ALTHOUGH he's not vegetarian, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has always championed food that comes straight from the ground, his latest cookbook, River Cottage Much More Veg, taking up the baton.
But does the TV chef practice what he preaches? Does he eat lots of health-boosting veg off camera? We quizzed him to find out:
:: Your ultimate death-row, last-night-on-earth meal, would be...
Whatever is in the garden, I mean, I get I might not have access to the garden, but if we could move it away from the whole death row thing, just whatever's ripe. We had some incredible strawberries last weekend. My mother gave me a kind of quirky variety a few weeks ago and they're growing away from the rest, and I got to them and they were almost overripe, almost alcoholic with ripeness. But this time of year, courgettes and peas and green beans – they're all coming and it's just fantastic. So whatever's in the garden and maybe something from the sea, a nice mackerel on the barbecue.
:: The thing you still can't make is...
Funny enough, if I get my act together, I can cook rice, but I find if I'm lazy about cooking rice [I can't]. Of course, different types of rice need slightly different approaches. But I am a believer in rinse the rice well, then stir-fry it very gently with a bit of olive oil and get the amount of water right and then cook it. Don't cook it too fast, don't let it boil, or let it come to the boil and then steam it really gently with the lid on. So I'm getting to grips with rice, but wouldn't say I've nailed it.
:: Your favourite store cupboard essential has to be...
Whole almonds at the moment. I've got some on the go – there's a few recipes in the book that pick up on this – but I soak them in water overnight and they plump and when you eat them, they taste like fresh almonds. They double or triple in size and that's a little extra snack for breakfast, sprinkled on the muesli, or I sometimes just put a handful with an apple and eat those for my breakfast if I'm on the move.
:: The kitchen utensil you can't live without is...
I'm very very fond of my potato ricer. So it's not a masher; it's like a giant garlic crusher where you squeeze the potatoes through a little hole, but I use it for creamy delicious mash. It's also really useful for lightly squeezing big piles of steamed greens or spinach, just squeezing them to quickly get not all but most of the water out, so you can then toss them in a little bit of oil or dressing.
:: Preferably your eggs will be...
Well, I can't stand runny, gooey, gelatinous white. I do like a soft boiled egg but it's a four-and-a-half-minutes egg, not a three-minute egg. And a fried egg has to be basted with the fat in the pan or over easy. And scrambled eggs – soft but not too runny.
:: For dinner last night you ate...
Boiled beetroot, two smoked pouting (also known as Scotch haddock) out of the freezer – it's a member of the cod family. I caught these a few weeks ago. I poached them in a bit of milk and had them with new potatoes and beetroot from the garden, and the beetroot leaves and a little bit of broccoli.
:: And your signature dish is...
I make drop scones for the kids at the weekend.
:: River Cottage Much More Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, photography by Simon Wheeler, is published by Bloomsbury, priced £26.
