Ainsley HARRIOTT

We’re delighted to announce that Ainsley Harriott, one of the country’s favourite chefs for the past three decades, will be headlining the Solihull Food & Drink Festival 2023!

Ainsley headlined our 2021 Food Festival and was such a hit that we’ve asked him to come back again!

Recognised as one of the best food events in the region, we needed a superstar to take top billing and who better than the fantastic Ainsley Harriott?

Awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and the culinary arts, Ainsley will be bringing his fresh, fun, and energetic approach to food to Solihull town centre with cooking demos and a book signing.

We sat down with Ainsley for a quick chat ahead of his trip to Solihull so you can get to know more about the nation’s favourite…

We are so excited to have you. What originally inspired you to become a chef?

I think spending an entire Summer on Île de Ré in France and cooking with the family – it became an all-day long event. Going to markets daily to buy fresh ingredients, going fishing and catching fresh fish, then coming back and taking our time to enjoy the preparation of the meal and then sitting down, often for hours, to eat.

You’re having friends over for dinner tonight, what’s on the table?

Well, if I’ve been busy filming it’s normally a one pot wonder, something like a Creole Jambalaya which is wonderful. I normally have a bit of homemade ice cream in the fridge – so some vanilla ice cream with a very nice quick chocolate sauce, topped with some homemade, crunchy honeycomb, which I normally have in a tub in the cupboard. You sprinkle it on top - people just love it. Some beautiful white wine too!

What has the highlight of your career been so far?

Being able to share my knowledge with people through my TV programmes and obviously my M.B.E. I think my late mother would have been so, so proud of that. They are definitely two of the big highlights.

Who is your hero?

Well, if you’re talking football, it’s probably Ian Wright. If you’re talking cooking, it’s probably Graham Kerr – the Galloping Gourmet. He made me want to cook and he made me want to entertain people whilst cooking.

When you are not in the kitchen, where can you be found?

I’d probably be found down at the Emirates Stadium or on a tennis court - playing tennis or walking my dog by the River Dee – because he likes to have a bit of a swim. So do I – but only if I can feel the old terra firma underneath me whenever I drop my feet down!

What advice would you give to young people entering the hospitality industry?

You need dedication and passion, because you are working long, unsociable hours. If you think about when people go out to eat at lunchtime or perhaps in the evening, that’s when most of them are having their breaks – to recharge their batteries - you need to work hard and deliver what they need. So, feel passionate about doing that for them, once you do, what a fantastic industry to be in.

Where do you get your amazing energy from?!

I think life is energy – when you speak to people, you give them energy and then they respond and give you energy back. People are not aware that if you have that ability – you plug each other in; you re-charge each other. So, it’s a people thing and not everybody has it, but it’s a gift that someone’s given me – the powers that be.

We’ve got an amazing line-up of chefs that will be demonstrating their skills in the live demo kitchen. All demos are free to watch so come along and pick up some tips from the very best!

After almost three decades as one of the country’s favourite TV chefs, Ainsley Harriott has become something of a national institution. In 2020 he was delighted to be awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and the culinary arts. Best known for his twenty-one series’ of Ready, Steady, Cook, and with many solo primetime cooking series under his belt, he has become the master of fresh, fun, accessible cuisine.

Ainsley trained at Westminster College before a career in London’s top hotels and restaurants – and with his years of experience working in professional kitchens, he has developed a deep understanding of his craft. In the early 1990s Ainsley was invited to become resident chef on BBC TV’s Good Morning With Anne And Nick.

This in turn led to Ready, Steady, Cook and his TV career took off. Series include Ainsley’s Barbeque Bible, Ainsley’s

2023

Meals in Minutes, Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food, Len and Ainsley’s Big Food Adventure, the hit ITV series Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen and Ainsley’s Mediterranean Cookbook. Ainsley has also hosted The Ainsley Harriott Show and Ready Set Cook for the US, Off The Menu for South Africa Television and in 2019 Ainsley’s Market Menu for SBS Australia.

He is also a best-selling author and has sold over two million books worldwide. Titles include Ainsley’s Barbecue Bible, the Meals in Minutes franchise, Friends and Family, Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen and his latest Ainsley’s Mediterranean Cookbook.

Ainsley has taken the amazing flavours he’s discovered on his world travels and used them to create great-tasting food for busy people. Over the past 15 years the Ainsley Harriott food range has gone from strength to strength and is a familiar sight in UK and Australian supermarkets – bringing world flavour to your dinner table with quick, easy and delicious meal solutions.