In a recent podcast episode, celebrity chef James Martin opened up about his culinary origins and explained why he “didn’t give a s***” when he received some savage criticism
James Martin has explained why he “didn’t give a s***” when he received criticism over what was described as the “disappointing” volume of work he produced as a boy. In a recent episode of Good Housekeeping UK’s My Life in a Biscuit Tin podcast, in which host Liz Moseley invites guests to stash various personal items in a metaphorical biscuit tin, James opened up about his culinary origins.
His first item was a small stack of school exercise books from his childhood, including his “most treasured possession”, a book from his primary school, around the time he started his career in the kitchen as a pot washer aged nine.
James explained that he worked at the Castle Howard estate in North Yorkshire, and once he found himself in the kitchen, he “felt it was my home.” However, as he continued with his schooling, he evidently left one person feeling somewhat disappointed.
Liz proceeded to read a comment from his exercise book from 1983, when James, known for such shows as James Martin’s Saturday Morning, James Martin’s United Cakes of America and The Box, was 11 years old.
In the author’s words, she told the podcast: “James has often displayed enthusiasm for various projects, but at the end of the day, the amount of work forthcoming has been disappointing.”
She noted that the comments were “brutal” and asked the celebrity chef if he had been “sad”, to which he replied on the podcast: “Not really; I didn’t give a s***, to be honest with you.”
Laughing, he continued: “But I didn’t. I didn’t; I’m sorry to ask. I didn’t because I just knew I want… that’s what I wanted to do, I knew from the age of nine that hospitality was going to be my thing.”
In other news, James recently got in the festive spirit on ITV’s This Morning by sharing the recipe for a simple three-ingredient gravy for our Christmas dinners, urging people to buy ready-made stock before it sells out.
James said: “It’s veal stock or chicken stock – that’s what you want. You can’t really make it out of turkey stock, because it’s not gonna taste the same.”
James poured red wine into a saucepan (you will need roughly half a bottle if you’re having 10 guests). He added: “Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, in the pan. Then you put these stocks in there, about a litre and a half of this stock, so a decent amount.”
He then advised adding a portion of butter (about a third of a block) prior to gently reducing it. James added: “Now, the butter will sit on the top. When the sauce is ready, it all emulsifies into a gravy, into a classic chef-style jus or a sauce.”
James places the cooled gravy into ice cube trays, freezes it, and later uses two cubes per guest (heating it up in a pan).
Source: Mirror
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