Desert Island Dishes

Surprise! I'm back with a special bonus episode with the one and only Gennaro Contaldo.   The legendary Gennaro almost doesn’t need an introduction. He’s one of the UK’s most loved chefs, he’s widely known as the man who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking. He spent time entertaining us with the late, great Antonio Carluccio on ‘Two Greedy Italians’, and Channel 4’s Jamie’s Italy with Jamie Oliver.   Referred to as "everyone’s favourite nonno" - he’s written more than a dozen best-selling Italian cookbooks.He has worked across and owned some of londons top Italian restaurants  and he regularly appears on tv screens with “infectious enthusiasm and energy and a greedy need for good food”.   In his spare time he has a passion for whittling walking sticks – which is quite the tongue twister!   When asked to describe himself in 5 words he has said:“Italian, passionate, extroverted, loud and temperamental When Jamie Oliver was asked what he learnt from Gennaro he said simply - “everything…heart, soul, romance, fantasy - every nice word you can say.” -- Thank you to our sponsor Nonna Tonda for sponsoring today's episode. Don't forget to use the discount code DESERTDISHES1 for 60% off the first two dishes. Head to the website www.nonnatonda.co.uk to find out more  -- Thank you for listening! We will be back soon with another season I promise. If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the season finale my guest is James Martin.   James has been a mainstay on our tv screens since the mid 1990’s. It’s safe to say that Saturday mornings wouldn’t be the same without him with his hugely popular shows on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and now Saturday Mornings with James Martin on ITV.   He appeared on the Big Breakfast but it was arguably his role on Ready Steady Cook – a show that changed food television - that catapulted him to the kind of fame usually reserved for boy bands. At it’s peak 15 million people were tuning in to watch the show on Friday evenings and Martin with his trademark bandana and youthful good looks was a firm fan favourite.   But this was not a story of overnight success. It was built on years of hard work and perfecting his craft. James grew up on a farm in North Yorkshire where hard graft was a part of daily life from a young age. At the age of 8 he was working in restaurants and by the time he was 12 he had a catering company catering weddings. It’s no surprise then that by the age of 21 he achieved the covetable role of head chef at Hotel and Bistro du Vin in Winchester.   Alongside this, he’s written countless cook books, he’s set up a cookery school, run restaurants all over the world, gained his pilots license and has an envy inducing collection of vintage cars. He Recently won the Fortnum & Mason 2021 Personality of the Year, as voted for by the public   When James Martin was just seven he told his family he would be a head chef by the age of 30, drive a Ferrari when he was 35 and own his own restaurant by 40. And whilst his “grandad told him to be quiet and get a proper bleedin’ job,” as it turned out, he made head chef at 21, bought a Ferrari three years later and opened his own bistro on a cruise ship when he was 26. James has said, “Those dreams were odd then,” “It was a bit like Billy Elliot – unheard of. “But I knew that was what I wanted to do and that was that.” -- Thank you to Bordeaux Wines for sponsoring this episode of Desert Island Dishes with James Martin. Don't forget to head over to social media where you can find out more by following Bordeaux Wines @bordeauxwinesuk -- Thank you to our season sponsor Cooks Matches for helping us to bring the podcast to you for the last 8 weeks. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! We will be back soon with another season I promise. If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today this week is Julius Roberts.   Julius is a first generation millennial farmer and rising star of the food scene.   In 2016 he gave up working at the acclaimed restaurant Noble Rot in London - and Swapped the rat race for an idyllic life of pigs, goats and chickens instead. His first foray into farming was a small-holding in rural Suffolk and then last year he moved with his family to a farm in Dorset.   His charm and humble approach to life on the farm have seen him amass an army of followers online as he shares the trials and tribulations of farm life alongside his menagerie of animals. Julius describes himself as a cook, farmer and gardener on a journey to self-sufficiency In 2020 the times named him as one of the best Farmer - Foodies to follow on instagram. He says his aim is simple – to educate his audience on topics including animal welfare and seasonal cooking. Julius is a wonderful guest who I guarantee is going to make you want to move to the countryside immediately and start foraging for all your meals. He has a beautiful way of talking about food that makes you feel like the food is right in front of you and I really hope you enjoy! -- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guests today are Emily and Amy Chung – aka The Rangoon Sisters   These two sisters are junior doctors by day, cooks by night as they host sell-out supper clubs as part of their mission to put Burmese food on the culinary map. The sisters started their supperclub in 2013 after visiting Burma for the first time in 2012 and have since gone on to raise £10,000 for charities since then   Their number 1 fan is Grace Dent – who said that their Mohinga (fish chowder) was ‘the nicest thing she put in her mouth in 2017’   Grace Dent has said: As a restaurant critic, I constantly giggle at their humble manner of serving some of the best food I ever eat. It is always brought to the table with the words, “This probably isn’t very good but see if you like it.”    They brought out their debut cookbook last year to critical acclaim – it was in the Observer Food Monthly top 10 books of 2020. Steeped in family recipes and stories which are well written and easy to follow, it’s not hard to see why it has been such a hit.   Emily has said; “We are always nervous that we can pull this off again,” “But then the empty plates come back to the kitchen and we think, at some level, we’re doing OK.” --- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Tom Aikens.   Tom has been hailed as one of the best chefs of his generation, being the youngest British chef to hold two Michelin stars which he achieved by the tender age of just 26. His remarkable career has taken him to David Cavalier’s in Battersea, Pierre Koffman’s La Tante Claire, Pied-à-Terre and Joel Robuchon in Paris to name a few. Raised in Norfolk with a respect for fresh, seasonal ingredients, Tom is passionate about using the finest local and sustainable produce.   