The Sunday Post (Newcastle)

Oh, Mamma Mia! Or how childhood summer holidays made an adopted Italian out of me

Chef shares mum’s love of classic cuisine

- WORDS ALICE HINDS

While filled with nostalgia and warmth, the dishes of our childhood are rarely the type of fare you would expect to inspire a career in fine dining, punctuated by Michelin Stars and rave reviews.

But the early food memories that sparked Theo Randall’s passion for cooking were filled with such simple yet deliciousl­y fresh ingredient­s, it’s no wonder he believes he was “destined” to become a chef.

Each summer, his family would drive from their home in England to France and then Italy, where Theo says he had his first taste of the authentic style of cooking that led him to become one of the UK’s most passionate advocates for Italian cuisine.

“Every year we would travel by car, and we would go camping so we’d have this enormous trailer attached to the back,” explained Theo, 54, whose face will be familiar to fans of cooking shows including Saturday Kitchen, MasterChef, and My Kitchen Rules.

“On the way out, we were reasonably comfortabl­e, but on the way back we had our knees to our chins because my dad had packed the car with ingredient­s and supplies. My mum was obsessed with olive oil, too, so she would buy 20 litres of the stuff.And then there was the wine – I mean, my God there was cases and cases of wine!”

He added with a laugh:“I don’t know how we got through customs.We were always well over the limit, I can guaranteed that.”

It was on these holidays, in between stocking up the larder back home, that Theo says he became enamoured with Italian culture, and he can still remember the sights, sounds and tastes of bustling outdoor markets.

His amore with all things Italiano led him to pursue a life in front of the pass, working as head chef at the River Café for 15 years before launching his first restaurant, Theo Randall at the Interconti­nental, in 2006. In between services, the top chef has also written two cookbooks, Pasta and My Simple Italian, but it was his third, released last month, that saw him return to his youth, which was filled with “simple food made using exceptiona­l produce”.

The new release, The Italian Deli Cookbook, is filled with Theo’s favourite ingredient­s, and features such Italian classics as asparagus and sugar snap pea risotto, melanzane parmigiana (his personal favourite, if he had to choose) and decadent tiramisù.

He explained: “I remember those moments very well and they’ve stuck with me.And it hasn’t just been my childhood, either. I’ve been going to Italy every year since day dot.

“I always say I haven’t got an Italian bone in my body, but I have an Italian soul. That was one of the reasons for writing the book – I’m just still so obsessed with fresh ingredient­s.”

And while olives, juicy tomatoes, fresh oregano and wood wired pizza may have been Theo’s first foray into food, his continued drive and passion was fuelled a lot closer to home.

He added with a smile: “I really think

I was destined to be a chef. From the age of about eight or nine I was making a little menu and taking sandwiches to my parents in the garden.

“My mum is a really good cook. She would bake bread two days a week, and I would go to school with homemade bread and Gorgonzola sandwiches, when everyone else had plastic bread with mustard and ham. Although I would go to the corner shop and buy a packet of

crisps on the way to school so I didn’t look too weird. She was brilliant at preserves and things, too.We had this cellar that was just full of things like jams and pickled walnuts, and she’d even make elderflowe­r cordial. It was all very frugal – but she is a Scot so that’s the better side of me.”

The Italian Deli Cookbook by Theo Randall (Quadrille, £27) is out now

 ??  ?? ● TV favourite Theo Randall, author of The Italian Deli Cookbook, lauds exceptiona­l produce
● TV favourite Theo Randall, author of The Italian Deli Cookbook, lauds exceptiona­l produce
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom