The Taste - Final 12 Q&A

8 January 2014

The following feature is available free for reproduction in full or in part.

ANTHONY’S TEAM

Barry

Single Charity Worker Barry is a 27 year old home cook who resides in London, but is originally from Ireland.

How would you describe your cooking style?

A little rough around the edges. I generally start out with a vague idea of what I want to create. I will have a sense of a recipe, but if there's no oregano I'll chuck something else in, or if I can't get the right cut of meat I'll adapt. (Al)though when I'm switching it on and trying to impress, I sharpen things up.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

For me, food is all about context. I got really excited about a mug of tea and a hobnob the other day. I've sat through a dreadful Michelin star meal I just wanted to end. I'm in love with the way food brings people together; whether that's a shared bowl of porridge in a school in Dar Es Salaam, or a hog roast at a festival.

Also, I tend to make an unholy mess. Growing up if you didn't cook you had to wash up, so I would go out of my way to make as big a mess as possible for my brother to have to clean. This seems to have forged a pattern of behaviour.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

Travelling with work I've eaten a few interesting things – Ifishimu in Zambia was a plate of fried caterpillars. They tasted like pork scratchings and were great with the local beer. The goat tripe not so much. Calf brain in Israel was memorable too.

 

Dixie

Professional chef Dixie, 25 works at an East London bakery and café and holds a Diploma in Professional Cooking. 

How would you describe your cooking style?

I would say that I am not a 'cheffy' cook. The food I like to cook is rustic, wholesome and good for the soul. My most frequented cooking styles include Italian, Spanish, French, British, Middle Eastern, Moroccan and Indian. These are the styles that I have most experience in and are most confident with.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

Curried maggots. My dad was given them as a gift once. They were alright.

What was your earliest memory of food?

My earliest memories of cooking are of me standing on a chair (because I was too small to reach) in the kitchen in front of the stove making some sort of edible concoction, maybe tomato pasta sauce.

I also used to make cakes with no recipes or make up my own recipes because I was too young to read my mums recipe books.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

I have several cooking influences, firstly my parents. When I was growing up we had a delicatessen and my mother would make different food to sell in the shop. My family has always been really into food, so I grew up thinking that loving food was completely normal.

 

Guan

Food blogger and professional chef, Guan is originally from Malaysia but now resides in London. He specialises in Malaysian cooking and studied at Le Cordon Bleu. He is 27.

How would you describe your cooking style?

I love cooking a mix of both home-cooked Malaysian dishes as well as more sophisticated Modern European cuisine inspired by my travels and eating my way round London’s finest restaurants. I put utmost importance on big, gutsy flavours and harmonious combinations in my cooking.

Combining culinary influences from my native Malaysia with cooking techniques that I’ve picked up and honed over my nine months of training at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, I hope to bring a creative, versatile and inspirational style of cooking to the show that will stand out amongst the crowd.

What was your earliest memory of food?

I recall pretending to be my Godma’s gung-ho sous chef, pounding away with a pestle and mortar at a chilli paste we use for a spicy Sambal Prawn dish. In my eagerness, I managed to send a stray bit of the chilli paste straight into my eye. What’s worse, without thinking, I started to rub away at it with my fingers, which only added salt to the wound. I recall being the butt of all the jokes over the family dinner table that night and how buckets and buckets of tears had gone into the making of the dish. On the bright side, I’m glad that experience hasn’t put me off cooking altogether and that very chilli paste which stung me in my younger days is one of my favourites that I still make up till today.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

Fish Maw (gas-filled swim bladder of a fish that controls its buoyancy). It’s used as the main ingredient in a Malaysian-Chinese soup.

 

Justin

27 year old Justin is a professional chef with a qualification in Hospitality & Professional Cooking. Originally from Derbyshire, he now lives in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

My mum is Scottish and my dad Nigerian. There was never any bias towards a particular food culture and I feel privileged that I got to grow up with such a diverse range of flavours. I may have grown up a little, worked out a little and leaned up a little, but the chubby boy still lives inside. If it’s edible, I'm excited!

Which flavour best describes your personality and why?      

I'm like Chinese Five spice: warm and welcoming with several different characteristics. If you don't love me straight away, I will grow on you.

How would you describe your cooking style?

I call my food modern international cuisine. I respect all the classics and understand the historical and geographical factors that influence them.

What are you looking forward to most about taking part in The Taste?        

