PETER SAWKINS
Winner of The Great British Bake Off 2020
What books did you read in 2022?
On the same day that my new book was released, Giuseppe Dell’anno (who won The Great British Bake Off last year) and Rahul Mandal (who is also a former winner of the show), released their books. [Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes and Showstopping Cakes: Mastering the Art and Science of Baking,
respectively]. It was really nice to be able to share that time together, and to share that moment.
Rahul’s is all about decoration and design. I’ve got to know him and his work, and the book shows his work so truly. Giuseppe’s is all about
Italian baking and introduces you to his family’s time with baking. His dad and a lot of his family have worked in bakeries in Italy and it’s authentically him.
Stanley Tucci’s Taste
book is on my shelf too. I think it’s next in line after Jay Rayner’s My Last Supper, which has been out for quite a while now. I think that Stanley is an absolutely wonderful man to listen to and he’s very thoughtful in everything that he does. His connection to his Italian heritage and food is a lovely story, described in a way that makes you connect with it.
What was the best box set or TV series that you watched in 2022?
TV shows that I keep up with are The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing. I look forward to them every year because they are the most kind, gentle, entertaining, witty shows.
I also love a good sports documentary. The reason I got Netflix was to watch The Last Dance about Michael Jordan. I’m a big basketball and NBA fan.
Also on Netflix, they have a series called The Playbook where they talk to a sports coach. The tagline is ‘A coach’s rules for life’, so you can hear about their coaching style, their ethos, what they bring to the team, and how they organise and lead the team. The most fun thing was the fact that university was a bit more normal again. At the start of the year we had loads of badminton competitions and with my university team I went down to the British University Championships in Sheffield and up to Aberdeen for the Scottish University Champs.
It’s just that feeling of being back travelling with my team, who are my best friends, and competing on the court, meeting all the people from other universities, and being back in that space. That’s really my escape and my complete passion outside of baking and work, so to be able to go back and do that fully was so much fun. I hadn’t been overseas since coming to university so it had been four and a bit years since I’d been abroad. But we went to the south of Spain for a road trip and that was my first time there.
We went to Marrakech as well which was a very interesting place. We were lucky – one of my flatmates actually enjoys driving in foreign countries so we had someone driving about and we could see lots of different sites which really made the trip extra special.
I can’t think of anything worse than driving on the other side of the road. I’m bad enough navigating a new city in the UK. Driving around Huddersfield gives me the heebie-jeebies! I’ll be graduating from university (provided everything goes okay) this year, and I’m keen to make a move away from Edinburgh. I love the city so much, but in terms of the work that I’m doing now, London seems to be calling my name and it has already taken a lot of my university pals who have gone there for grad jobs. I think 2023 will be a very exciting year full of changes and I’m excited to put myself into a completely new situation.
The plan is to go down the baking route for at least two years. I’m having a lot of fun. I have this desire to go at it fully and really give it a shot. To have the opportunity to focus on this side of my career with a bit more clarity, I’m really excited to do that.
Peter’s new book, ‘Peter’s Baking Party’ is out now. Black & White, RRP £20