Desert Island Dishes

My guest today is Sarah Wilson Sarah started I Quit Sugar in 2011 as a lifestyle experiment for a column she was writing. This led to an e-book, then three New York Times bestsellers and a business that saw 1.5 million people signing up to an eight-week nutrition programme. But as time went on, Sarah wasn’t enjoying it anymore. She says, ‘The business got to a point where it had gone from being a joy – creating, inventing, connecting with people – to a business concern. It felt soul-destroying. It felt wrong.’ And so in February 2022 she sold off the business and its assets and gave everything to charity. She now donates the money to carefully researched charity projects that target inequality, indigenous issues and the climate crisis. Sarah consumes essentials only, has never owned a handbag and doesn’t own a car. Her career has been extraordinary, she became the editor of Cosmopolitan Australia at 29, hosted the most-watched TV series show in the nation’s history -the first season of Masterchef Australia – and wrote the international bestseller First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, which Mark Manson described as “the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read”. Her most recent book This One Wild and Precious Life, is also a prize winner and Sarah has been ranked in the top 200 most influential authors in the world (two years in a row). Thank you very much to Nestlé Carnation for sponsoring this weeks episode. Head to their website www.carnation.co.uk for lots of recipe inspiration and there’s even a free downloadable recipe book waiting for you there too. You can find me @desertislanddishes and the website at www.desertislanddishes.co Thank you for listening! Margie x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have Madeleine Shaw, is a nutritional therapist based in London as the guest on this weeks episode of our side dish: The Dream Dinner Party. Interesting fact for you, I’ve done one live recording of Desert Island Dishes and Maddie was the guest! So if you want to go back and listen to her episode of desert island dishes, it was a few years ago now but that one was recorded in front of a live audience. I actually don’t know how I managed to record it as I didn’t have anyone helping me and it’s a miracle! But yes, we love a returning guest and I do hope you enjoy hearing about Maddie's dream dinner party. Rowan Atkinson – if you're listening I sincerely apologise for what you're about to hear and please know I am a huge fan and meant no offence.  Really hope you enjoy!  Follow me on Instagram @desertislanddishes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may well know Jon from his friendly, down-to-earth cooking videos online where he has amassed a huge following of avid fans but what you may not know is that Jon is where he is today through a lot of hard work and determination to turn his life around completely. He left school at the age of 16 with no idea what he wanted to do, he found himself hanging out with the wrong crowd and was constantly getting into trouble with the police. In 2008 he was sentenced to 6 ½ years in a young offenders institute. He said he had two choices: spending 23 hours a day in a cell or signing up for everything he could. He signed up for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and in that moment he changed the entire course of his life. Jon became the first person to ever earn a gold Duke of Edinburgh award whilst in prison receiving the award from Prince Philip himself. Jon went on to work for Jamie Oliver, where his passion for food was really ignited and now 16 years on, he runs a successful food business working as a chef and has just released his first cookbook. Thank you to our sponsor Cru Kafé for supporting us this episode and helping us to bring the show to you every week. Visit their website here. Don't forget to come and find us on Instagram and Tiktok @desertislanddishes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi I’m Margie Nomura and welcome to another episode of our side dish: The Dream Dinner Party. This is the mini episode where we invite a guest to tell us all about their dream dinner party. This is a game I know a lot of people have played on long car journeys or maybe first dates so it’s really fun to sit down with a different guest each week and hear who they would invite and what they would serve. You’re allowed to invite 4 people – anyone you want, and I think its impossible to listen without thinking of your own answers This week we have Matt Rodbard who is a critically lauded writer, editor and author of food and culture books s well as the host of the this is taste podcast – a show which features culturally relevant and surprising discussions about food and drink. There’s nothing matt doesn’t know about restaurants and what’s hot – so it was fun to sit down with him and talk all about dinner parties and his dream dinner party.  I do hope you enjoyed todays episode and make sure you’re subscribed to catch all episodes of The Dream Dinner Party and Desert Island Dishes. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you to Kru Cafe coffee for sponsoring this weeks episode. You can find them online at crukafe.com where you can currently get 50% off their discovery box. And they are also available at Waitrose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Tara Wigley Tara spent a decade working in publishing–before going to cookery school in Ireland. Where she spent 3 months with her twin toddlers and her dog. She has developed, tested, and writen recipes for Ottolenghi’s weekly column in the Guardian magazine and monthly New York Times’s columns, as well as for his cookbooks.  