I've never taken part in a competition before, let alone a televised one with internationally acclaimed food professionals. I'm really looking forward to having my food tasted by mentors that I genuinely love and respect and hopefully they will validate that my food tastes as good as I think it does.

 

 

LUDO’S TEAM

 

Chloe

24 year old Nanny and PA, Chloe hails from Thames Ditton in Surrey.

How would you describe your cooking style?

My food is either: simple, clean and delicious with fresh flavours or layers upon layers of deep flavours, which are also delicious.

What was your earliest memory of food?

This is going to sound really silly, but my first memory is actually when I was in the bath when I was very young- about 3 or 4. I would sit in the bath and pretend I had pots and wooden spoons. I’d stir round the water like I was stirring a dish. I was always watching my mum cook at home so I was just copying her.

Do you cook every day? In what capacity?

I am a nanny for a family of eight, including six children. I have been in this job for a year and a half. The children say my food is delicious. It makes me happy that they love my food. I also cook for my Grandad a few times a week - which he loves - and my sisters and friends at least once every other weekend.

What are you looking forward to most about taking part in the show?          

I’ve really wanted to be a chef since I was little girl. I want to come on The Taste to see if the judges see potential in me and my food and then ultimately win and be the happiest girl alive. I know my food tastes delicious and I want to show people this.

 

Debbie

43 year old café-deli owner Debbie is Bolton born and bred. She’s had no formal cookery college training and is Mum to three children and two step children.

How would you describe your cooking style?               

I love traditional recipes and making them different i.e. a shortcrust pie with a quirky individual filling and mash topping. I am a highly energized person and get bored very easily and cooking is about detail, awareness, timing each situation. I have held my own confidence and been able to correct or adapt, if it didn't go to plan.

What are you looking forward to most about taking part in the show?          

I am obsessed with food books. My husband calls it my food porn! I’m also looking forward to being able to utilise some of my knowledge and putting it into the food for the judges. I’ve been cooking for twenty years and I think my food tastes great (so do my family), but this will be the real test.

Which flavour best describes your personality and why?      

Ginger because it’s a versatile spice used across all genres of cooking, spicy, uplifting and warm.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?

Snails are the most unusual on a family holiday in Paris. They had an unpleasant texture and had a very mushroomy flavour. I ate one and my husband ate the whole plate. The children choose not to partake!

 

James

Specialist Children’s Nurse, James is a 34 year-old home cook from Shrewsbury, West Midlands.

How old were you when you started cooking?

I first started cooking around six years ago when I had my first daughter, something on me clicked that I had to be able to look after my family and being able to cook was part of that. Very quickly I fell in love with cooking and have carried on since.

How would you describe your cooking style?

Simple, classy and healthy. I love nothing more than beautiful seasonal vegetables cooked with a good piece of meat. I don't like being overly technical, but I do put a lot of love into what I’m doing. I do take my cooking seriously and put a lot of effort into getting things right, which my friends and family find amusing. I like food that is simple and rooted in a little tradition, especially flavours combinations that have always worked together. I generally shy away from restaurants or recipes that use the word ‘fusion’.

Which flavour best describes your personality and why?      

I think lemon best describes me: pretty to look at with a bit of a kick.

 

Kirsty

28 year old Kirsty is a private chef who attained a culinary diploma in South Africa before moving to West London, where she currently resides.

How would you describe your cooking style?

I think because I started cooking in South Africa I have a slightly different way of seeing food and ingredients, and that I think is unique to me. The ingredients we use in Britain are very different to ingredients back home. For instance, wild game is easy to get your hands on in South Africa, and the seafood is very different. So when I moved to London, it was almost like going back to school. I had to learn about the different fruits, vegetables, meats and fish that we find in Britain. This helped me develop my flavours and cooking and now I use a mix of South African cooking and British cooking and I have created my own style of food. I must say though, I far prefer British ingredients, and using local and organic seasonal ingredients

What was your earliest memory of food?

When I was about 12, I asked my mom if I could make some biscuits. The deal with allowing me to cook was I could, but only if I cleaned up after myself. While I was gathering all the ingredients, I came across some green food colouring and I thought it would be a great idea to add some to the biscuit batter. So I poured in the whole bottle. The biscuits look and tasted terrible but my family did their best and all put on brave faces and tasted them. I have never lived this down.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

I made a crocodile and coconut milk curry served with a Thai yellow curry base and mixed seasonal vegetables.

