should have been made a full on proper Dame! She is still going today, at the age of 94... 

Keith Belt

Back in the early 90s I worked with Keith in the tiny kitchen in Billy Budd's Bistro Dartmouth. It was a very happy time for me.

I was inspired by Keith's passion, dedication, hard work, knowledge and skill. I still regard him as the best chef I have ever worked with or for.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of Keith so here is one of his partner in the Bistro who ran the front of house the legendary Gilly Webb:



Gosh where to stop? As I said at the start, this was a personal list of Gods and Divas - each one should be a blog in itself. I shall be posting more on them. There is also a massive list of the fab mad and bad chefs / writers to follow as well.

Watch this space!