She is the co-author of the award-winning Falastin, - in-house writer of Team Ottolenghi, Yotam’s co-author on eight of the biggest food books, including the million-seller, Ottolenghi Simple.. and mother of teen twins and a tween. Her hilarious and often biting ditties on Instagram have won her a new audience which is interested more in her own voice; How to Butter Toast is a recipe book without recipes, a rhyming route through the how-tos of cooking which is both reassuring and entertaining.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have the queen of dinner parties and a woman who has the knack for making everything look so completely gorgeous – Skye Mcalpine. We recorded this in Skye’s kitchen, which if you follow her on Instagram you will know is just absolute heaven – a kitchen of dreams with a long flowing table, the prettiest plates and crockery piled high in a dresser and adorning the walls. She had cakes waiting for us, which were delicious of course. Her third book came out earlier this year – A Table Full of Love which explores the connection between food and love and Skye’s love language is definitely food which we explore in todays episode.  Really hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget you can find me on Instagram @desertislanddishes and sign up for the newsletter at www.dinnertonight.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thom Bateman started his career as a chef at the age of 17, after training at Buxton College and gaining a knowledge of the classical techniques. He quickly rose through the ranks and became head chef at the tender age of 18. In 2009 Thom decided to leave the culinary world behind him, in order to protect his mental health and get a change in scene, a chance to travel to learn more about the world but also himself. 10 years later, Thom started a food blog page known as Bboxfood reigniting a passion for cooking. Through this, he began working with big brands and before long, he had amassed a large and loyal following. That following now sits at close to 3.5 million followers. Heading back to his roots… Thom decided to open the ‘The Flintlock’. His critically acclaimed restaurant, it’s a family affair and It’s from here he creates all his recipes and videos. He’s appeared on The Great British Menu where he was invited to compete to represent Staffordshire. With all this success and yet, it seems like he’s only just getting started. Thank you to our sponsor Deliveroo for supporting us this season and helping us to bring the show to you every week. Don't forget to come and find us on Instagram and Tiktok @desertislanddishes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi I’m Margie Nomura and welcome to another episode of our Side Dish: The Dream Dinner Party. This is the mini episode where we invite a guest to tell us their dream dinner party.  We find out everything from their dream guest list to what they would serve as the menu and where it would be held. This week we welcome Poppy O’Toole to tell us all about her dream dinner party and her choice of guests and the venue are guaranteed to make this a very fun dinner party. Poppy O’Toole, also known as Poppy Cooks, is a Michelin-trained professional chef, who turned to tiktok upon losing her job in 2020 to fill some time. 3 years later, Poppy has amassed over 4 million followers on tiktok and her second cookbook is about to be released. She is a judge on Junior Masterchef and as the self-proclaimed Potato Queen, teaches her audience to make all sorts of potato delights as well as a whole host of other lovely recipes that aim to make cooking and food accessible to all audiences. There is no right or wrong way to host a dinner party, whether it’s a dream one or not. A casual take away with your very closest friends or a full on affair where you impress people you’ve never met. The term dinner party can be a bit loaded, but in my mind it encompasses every occasion and every way of doing it Subscribe to the newsletter Dinner Tonight here. Follow us on Instagram @desertislanddishes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Jane Dunn. You may know her through her recipes online as Jane’s Patisserie. She has amassed a following of over 1.3 million with her easy to follow but super indulgent recipes for all levels of bakers. From her large Instagram following, regular This Morning stints and record breaking stats, Jane’s hugely engaged following make her this generation’s go-to baker and have her being called the Mary Berry of the Instagram age.  Her debut book, Jane’s Patisserie, became the fastest-selling baking book of all time, selling 44,000 copies in its first 3 days after publication. Outselling some of the biggest names out there and she ddid this without the support of a TV show or a huge publicity drive. Pretty impressive stuff from the woman who found her way into baking after ending up in cookery school on a fluke.  Her blog attracts 8 million views a month and when asked the secret to her success, Jane has said "I think my selling point is I am a down-to-earth young woman and these recipes are accessible to anyone.” Her second book Jane’s Patisserie Celebrate! became an instant Number 1 bestseller and she’s just written her third which has just been released! Available from all good book stores.    Thank you so much for listening. Find us on instagram @desertislanddishes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nadiya Hussain comes back to tell us all about her Dream Dinner Party. Nadiya's episode of Desert Island Dishes was a few years ago now but if you haven’t listened to it you must – she’s so warm and open and it’s a lovely listen.  Her new book Nadiya’s Simple Spices is out now and is packed with beautiful breakfasts, lunches and extraordinary family food in the form of Bombay potatoes, crispy leek biryani and we will hear about some of the dishes in todays episode. I do hope you enjoyed todays episode and make sure you’re subscribed to catch all episodes of The Dream Dinner Party and Desert Island Dishes. Thank you so much for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.