 

 

 

NIGELLA’S TEAM

Claire

Supper Club host Claire is 28 years old and lives in Brixton, London.

How old were you when you started cooking?

My sister and I used to cook our parents a 3 course meal for their birthdays from the ages of six and seven.

How would you describe your cooking style?

Pretty experimental. I’m not a trained chef, so my best dishes are usually the result of a lot of research and practice.  However, I live in Brixton which is teaming with food shops so I have a tendency to shop at random and end up with a strange mix of ingredients to play around with at home.

What gives you the edge over the other contestants?            

My family comes from Goa, which has a very interesting cuisine that is a blend of Portuguese and Indian flavours. I’ve also lived in Brazil, Paris and London so hopefully blending flavours and cuisines will be my edge.

Have you ever had any culinary disasters, and if so what?

Many! So many. I think it’s a good way to learn. I once made a cement-worthy, chocolate mousse. That’s probably the most literally inedible disaster as it was so rock hard I couldn’t get a spoon in it at all and had to throw away the glasses I made it in.

 

Kalpna

Science Supply Teacher Kalpna, 47 lives in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester. She is Mum to one grown-up daughter and her signature style is Gujurati-influenced Indian food that is rustic with big flavours.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

In a word, my greatest influence in cooking is Nigella Lawson. Her style of cooking really appeals to me as it uses ingredients that I already have at home. Like her, I hate having to go shopping every time I want make a dish. I try to be frugal when cooking. I usually make things up as I go along depending on the ingredients I have to hand. But, I often consult my numerous Nigella cook books as well as the Internet.

Most importantly, I also get recipes from my mother, aunt and my mother in law, who are walking encyclopaedias when it comes to traditional Gujarati recipes.

How would you describe your cooking style?

My style of cooking is rustic and free form. When making dishes (apart from baking), I don't measure spices or other ingredients and just add what I think it needs. All my cooking is done by eye, I taste and add seasonings as needed. I believe in making more use of vegetables and not making meat or poultry the centre of a dish.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

Roasted grasshoppers. I was at home at Christmas time and someone brought it round from Selfridges for a laugh. They tasted very crunchy.

 

Raj

29 year old home cook Raj lives in London and works as a Tax Accountant by day.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

Other than my perpetual state of hunger, my Mum was the source of my love of food and cooking. Mum was a generous cook who always cooked what others wanted rather than what she fancied. She didn’t have a signature dish and in fact I don’t even recall her having a favourite dish – such was her emphasis on cooking for others rather than herself.

Mum also made a strong effort to learn how to prepare non Punjabi food and my favourite growing up was a spinach lasagne that she picked up from a Delia Smith programme.

How would you describe your cooking style?

I’m always looking to get maximum quality meals for minimum effort, so would describe my cooking as effortless. My cooking lacks any sense of pretentiousness and I often cook dishes that have a large margin for error, such as slow cooked stews and curries.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

I haven’t really tried many unusual dishes but I have had brawn, which is basically a terrine made from head meat; mine was pork. I had it at a picnic and didn’t know what it really was, but really liked it!

What is your signature dish?

I love doing pizza at home and the secret is to cook the dough on the underside of a heavy and preheated pan before finishing under the grill. Throw away the pizza stone! I’ve never found one that gets hot enough.

 

Kelly

Professional chef Kelly is a chef and head tutor at a cookery school in Bristol. As you’d expect, the 32 year old has a number of cookery qualifications under her belt.

How old were you when you started cooking?

I started cooking when I was 18. I realised that I needed to lose a lot of weight and to achieve my goal, I needed to start cooking fresh and healthy food. But I've only been cooking professionally for five years.

How would you describe your cooking style?

My style is constantly evolving and that's what I love about cooking, you can never get bored because there is so much to learn and as you learn, you naturally develop. I think my food reflects my personality; a bit ballsy without being too fussy and big on flavour. I tend to focus more on substance as opposed to obsessing about style!

I find my style being influenced by my passion for West Country produce and my resistance to using unsustainable ingredients.

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten/cooked?     

I love 'nose to tail’. My favourite thing at the moment is lambs tongue.

Where did your love of food and cooking come from?

My love of food comes from family, feeding and friends. I love having people together and it’s the only time my family don’t argue. Both my granddad & parents cook really well and have done for a living. My granddad also grows lots so I have a deep rooted relationship with food.