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Former private chef turned food columnist, bestselling cookbook author, real food activist and sustainability champion Melissa Hemsley chats to us ahead of Blenheim Palace Food Festival, 24th to 26th May
Q. Hello Melissa! What’s your first food memory? “Sitting in my nappy with bare legs on a scratchy carpet in the living room of our army accommodation (Dad was in the Army) with my mum peeling prawns that she’d simply boiled. She was dipping them in vinegar and then using her fingers, grabbing a bit of hot white rice and then hand-feeding me these perfect bite-sized mouthfuls of prawn and rice. I also remember vividly going to a little farm with some little friends and eating fish paste sandwiches and then banana sandwiches for pudding!”
Q. What’s the one first step you think families can take to “unprocessing” their diet? “One of my tips that I find helpful (and other people tell me they in turn found useful) is, when you’re at the shops or doing an online shop, challenge yourself to take one ultra-processed food out of the shopping basket and instead add one more real food or whole food. For example, a bag of frozen green beans, a tin of lentils, a jar of dried herbs or spices… so by the end of the year, you’ve bought 52 less ultra-processed food and have 52 more whole foods to eat! Find loads more tips and hacks in my Sunday Times bestselling cookbook Real Healthy.”
Q. Congratulations on becoming a mum! What are the most surprising & rewarding lessons so far?
“Thank you! Our little girl Summer turns two just after the food festival. She loved eating everything at first. Now at mealtimes she really wants to run around so mealtimes are definitely a little bit more challenging! One thing she loves is we have fridge magnets of lots and lots of types of fruit and veg and she can name them all which she loves doing. So I think that really helps her get new things when we put food down on the table. I’m in awe of all parents and caregivers and I think I was aware how tricky it was going to be to work and parent at the same time but the reality is, it’s even harder than I expected! I really struggle – I know similar for lots of families – to find the time to work as much as I’d like to and I think now she’s almost two, I have realised that I have to sadly say ‘no thank you’ to a lot more things than I’d like, so I’m not running ragged and to protect my mental health and physical health. I struggle with that but, as we all know, there are never enough hours in the day.”
Q. How do you take good care of your mental health? “I love walking and I can’t drive so both factors get me walking a lot! Summer and I like to walk as much as possible to activities in the playground and friends houses and i walk as much as i can to work appointments but I also try and have a 45-minute walk by myself every day which is my ideal type of meditation. My mantra is ‘if in doubt, walk it out’ and I really feel the difference if I haven’t had a chance to have a big walk a day. Eating well really supports my mental health especially when I’m busy. I count on meal prepping and batch cooking brackets which I’m sure we’ll talk about at my demo at the festival! I really count on the freezer and I think cooking yourself an extra batch of something you love that’s a comfort food and having it in the freezer is such a lovely gift to yourself for those times when you know you’re gonna be really busy or if as often happens you get run-down and then you need something nourishing and uplifting and home-cooked.”
Q. Who was your foodie hero growing up? “I loved watching Ready Steady Cook after school and my mum is definitely a food hero for me. She has always had this knack – born out of resourcefulness – for being able to create a delicious meal out of very little and quickly too. I think being able to flexibly come up with a meal is key which I think is the most important part of learning to cook, rather than strictly following a recipe. And I think Ready Steady Cook on the BBC was so good at that it made cooking fun and unintimidating. I would love to see more shows like that where it’s less competitive and more celebratory, showing quick thrifty cooking tips that busy people need.”
