Tom Kerridge has spoken frankly about his rival TV chefs as he is set to reunite with James Martin on Saturday Kitchen
There has been a veritable explosion of TV chefs in the past few decades. The very first BBC cookery show aired almost 90 years ago, in 1937, but the real era of the celebrity chef began, according to Tom Kerridge, with the effortlessly charismatic Keith Floyd in the 1980s.
And today, Tom adds, there are countless TV cooks, each with their own distinctive niche. Ahead of his appearance on James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen, the famed owner of The Hand & Flowers in Buckinghamshire has shared his opinion on some of his peers.
Appearing on Red Richardson’s podcast, Tom told the comedian that he has huge respect for James Martin: “Everyone who does cooking on television has got their own different skill set for different reasons.
“Like James Martin is so good live and he’s brilliant at that, holding a conversation, listening and cooking. He’s a really good cook as well.”
There have certainly been one or two disagreements between the two in the past. Back in 2014, during a conversation with the late Michael Parkinson, James took a swipe at fellow chef Tom’s approach to making Yorkshire puddings, after the Great British Menu judge appeared on Chris Evans’ radio programme to discuss the beloved dish.
On Parky’s Top Table, James remarked: “Chris Evans was on the radio going on and on about a Yorkshire pudding and how to make it.
“Funnily enough, he actually got two chefs who were from as far south of Yorkshire as you possibly can get, the great Tom Kerridge, who I know and love, but I was listening to it on the radio, and I was listening to Tom Kerridge going on and on about consommé and stuff with a Yorkshire pudding.
“I’m listening to this in the shower, getting more and more annoyed. Next minute you had Mark Sargeant on, who couldn’t get any further south or his restaurant would be in the ocean, who runs a restaurant way down south going on about Yorkshire pudding.
“I went, ‘Why haven’t you got a guy on about Yorkshire pudding?’ So I picked up the phone and ranted and raved that my grandmother makes the best Yorkshire pudding.”
James outlined his beloved nan’s recipe, which involves using a significantly higher number of eggs than most chefs would recommend.
He says she would routinely use eight eggs, 8oz of flour and a pint of milk to produce a single batch.
He advises “throwing in” the flour and eggs before whisking them together, insisting the mixture should “always” be prepared by hand rather than with a machine, as it “toughens up the gluten” and prevents them from rising properly.
Once combined, he adds full-fat milk and continues to mix the batter. James then leaves it to rest, placing it in the fridge the evening before cooking.
James emphasises the importance of using beef dripping in the tins rather than duck fat or goose fat. The chef also revealed his “golden rule” of opening the oven door for “two seconds” after 20 minutes to “get rid of the steam”.
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