Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
The DEFINITE ARTICLE
We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions – and only accept THE definitive answer. This week it’s chef and television presenter Rick Stein
The prized possession you value above all others…
My waterproof Sony MP3 headphones I use while swimming, which I do most days at a pool near my home in west London or in the sea in Cornwall. I listen to music or podcasts like Desert Island Discs.
The biggest regret you wish you could amend…
Not going to Miami with my wife Sas [Sarah] and my stepkids – Zach, 19, and Olivia, 17 – last year because I was writing a book. They went to Joe’s Stone Crab restaurant, which I’ve wanted to go to for years.
The book that holds an everlasting resonance…
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, set in 19th-century Sicily. It’s so stylish and evocative – I find new riches each time I read it.
The priority activity if you were the Invisible Man for a day… I’d
wander around my restaurants and listen to what people are really saying about the food.
The person who has influenced you most…
Elizabeth David, the cookery writer from the 1950s and 60s. Her books about France and Italy made me want to cook. Right: Bruce Springsteen. Above right: marshmallows.
Far right: Cape Kidnappers, Hawke’s Bay
The pet hate that makes your hackles rise...
Marshmallows! I have an aversion to them because of all that gelatin and their texture. They’re gross.
The figure from history for whom you’d most like to buy a pie and a pint… Lord
Byron. He had a club foot, yet swam the Hellespont [a strait in Turkey separating Europe from Asia, now known as the Dardanelles]. I’d like to know how he did it.
The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a child…
Don’t panic. Inevitably you’ll come across moments when you think you can’t cope, but keep going, you will get through it.
The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity…
DIY. I find it therapeutic to focus my attention on something relatively simple. I actually enjoy looking at tools in Homebase.
The treasured item you lost and wish you could have again…
Perfect vision in my right eye. I picked up a weird virus when I was 16 and it left me very short-sighted in that eye.
The song that means most to you…
Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. It takes me back to my younger years when I had a sense of freedom.
The film you can watch time and time again…
Withnail And I. Richard E Grant is superb in it and I adore his manic behaviour.
The unending quest that drives you on…
To find the perfect restaurant with absolutely no faults.
The poem that touches your soul…
The Waste Land by TS Eliot. It has such scope and depth. The more you read it, the more you understand.
The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could erase…
That I’m an extrovert because I do TV. I’m actually really introverted and shy and find it hard to talk to people at parties.
The event that altered the course of your life and character…
Opening The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow with my ex-wife Jill in 1975. It was the foundation for everything I’ve done since.
The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it…
I would reverse Brexit. I love being part of Europe and have a real emotional problem with the thought of leaving.
The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions...
I’d start off with a swim in the sea at Trevose Head, Cornwall. Breakfast would be scrambled eggs and bacon with coffee at The Wolseley, London. Then I’d go to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, which has the most fabulous art collection. I’d have lunch at La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul de Vence, South of France, with all the family, including my sons Ed, 37, Jack, 35, and Charles, 31 [children with his first wife, Jill]. I’d have Loup de Mer poché – that’s poached sea bass – and mousseline sauce with Meursault wine, followed by fraises du bois [wild strawberries]. Later, I’d go for a walk at Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, to see the bird colony. I’d then go for a winter’s swim in the Secret Lagoon, Iceland. I went there once and it was -10°C outside, but 40°C in the water. After that I’d go for a beer in a rough old bar I know in Bologna, Italy, before heading to my holiday home at Mollymook in Australia. I’d have a bunch of friends round and barbecue prawns and Blue Eye fish steaks, with salad and mayonnaise. I’d also have a few cold bottles of VB [Victoria Bitter] Aussie beer.
The happiest moment you will cherish forever…
The night I met Sas, who’s Australian, when I was a judge at an event at a restaurant in Brisbane in 1997. We got married in 2011.
The temptation you wish you could resist…
Aussie Cadbury Caramello bars – I love the softness of the centre. I always hope my wife hasn’t left any in the fridge because I eat the lot.
The saddest time that shook your world…
When my sister Janey died in 1984 from breast cancer aged 47. I fell apart emotionally and everything was black for years.
The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you…
To paint. I love art and I think I have the right brain to do it, but I’ve never learnt. I’m 69, so I’d better get started.
The philosophy that underpins your life…
Be kind – it’s important to think of others.
The order of service at your funeral…
Sas is 20 years younger than me, so I’ll leave it up to her. I’ve already given her a couple of hymns I’d like.
The way you want to be remembered…
As a happy cook.
The Plug…
Rick Stein’s Long Weekends is published by BBC Books, £25, and the new series is on BBC2 later this autumn.
As told to Rob McGibbon