A few years ago, Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur and MasterChef: The Professionals judge Marcus Wareing decided to take a step back from the kitchen. Putting his apron aside, he pulled on his gardening gloves and picked up a spade.
On his smallholding in East Sussex, with the help of some of the UK’s best farmers, growers and gardeners, he embarked on a journey to better understand the land and its produce. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. The result of his discoveries is the BBC series Marcus Wareing’s Tales From A Kitchen Garden.
We sat down with Wareing, 53, ahead of the second season, which returns to BBC Two from Monday, August 28.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD?
MW: In the first series, I went around and learned a great deal from people. This time around I actually had my own questions and went and met people to go and find the answers. Bringing it back to the smallholding was the key.
Trying new things was really important. Rewilding, for example – I was always a clean cut gardener, I wanted things done properly, trimmed, straight lines, so on and so on – and then you go and meet people in the rewilding world and it’s a case of allowing things to develop and grow on their own. Let Mother Nature play its part and you play your part. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to compromise with what’s being grown. The mystery of growing – how things grow, the detail of it – I’ve not even scraped the surface yet.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND MOST CHALLENGING?
MW: The challenging thing is understanding why things don’t work: trying to understand why plants change or grow differently if you haven’t got the right soil; talking to a farmer who’s looking at sheep poo under a microscope to find out what microorganisms are in there, making sure that they’re eating the right food. And you just think to yourself, my god it’s mind-blowing, it’s a minefield…
HAVE YOU NOTICED A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU APPROACH COOKING?
MW: I value what I have, I value the food that we buy, I value waste. When it comes to cookery and the diversity of what I do, the humble things in life sometimes are the best things. As a chef you always think the very, very best of everything is the best choice and it’s not necessarily the case. It’s helped me identify the beauty in the simple things and the plant-based ingredients that you sometimes overlook. That has been crucially important for my own diversity and my own changing mind.
HAS THIS EXPERIENCE CHANGED YOU AS A PERSON?
MW: Oh gosh, yes. 100%. It’s definitely changed how I think of farming and smallholding and growing. It’s given me an undivided respect and attention to a whole world I only looked through. But also the key is it’s improved me as a person. And not to really look through people but actually look at them and find out what they’re doing and find a point of interest. That’s been the biggest change for me. And I really enjoy going into other people’s worlds, I find it fascinating and there’s so much to learn.
HOW HAS IT BEEN SPENDING MORE TIME OUT OF THE KITCHEN AND ON THE LAND?
MW: My life’s changed a lot. Ever since moving into MasterChef, my restaurant team has got better and become very independent. I love everything that I do but this is something I wanted to do. I’ve been in a kitchen since the age of 14. I’ve done my time standing over cooks. Now, I’m going out finding the next generation of chefs on MasterChef and Tales is all about me discovering new things and finding out what the fruit of our land is all about.
It’s helped me de-stress. It’s helped me realign. I’m 53 but I’m incredibly energised and sometimes you need to make these adjustments in life. I think if I was full-time in a kitchen now I’d be a very angry 53-year-old because I’m just obsessed with perfection and I think farming has allowed me to slightly get off that touch and realise that everything in life isn’t about being the best or being perfect. It’s about letting go.
HAS IT ENHANCED YOUR CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD AND YOUR AWARENESS OF OUR IMPACT AS HUMANS ON NATURE?
MW: It’s given me the time to reflect and to think of what I’ve done, how I’ve cooked, how I’ve worked, what I bought, where I bought it from. And it’s really making me look at things – I get upset with food out of season, especially if it’s in the fridge at home. I look at the environment with a much more open mind. I know the world is a changing place and the changing climate is huge. It’s bigger than us. And if I can just do my little bit on a show, then I’ve done my bit, and I think if we all do a little bit, it will be one big bit that will help.
DO YOU WITNESS CLIMATE CHANGE IN REAL TIME ON YOUR LAND?
MW: Everyone in the sun getting hot, drinking water and not being able to sleep at night – that’s nothing compared to what’s going on behind the scenes, what that’s doing to land, to food, to animals, to crops. It’s scary. And the knock-on effects will happen when we’re running out of food. And I think the scary thought processes are that our food will be grown underground one day.
HOW CAN EVERYONE – NO MATTER WHERE THEY LIVE – EAT BETTER FOOD?
MW: There are gardens out there. There are places where you can find wonky vegetables and cheaper ingredients, especially in the countryside and even in the inner cities. Find out what’s in your area, what’s local, where there’s a community fridge and just go out and take humbler ingredients, the cheaper ingredients, because they are out there. And just use your imagination.
