A splash of Jean-christophe
to throw their first dinner party?
A dessert never fails to impress. There is something about sweet that our body craves.
Extra-terrestrials land on Earth and demand one good meal or they destroy our planet. What do you make in order to save humankind?
I would try and make anything that they are willing to eat, so that they can just leave us in peace.
WHO DOES THE cooking in a chef ’s household? It’s an intriguing proposition. You’re slaving over a hot stove all day for work; arriving home do you want to continue? If it were us, we’d say ‘only on special occasions’ otherwise it’d be a cheeky Deliveroo or perhaps beans on toast at a push. When it comes to the Novelli household, Michelinstarred French master chef Jean-christophe says he’s grateful for anything to eat as long as he hasn’t had to make it.
“The thing I enjoy the most is when someone cooks for me,” Novelli said when we called him up at home in England this week. “Even just a sandwich, I just appreciate when someone cooks for me because I’m always cooking for people. I just came back from Greece and my wife had kept some Sunday roast leftovers for me and I absolutely adored it.”
Beginning his career at the age of fourteen as a baker in his home town of Arras, Northern
France before becoming Private Head Chef to Elie de Rothschild and his son Nathanial in Paris at just 19 years of age, Novelli moved to the UK in 1983 and worked in several well-known establishments including The Chewton Glen. His life changed completely in 1989 when Novelli was invited by Keith Floyd to take charge of The Maltsters, leading to his move to the Gordonton Mill in Hampshire where he won his first Michelin star after only one year. In 1994 Jean Christophe was offered the position of head chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Park Lane where another Michelin star was almost immediately awarded. Countless restaurant openings, a flourishing TV career, a successful cookery school and four children have marked the subsequent years, but we wondered what the catalyst to embark on a life in food may have been.
“I chose this career because I love food,” Novelli said. “My mum was a superb cook, which is why I became a cook. Then, when I was a bit older my then girlfriend taught me how to cook in a different way. It just went from there.”
Moving to Britain in his early twenties showed a dedication to advance his career in a land that, at the time, did not have the best reputation in culinary circles – a status Novelli believes was always unfairly leveled at a country, which he says produces “far more than fish and chips.”
“It’s like saying all French people love snails and frogs’ legs. I have never seen anyone in my family eat snails or frogs. So England does not have bad food.
“I came to the UK because I love it. I adore it. There is nothing like the cuisine in London anywhere in the world – even Paris or New York. I have been all across Britain and the produce is beautiful. You can hardly buy anything French anymore, even cheese! It is all locally made.”
What is your opinion on the UAE’S food scene?
I have been coming to the UAE for 30 years now. I’ve seen a massive change away from frozen goods to fresh stuff right there. Fresh fish is a particular enjoyment.