Russell Norman, restaurateur, writer and television presenter
The cookbook that has most influenced your cooking
The first River Cafe book
The most memorable food you ate in childhood
Sausage pie. Once a week my mother would buy pork sausage meat from the mobile butcher, spice it with white pepper, make a dense, greasy pastry and bake a ‘sausage pie’ served with peas and gravy. I loved it
Your favourite food shop
I Camisa & Son in Soho
The most memorable meal in film/literature/painting
The omelette Stanley Tucci makes at the end of the Nineties movie Big Night
Your worst kitchen disaster
Realising you’ve run out of Parmesan
The first thing you taught your children to cook/ or were taught yourself
Me: Chocolate Cornflake cakes. My children: how to make bread
What would you like your final meal to be?
Oysters, spaghetti vongole, April Bloomfield’s burger and a pot of Yorkshire tea
What is your secret talent [in or out of the kitchen]?
I’m an excellent cocktail bartender
What did you eat for breakfast today?
An espresso AND a cup of tea
Which seasonal food do you most look forward to?
Spring is hard to beat
Over-rated/ under-rated food/seasoning/gadget
Fennel seeds, celery seeds, pink peppercorns and Dijon mustard are ingredients I use a lot but are underrated. I don’t see the point of bread making machines. What’s wrong with your hands and a large bowl?
Russell Norman’s restaurant, Polpo, is at 41 Beak Street Soho, London W1 www.polpo.co.uk. Russell is appearing at this year’s Port Eliot Festival, www.porteliotfestival.com/