Q. We’re all doing our best to make ends meet. What is your top tip for stretching the budget? “Even though I love writing cookbooks I don’t know if the world needs more and more cookbooks! I think we need more and more recipe templates and throw together ideas and meals plans and emergency pull together bases (which I love sharing) and what I like to do each week is to make three things – a soup, a frittata, and a fruit bowl cake. The soup is brilliant because you can take it in a flask if you’re on the move – it’s a fab way of using up every day odds and ends; half an onion, the last stick of celery, any less-than-fresh herbs and herb stems any salad items that are a little bit wilty like half a bag of rocket and then for satisfaction (as soups need to be satisfying) I cook all that down and then blitz it up with a tin of cooked white beans which makes it all creamy and hearty and we all know beans are really good for us. Sometimes I blitz in some frozen peas for sweetness too and then have it with croutons or sprinkle some feta cheese then for a frittata… A frittata is an amazing way of using up both cooked veg and raw veg, using up Sunday leftover roasted veg or I use a 50% mix of whisked eggs and 50% equal volume of uncooked veg like grated carrots, grated courgettes and some grated cheese. Then you can either put the batter into muffin trays for breakfast muffins or often snack frittata on the go or make one big tray and slice up wedges and have that for a quick dinner or Saturday lunch. Frittatas are also great cold the next day – they make an amazing sandwich filling too. And finally a fruit bowl bake is as good for a Sunday afternoon treat as it is for Monday morning breakfast. Lots of us end up having bananas or apples rolling around in the bottom of school bags or gym bags simply getting lost at the bottom of the fruit bowl. So the Fruit Bowl Bake was born out of me always having a bruised bananas or less-than-crunchy apples that no one wanted to eat so I mix them all together with porridge oats and a couple of eggs, some lovely cinnamon and a little bit of sweetness from maple syrup or honey and then you bake it up. So good!”
Q. Is there any surprising food stuff you don’t eat? “I seem to have developed an allergy to crab which I’m devastated by because one of my favourite things is a crab sandwich sitting on a beach! I’m about to start the second year of my naturopathic nutrition degree and it’s fascinating and inspiring me even more to keep sharing real food recipes especially with the dominance of ultra processed foods in our diets these days! And it has truly hammered home to me (in the best way possible) how much importance there is in taking care of ourselves with food, stress levels and sleep quality!”
Q. And anything you’re borderline obsessed with/ guilty pleasure? “I don’t think there’s anything I’m particularly obsessed by but in terms of a snack, rather than buy snacks on the go or the very much ‘health halo’ packaged expensive snacks, I always have some dark chocolate and a little old jar, normally an old mustard jar, and fill it with mixed nuts like Brazil nuts, walnuts and some dark chocolate squares. And they’re my dream snack and I have to replenish my jar often as whenever I get my jar out, I end up sharing them with everyone!”
Q. What’s your favourite foodstuff to grow? “In my old garden in East London with very much my mom’s help, we were growing quite a few things well. Sadly, since parenthood, I’ve taken my eye off the ball but my herbs are still surviving. We just had a street party and I had 15 minutes to make my contribution so relied on foods from the cupboard plus my herbs. I made a massive bowl of chickpeas with crumble feta, olives, roasted red peppers and then tossed it all together with lots of olive oil and lemon juice and then big handfuls of chives and basil and parsley from my herb pots, which made the salad tasty and fresh and brought it to life.”
Q. What’s your best meal ever? “My best meal at the moment anyway is my one-pan lazy lasagne with a huge avocado, basil, butter lettuce salad and then smashed dates with drizzled dark chocolate and pistachios and hazelnuts and a tiny sprinkle of sea salt.”
Q. What’s your essential bit of kitchen kit? “A box grater. I love being able to easily add grated carrots and courgettes into frittatas or bolognese or chillis or stews and grated cabbage and beetroot into salads or slaws or to grate sweet potatoes or squash into a spiced fritter to serve with a garlic dipping sauce. Easiest way to up the veg content each day and delicious too.”
Q. What are your favourite restaurants? “I love restaurants that welcome kids and dogs and so so appreciate that! I love Bingham Riverhouse in Richmond and Petersham Nurseries.“
Q. What’s your favourite summer produce to cook with & enjoy? “All the lettuces and salads, tomatoes fennel – love a raw fennel salad. Summer berries and stone fruits. Love being able to picnic with the above and some good cheese and olives and soak up outside time as much as possible.”
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