TOM KERRIDGE & MICHEL ROUX

Chefs take a unique angle to healthy eating

In the kitchens of Europe’s finest restaurants, healthy eating is a term rarely used and, when it is, is likely to be scoffed at, in the much the same way as might a batch of overcooked rice, or a souffle that collapses.

By Matt Lee

TOM KERRIDGE

If anyone can dumb down the craft, ingenuity and occasional arrogance of the much-vaunted Michelin star, it’s Tom Kerridge.

Kerridge has never subscribed to the pomposity of fine dining, and his rebellion against food arrogance continues at a pace, despite his eating habits having changed considerably in the shedding of over 11st in weight since bursting onto the food scene 15 years ago.

“Healthy eating was never a big thing for me – I was passionate about eating food, not stopping myself from enjoying it!” he begins.

“However I understand exactly the value and the need to look at what we eat and to adjust habits. I did that primarily for my own benefit, but when you are in a kitchen you do feel you have something of a responsibility towards those you are feeding in the restaurant.”

Kerridge admits hitting 40 proved a turning point. He underwent a huge life reflection in which he assessed where he’d gone, what he’d done and where he was to go in the future. The owner of the two-Michelinstarred gastropub The Hand and Flowers, 20 miles west of London, concluded that from a health point of view he wasn’t in a great place, and I needed to change and adapt. “I don’t feel poor health was having an effect on my life and personality, but it was something I needed to recognise in myself and change for the better.”

What Kerridge decided on was a low-carb diet regime that resulted in over 11st of weight lost to date. This ‘Dopamine Diet’, as he terms it, was crafted specially to offer the chance to get fit while still eating food tasted fantastic.

“Healthy eating can often just be about sensible substituting of one thing for another. It can be about focusing on driving flavours of food forward – that is really important to me, so it has helped reinforce everything I already know. People think healthy eating means stripping out a lot of the hearty, good stuff from food, but if you are clever and selective there can still be a lot in there that’s exciting – food that is very protein-led, for instance… so the roasts are still there, the stews are still there, and curries – that spicing of dishes – is all still there.”

Indeed, when it comes to curries, Kerridge is effusive, and the hotter, the better. He explains this is because when we eat spicy chillies our brains are tricked by the heat into releasing endorphins, which results in a natural high. His curry dishes make use of homemade sauces stuffed full of his favourite spices – curry leaves, turmeric, paprika and his secret ingredient, vinegar. “The acidity of the vinegar complements the spice fantastically,” he reveals. “And spices are so good for us!

“To those wanting to still sample the buzz of healthy eating, but who are also keen to explore vegetables, good carbs and even low-fat, grilled meat, a curry may be the best way to kickstart your healthy food revolution.”

MICHEL ROUX

Jamie Oliver’s big break as a culinary master came in 1997 BBC documentary River Cafe – the then 22-year-old sparring as a sous chef amidst the chaos of one of the River Thames’ most seductive locations.

Oliver quickly flew the nest on the back of his phenomenally successful Naked Chef series, going on to influence a multi-generation swoop of food lovers whilst quietly amassing a £250million fortune in the process.

The decorated chef takes it all in his stride, yet in growing a chain of restaurants and witnessing his children’s school-cooked lunches, the now 46-year-old found himself closely involved in diet and health.

“In 2005 I agreed to produce a four-part documentary called Jamie’s School Dinners. There was a backdrop of fearsome dinner ladies, outraged students and significant funding cuts, but ultimately it was all about highlighting the dangerous amount of processed food being fed to Britain’s schoolkids… both in the schools and outside of them. And this wasn’t just a British movement, it was global.

“I guess I should have predicted it would go viral,” he says, “and perhaps it always should have anyway. It began talking about school dinners and how they were fundamental to our kids’ physical and mental wellbeing in daylight hours, but it enlarged into this bigger conversation about lunches in general and all the hidden nasties present in so much of what we give our kids.

“Like most things I take on, they begin as one little idea and soon morph into something I can’t really pull back in,” he laughs.

Jamie’s School Dinners eventually led to a government-instigated overhaul of cafeteria menus across Britain which sought to replace processed and fried foods with healthier homecooked alternatives.

It has gone on to kickstart called Jamie’s Food Revolution, which states its mission as to ‘provoke debate and inspire real, meaningful, positive change in the way our children access, consume and understand food’.

“I wanted to do it because even though I employed food nutritionists and I knew a lot myself through experience, I wanted to actually have the proper knowledge,” he explains.

Oliver’s work subsequently earned him an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of General Practitioners and the esteemed TED Prize, which grants the winner US$100,000 to put towards their ‘wish to change the world’, which he has stated as to help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity’.

There have been leaps and bounds made in the fight against child obesity, and Oliver’s charities continue the good work in raising awareness of the more hidden, unreported aspects of this worldwide epidemic.

“Unfortunately, Covid has pulled some back towards convenience – people are going for burgers over steaks; for ready meals over cooking from scratch, because time is tight, as is money.

“Ultimately though, healthy eating only ever starts at home, and it’s a 24/7 battle of balance and perspective. It’s a battle we undertake ourselves, and for our children, but it can be one.

“We may find our perception of tasty over healthy goes back a little towards fatty foods with the way the world is today, certainly if it means food costs less but still ticks the box in terms of flavour. The challenge is there, however, for making salad or vegetables or a lower grade piece of meat as flavoursome as possible using ‘new’ ingredients, and that should be something that excites any chef, professional or amateur.

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