DISHING UP
Chef and writer John GregorySmith turns up the heat
Can you remember when you first fell in love with cooking?
I started getting involved in cooking from an early age — eight, nine or ten — but it turned into a real fascination in my teenage years. I remember being in Ko Samui, Thailand, with a friend when I was 16 and tasting Tom Yum Goong soup for the first time. I thought, holy fuck, what is this salty, hot, sweet, sour explosion? It really got me into Asian cuisine – that rolled into experimenting with Indian food, then Middle Eastern.
When did you decide to pursue a culinary career?
It was a hobby at first. After doing a classical studies degree at university, I went into recruitment and was dreadful at it. I spent a lot of my time going to fake interviews and pondering life. One day I thought, this is not working out for me. I’ve got to find my groove. I love food, cookery and eating; there’s got to be something in there. I originally considered becoming a [ restaurant] chef.
How did that pan out?
My fabulous sister was pissed in a bar and saw Gordon
Ramsay. She walked up to him and said, “My brother wants a job. Can you give him one?”
Weirdly, he said yes and gave her his fax number. I faxed, “Hello, my drunk sister got me a job [ with you], is that OK?”, and a fax came back saying, “Absolutely fine.” I went into Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road, which is still Gordon’s flagship, and did two weeks’ work experience. It was incredible, but it made me realise that kitchen cheffing is not for me. I like talking too much!
You love Middle Eastern flavours, which leads nicely to your new cookbook, Saffron in the Souks. Tell us about the inspiration behind it.
I have always loved Lebanese food — all that vibrant meze and kebabs — and about 10 years ago, I decided to go and work as a chef in Beirut. I was advised to stay in the city, as it was volatile elsewhere in the country. A decade later, Lebanon is rocking, so I went back to do the book. I hired a car and drove around on my own, staying with locals to learn about the traditional cuisine and street food. I went everywhere, from Tripoli in the north [ of Libya], over to Beqaa Valley ( the wine region next to Syria), down
“My sister asked
Gordon Ramsay to give me a job”