FO O D & D R I N K | M I G U E L B A R C L AY
How frugal foodie Miguel Barclay went from washing up in McDonald’s to an Instagram sensation The man behind the One Pound Meals books tells Katie Wright about his transition from kitchen hand to cook.
Miguel Barclay had to fake a dentist
I was the washer-upper when I first got
appointment to get out of work when he
there. I always found it really fascinating,
got his first big TV break.
because back then there weren’t really that many cookery shows on the telly. So I
After his Instagram account dedicated
learned in the restaurants by myself.”
to meals costing £1 or less went viral in 2016, Barclay was asked to appear on This
When his first book landed, Barclay had
Morning – so he bunked off from his nine-
around 30k Instagram followers. Now, after
to-five office job to whip up chicken katsu
quitting the day job to work full-time in
curry live on telly for Ruth Langsford and
food, that figure has risen to 290k, and says
Eamonn Holmes.
he knows instinctively what his “very strong core of followers” want from his books.
“I turned up with pots and pans in my backpack,” Barclay recalls on a video call
The latest in the series, Green One Pound
from his home in Camden, London, where
Meals, is focused on plant-based dishes –
he lives with wife Lucey and three-year-
but it isn’t entirely meat-free. Instead, you’ll
old son Charlie. “I didn’t know if they were
A B OV E
find recipes like chicken drumstick cassoulet
going to provide their own pots and pans,
Green One Pound Meals by Miguel Barclay, photography by Dan
and prawns and peas in tarragon sauce,
I’d never done it!”
Jones | PA Photo/Dan Jones
alongside aubergine parm burger and green veg toad in the hole. “Personally, I’m eating
He then dashed back to the office, where
less and less meat,” says Barclay. “And that’s
he would sneakily beaver away on his side
“I thought that I was going to create a
quite a big thing in the green space, not
hustle while pretending to work.
community of people,” he says. “I wanted
eating so much meat. It just felt right.”
to challenge people to cook meals for a “I used to sit at my desk and have a
pound, but it just ended up being people
Instead of the popular ‘meat-free Mondays’,
spreadsheet up. Obviously, if you’ve got a
just cooking my meals. I still don’t think to
he suggests flipping the concept and
spreadsheet up, everyone assumes you’re
this day I’ve had anyone submit their own
going veggie for six days a week: “Maybe
working. On the way home, I used to buy
one-pound meal idea.”
you want to save the meat for Sunday and have a roast. I think that’s definitely the
my food, whatever the spreadsheet said, With no formal training, the Surrey-born
way people are going, and I can definitely
chef, 35, says he picked up his culinary skills
recommend it. It’s a lot healthier as well.
A publisher offered Barclay a book deal
from having a “front-row seat” in professional
And it makes you feel great.”
after seeing his This Morning segment, and
kitchens during his teens and 20s.
then go home and cook it,” he remembers.
One of the more unusual plant-based
One Pound Meals was published in 2017. Now, the author has released seven titles
“I worked in golf clubs, hotels, McDonald’s,
dishes in the new book is made by frying
in the series – but cookbooks weren’t the
Pizza Express… Basically, I worked in them
shredded banana peel in spices and
plan back when he started posting budget-
all, lots and lots of kitchens. I was normally
ketchup until it looks and tastes like pulled
friendly recipes online.
just the washer-upper. Even at McDonald’s,
pork, an idea Barclay found on TikTok.
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