EAT& DRINK
COMEDIAN JACK WHITEHALL TALKS TO LAURA MILLAR ABOUT CHARITYFOCUSED FOOD PROJECT FOODSLUT X PROVISIONERS
What’s FoodSlut all about?
It’s a blog that started during lockdown (foodslut.co.uk) when I was very bored, suddenly very out of work and looking for something to keep me entertained. I’d been sharing a lot of food pics on my Instagram but didn’t want to spam my regular followers so I set this up with my brother so people could hopefully enjoy this in a separate place.
The dishes do look like you might order them if you were on Death Row…
Ha, yes, there’s quite a lot of arbitrary ingredients on things that really don’t need to be there, like extra eggs, cheese, bacon… that might be linked to the fact that when I was cooking most of it, it was very much with the mentality that I wouldn’t need to be on camera for a very long time so could eat whatever I liked. But everyone’s allowed a cheat day – even The Rock has a cheat day! That said, 2020 is basically a cheat year – comfort food’s been in order.
Have you always been a foodie?
Definitely. But my dad is the most narrowminded person in the world when it comes to food. We do a travel show together and get to go to the most incredible places in the world with the most amazing cuisine. He takes a briefcase full of Gentleman’s Relish and Marmite, and won’t eat anything seasoned because he doesn’t like food that’s been ‘mucked around with’. Growing up, my mum was a wonderful cook but every time she tried to do anything different, he protested. She once put paprika on a chicken breast and he accused her of trying to poison him.
How did the collaboration come about?
During lockdown we started doing DIY burger kits with a friend to raise money for The Felix Project, which tackles two issues, one being people going hungry, the other being food waste. Provisioners, the restaurant at The Dixon hotel in south London [near Tower Bridge], heard about it and got in touch to do something with us. So we’ve got professional chefs involved and came up with a menu featuring high-end dirty burgers and the like.
Will you be serving guests?
Um, no. I was fired from a job as a waiter once because I’d just started doing stand-up and would go round the tables trying out my new material on the diners. The manager first asked me to stop, then to never return.
The FoodSlut x Provisioners collaboration runs weekends until October 18, provisioners.co.uk/ foodslut; thefelixproject.org