Delicious UK - (01)January 2020

T

omKerridgeis hardtomiss

ashestridesin,talland

lanky,baldheadgleaming

abovehistrademarkgrin.

Aswesettledowntochat

inKerridge’sBar&Grillincentral

London,theaffable46-year-old

chefis lookinga littletired– and

it’ssoonclearwhy.He’sjuggling

somanyprojectsthathisschedule

is gruelling.Tom’slatestcookbook

(hisseventh),LoseWeight& GetFit

(Bloomsbury£22),cameoutlast

monthandhe’sjustfinished

filminganaccompanyingBBCTwo

televisionseriesthat’s scheduled to

airimminently.

HisnewManchesterrestaurant,

TheBull&Bear,openedin

November.Andthenthereare

hispubsinMarlow,Bucks:The

Butcher’sTap,TheHandand

Flowers,andTheCoach(thelatter

twoholdthreeMichelinstars

betweenthem),plusKerridge’sBar

&Grillandhiscateringcompany.

“It’sfairtosayI don’tdoa lot

ofsleepingatthemoment,”Tom

admits.Often,he’snothomefrom

workuntil1amandgetsupagainat

6amtogotothegym.Butthat

tenacity– orstubbornness,ashe

callsit – hasenabledhimtobuild

a boomingrestaurantempire.And

it’salsothesecrettohisastonishing

12-stoneweightloss.Tomsayshis

lightbulbmomenthappenedwhen

heturned 40 andrealisedhehadto

trimdownorrisknotreachingold

age.“Asyougetolder,youbeginto

realiseyou’renotimmortaland

havetostarttakinga bitmore

control,careandresponsibility.”

Single-mindedlydetermined,

heditchedalcoholandcarbsand

startedswimmingeveryday,and

theweightstartedfallingoff.It

was an extraordinary feat for a chef

ADOPTTHERIGHTMINDSETBeselfishandsaynotogoing

placesandeatingfoodsthatwon’thelpyouachieveyourgoals.

DON’TFALLINTOTHETRAPOFFEELINGGUILTYaboutusing

shortcut ingredients such as pre-cooked rice and grains. Just

makethecurrytogowiththeminsteadoforderinga takeaway.

IFYOU’REREADYTOMAKESOMEREALCHANGESTOYOUR

DIETANDLIFESTYLE, tellyourfriendsand family what you’re

doing and that you need their support.

surroundedbyfooddayin,dayout,

whoalsolovedtodrink.Tomsays

thekeywaschanginghismindset.

“Youhavetobeselfishandtake

control,andthat’shard,”hesays.

“Thatmightmeannotdoingwhat

otherpeoplewantyouto,likegoing

fora curryanda pint.Andyouhave

tofocusonthepositivesandthink

aboutwhatyoucaneatratherthan

worryingaboutwhatyoucan’t.”

Hislatestbookreflectshis

philosophythatdietingdoesn’t

have to mean deprivation. Tom

hasusedclever,cheffytrickstokeep

theoverallcaloriecountlowwhile

alsocrammingasmuchflavouras

possibleintomealsthatareeasyfor

homecookstoprepareand,most

importantly,they’lllookforwardto

eating.Forexample,heusessmall

amountsofhigh-calorieingredients

tointensifytheflavoursina dish

(thinkmorselsofchorizoora

splashofdoublecream)andcooks

onionsinwaterinsteadofoilor

butterandevenusesa chef’s

blowtorchinsteadoffrying.

Thesearenotthehighlyrefined

dishesheservesinhisrestaurants,

but the kind he loves to cook at

home,whenhecan,withhis

four-year-oldsonAcey,whoTom

fondlyreferstoasLittleMan.

“Ilovespendingtimeinthekitchen

withhim,”Kerridgesays.“Heloves

makingomelettesandpancakes.

I haven’tgota problemwithhim

eatingfishfingersandbaked

beanseverynowandthen...Every

four-year-oldlovesthatstuff.But

there’salwayssalad– forbreakfast,

it’softenpoachedeggs and

wholemealbread.”

Kerridgehimselfstartedcooking

whenhewasa child,making

dinnerforhisyoungerbrother

whenhismumJackie,a single

parent,wasworkinglate.Whenshe

didcookforthefamily,shealways

turnedtoDelia’srecipes.“Mymum

doesn’tuseanyothercookbooks,to

behonest,”Kerridgesays.“They

weregrease-markedandannotated

withlittlenotes.”Aspartofhis

hecticschedule,Tomis co-hosting

aneventwithDeliaanddelicious.

atNorwichCityFCthismonth–

whichsoldoutfast.“Deliais the

goddessofcooking,cookbooksand

cookerytelevision,”Kerridgesays.

“She’shugelyinfluential.”

ForDelia’sclassicsteakandkidney

pudding recipe, see p

TOM’S TIPS FOR SLIMMING DOWN AND GETTING HEALTHY

G O -T OSN AC K?

“Pittabreadwith

cottagecheeseand

loadsofcracked

blackpepper.”

FAVOURITEITEM

OFKITCHENKIT?

“Asharpknife.It does

so many things and is

muchlessdangerous

thana bluntone.”

DESERTISLANDDISH?

“Fishandchips.”

FAVOURITEMUSIC

TOLISTENTOWHILE

YOU’RECOOKING?

“TheProdigy– if I need

to wake up!”

WHAT’S YOUR...

PHOTOGRAPH: NEALE HAYNES/GETTY IMAGES. ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

GETTOM’S

NEWBOOK

FORFREE

whenyoutake

outa subscription

todelicious.

• see p

deliciousmagazine.co.uk 17

people.

“FOCUSONTHE

POSITIVESANDTHINK

ABOUTWHATYOUCAN

EATRATHERTHAN

WORRYINGABOUT

WHAT YOU CAN’T”