He has restaurants all over the world and at the start of 2020 we saw Tom return to the world of fine dining by opening the intimate, very personal twenty five cover restaurant Muse which has already won a Michelin star. When not cooking you will find Tom running marathons, cycling or running with Olympic torches.   He also works with several charities, most recent of which is Only a Pavement Away for which he has just brought out a new cookbook.     Tom has said: "My whole thing with cooking, is trying to create memories. I think customers are looking for more of an experience, more than just going to a place and having a nice time. They know they're going to have a great plate of food. They know they're going to have nice service in formal, nice, atmospheric conditions. But will they make a memory?” -- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Ben Lebus.   Ben is the founder of the online cooking and content platform – Mob Kitchen whose mission it is to help students and young professionals prepare restaurant-quality meals on a budget. Through everything from recipe videos to cook-alongs and competitions, MOB encourages a laid back and 'get stuck in' attitude in the kitchen.   After noticing that none of his student friends were cooking, upon graduating from university, with no background in food, Ben armed with nothing but a kitchen, a camera and some recipe ideas he started creating overhead videos that people could actually cook. Ever since then the company has earned a loyal and ever-growing following of well over a million fans – the MOB. With four Amazon bestselling cookbooks under their belt, Mob Kitchen have just released a new book called Comfort Mob.   One online publication I came across described Ben’s style as a “mashup of Hugh Grant’s public schoolboy charm and Jamie Oliver’s zeal and relish for food”. -- Buy the new book from Mob Kitchen here and follow them on Instagram. -- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jo Malone CBE, the founder and creative director of Jo Loves, is renowned for her iconic fragrances and remarkable entrepreneurial journey. In this engaging discussion, Jo shares her extraordinary sense of smell, revealing how it has aided health diagnoses and sparked her passion for scents. She recounts nostalgic memories tied to childhood Chinese meals and highlights her resilience through adversity, emphasizing the power of self-belief. Jo's story showcases the intersection of creativity, perseverance, and the emotional connections we have with scents and tastes.

My guest today is Rachel Ama. Rachel is the rising star of the London vegan scene, her passion for vibrant, colourful food has seen her amass an army of followers online after she went vegan 7 years ago. She started her Youtube channel to show how just easy and delicious it was to cook vegan food and Since then she has gone from strength to strength . She won the Observer Food Monthly Rising Star award in 2019, has presented the Food Programme on Radio 4 and has just released her second cookbook. She grew up in North London with her Mum, but her recipes are also heavily influenced by her Caribbean and African roots. She has a clever knack for putting a vegan spin on classic dishes with a real emphasis on flavour. She has been described as vegan goals. She inspires, she cooks she dances and most of all she’s passionate about vegan life.   -- Rachel’s new book: One Pot: Three Ways is out now! -- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes. You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back! My guest today is Michel Roux. Michel is a legendary figure in the world of food – he’s a chef and restaurateur - he’s the Michelin starred owner of London’s iconic Le Gavroche, founded by his father and uncle in the 1960’s. Celebrating over 50 years in business the Roux’s have built a gastronomic dynasty. His grandparents and their parents before them were charcutiers so food has always been a family affair. Perhaps it was inevitable that Michel would fall in love with food as his family had done before him – the story goes that he was practically born in a kitchen when his mother went into labour during service at his fathers restaurant. Beyond restaurants, you may well know Michel from his extensive television career, he was a judge on Masterchef the professionals for 6 years , has been a regular on Saturday Kitchen and has fronted BBC 2’s Food and Drink. His latest project is his brilliant new series for Food Network – called Michel Roux’s French Country Cooking. -- Michel Roux's French Country Cooking - Premieres 9pm Thursday 9th September exclusively on Food Network -- Thank you to our sponsor Cooks Matches. Find them on Instagram @cooksmatches and head to their website www.cooksmatches.co.uk to find out more. -- Thank you for listening! If you don't already and you would like to, then do come and follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes. You can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Rukmini Iyer Rukmini is a former lawyer turned bestselling author of the Roasting Tin series which have now sold over half a million copies. Amongst her army of followers – who call themselves the TinLads. She counts Nigella Lawson as a fan as well as other famous names from Jay Rayner to Judy Murray. The concept of the Roasting Tin books is deceptively simple, Mini’s recipes lure people in with the idea of the one-pot supper. But people return time and time again because the recipes taste even better than the lack of washing up feels. A pioneer of the _and I quote: ‘put everything in a roasting tin and shove it in the oven’ school of cookery, Mini’s fourth cookbook features tasty, no-fuss dishes from across the globe. As well as writing cookbooks, Rukmini styles and writes recipes for numerous brands and publications, including Waitrose, The Guardian and Fortnum and Mason. Of her success and the reaction to her books, Mini says – ‘It’s one thing having fans who are like, "this is great for dinner", but to have fans who are saying that you’ve changed the way they eat is very humbling,’ ‘You never think that something like a cookbook could have that much effect on someone’. Thank you so much for listening. So so many delicious dishes talked about!   Don’t forget to go to the website www.desertislanddishes.co for the full list of episodes plus lots of recipes and you can sign up to the newsletter.  Come and say on Instagram @desertislanddishes And thank you for your reviews, they really do help other people to find the podcast and helps boost the show in the charts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.