Sunday BEST
TOM KERRIDGE on how to whip up perfect lunches
TOM KERRIDGE’S SUNDAY LUNCH MON, 9PM & 9.30PM, FOOD NETWORK & DISCOVERY+ COOKERY
For those of us whose Sunday lunches never turn out quite as well as we’d hoped, help is at hand in the shape of Tom Kerridge. In his new Food Network series Tom Kerridge’s Sunday Lunch, the Michelinstarred chef shows us how to ensure every dish is perfect when it arrives on the table and, as well as making the traditional Sunday roast, he also demonstrates how to cook Indian, Mexican and Italian family feasts.
Here, Tom, 49, tells TV Times why Sunday lunches hold a special place in his heart...
What makes Sunday lunches so great?
Sunday is the only day I get off work, so it’s family time for me, and the one chance I get to spend a lot of time cooking. It’s nice when you take the dogs out or feed the ducks in the park, come home and there’s a really welcoming, evocative smell when you step through the door.
I loved filming, because every day felt like a
Sunday morning!
The series looks beyond traditional Sunday roasts, doesn’t it?
Yes, we’re including lots of different flavours and nods to Mexican and Italian food, as well as pork belly with fennel, barbecue chicken and Mediterranean style-food. So it’s not just meat, two veg and a bit of gravy.
My favourite is the slow-cooked beef brisket, Mexican-style – it’s delicious.
As a professional chef, do you still enjoy cooking for the family?
I love it! We’re fortunate because we have a nice kitchen where we can spend time together – and Sundays give us a chance to chill. Once the rugby season starts, my son Acey plays in the morning, so we put something in the oven, go to the match, then come back and eat.
Acey loves a bit of cooking. He’s only six, so his attention span isn’t massive, but he will mix things in a bowl and he’ll happily knock up an omelette with us, or pancakes. He loves it until he gets bored, then Lego becomes more important!
What kind of Sunday lunches did you enjoy as a child?
My mum would always cook on a Sunday morning while me and my brother went to play at the rugby club over the road. Often I’d come back with a load of waifs and strays from the team, and my mum always made sure we had enough roast potatoes, carrots and peas for them all. We weren’t eating joints of beef, it was things like turkey rolls, but the veg was amazing.
Angel Delight was one of my mum’s go-to desserts and it was perfect! I can’t get away with making that for the TV show, though, so we make simple things like meringues, chocolate cake and passion fruit pavlovas.
How do you take the stress out of preparing Sunday lunch?
Remember that you’ve got plenty of time. The dishes themselves are really quite easy to put together – even something like slowcooked shoulder of lamb over layers of potatoes. A lot of the work is in the slicing and prepping – the cooking takes care of itself.
How did you cope as a restaurateur during the pandemic?
It’s been very difficult. There’s an energy for people coming back right now, but I do think there’s a big problem coming up with the cost-of-living crisis. This summer feels like a last hurrah before we take stock of where our disposable income goes.
Hospitality is incredible at adapting – we just need to support it where we can. This crisis won’t be here for ever, and we’ll want restaurants to be open on the other side.