CELEBRITY chef and seafood aficionado Rick Stein is often seen in his TV series eating an enviable array of food, with a cold glass of white on the side. So, on the release of his latest cookbook, Rick Stein's Secret France, we asked him about his his drinks repertoire..
:: What's your desert island drink?
Just to dispel any blues, I'd go for a negroni.
:: Soft drinks: diet or full fat?
Full fat.
:: How do you take your tea?
English breakfast, Yorkshire tea with milk.
:: Still or sparkling or tap?
Sparkling. I just find tap water and still really boring I'm afraid, and I love sparkling water.
:: Are you fussy about your ice?
I am not fond of – going back to negronis – the trend for having a big ice cube in your glass. It doesn't work. I like ordinary ice, thanks. It makes nice clinking noises as you stir it round with your cocktail stirrer.
:: What's the cocktail you make when friends come round?
I don't, really. I tend to just make gin and tonics or vodka tonics – but I find the gin craze bloody confusing. I do appreciate there are some lovely gins out there. I think it's quite fun.
:: Any booze you just can't stand?
I can't stand sweetener in drinks. It's a real sadness that so many hitherto lovely sweetened drinks, like San Pellegrino, now have sweetener in them. I just can't stand the taste, and I wonder how healthy they are ultimately.
:: What's your beer of choice?
Now there you're talking! Ha ha! My favourite is St Austell Brewery in Cornwall's Trelawny. It's only 3.8 per cent – you call it a session beer. And in Australia [where Stein runs restaurants and spends much of his time], Victoria Bitter for the same reason. It's a not-too-strong draught beer. If bottled, I tend to just drink Peroni or Corona, because I like the lime in Mexican beer – memories of Mexico for me.
:: What did you first get drunk on?
Actually with my dad on St Austell beer, ha ha – I must have been about 16. I'd had a couple of pints in the pub and I just remember stumbling out. A rite of passage, really.
:: If money was no option, what would you drink?
Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne, because I love white burgundy.
:: Rick Stein's Secret France by Rick Stein, photography by James Murphy, is published by BBC Books, priced £26.
