Webchat with James Martin, Chef and presenter of Saturday Kitchen: Friday 6 December 1.45-2.45 pm

[RachelMumsnet]

In the last of our food related webchats this year we are very happy to be welcoming James Martin to Mumsnet HQ. He'll be answering all your questions about cooking and baking as well telling us about what he's been up to and what's coming up for him in the New Year.

James is presenter of Saturday Kitchen. He was a regular face on Ready Steady Cook as well as various other TV programmes and in 2006 reached the semi- finals of Strictly Come Dancing. When he's not busy cooking and dancing, James spends his time driving his vintage cars and flying around the country with his newly acquired pilot’s license.

James is passionate about celebrating British food, using the best ingredients possible and creating simple, delicious recipes accessible to all. His latest book Fast Cooking: Really Exciting Recipes in 20 Minutes shows how to put delicious food on the table in next to no time. Every dish is easy to shop for and can be prepared from start to finish in 20 minutes using James' clever tips, tricks and storecupboard shortcuts. Post a question to James and join the discussion and you'll be entered into a draw to win one of three copies of the book.

[JamesMartin]

I'm getting ganged up on by four women talking about car bins – bin bag more like!

[RachelMumsnet]

James is dissing the merits of car bins - any thoughts?

[JamesMartin]

@Memsah1b

What's your view on the of quality of vocational education for young people entering the hospitality industry?

It's all about understanding what life is like away from colleges and classrooms. The best way you can learn about the industry is to work in it. Until you do that, you'll never understand it, as most people think all chefs are nuts.

[Mignonette]

My entire car is a bin. Husband calls it 'Skip on Wheels'. But I am hogging the webchat....

[JamesMartin]

@iseenodust

I'm sure you know Yorkshire has the most Michelin stars outside London. So when are you going to ditch the soft south and the wet side of the Pennines and come back to where you and your delicious puddings would be most appreciated ?

When you venture outside of your house, you might have known that for the last two years I have had a restaurant in God's own country called The Talbot in North Yorkshire. Hope to see you there!

[JamesMartin]

@NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe

I'm sure you don't smear your plates - why do other chefs??

That's the difference between £8 and £18.

[JamesMartin]

@ProfondoRosso

Hi James,
Forgive me this indiscretion, but I'd like to know what kind of fun you and Paul Hollywood got up to when you were making Use Your Loaf. I loved that show!

Did you really live together in that beautiful big bachelor pad and go out on the lash?

We did live in that bachelor pad! We even got thrown out of a nightclub because of Paul Hollywood's brother, but that's when I was old enough to go into nightclubs. Haven't seen one since... Or his brother!

[ZingSweetPea]

Our car is like a skip...I drive it more so eating is encouraged.

but ours is an 8-seater VW so no more like a school bus, not a precious chariot!

[princessalbert]

Following on from Memsah1b's question - do you think it is easier for a young person to get into 'cheffing'? Rather than an old biddy like me?

[ZingSweetPea]

more like a school bus

[JamesMartin]

MNHQ want to know my never-fail meal. My favourite never-fail meal is steak and chips with béarnaise sauce.

Béarnaise sauce is like a hollandaise sauce, but with the addition of shallots and tarragon. It's the food of the Gods! For a chef, that a roast chicken you can't go wrong!

[JamesMartin]

@princessalbert

Following on from Memsah1b's question - do you think it is easier for a young person to get into 'cheffing'? Rather than an old biddy like me?

Probably, yes. The issue is with working in kitchens is the hours, and to do it professionally, it's long hours, long, unsociable days and to be honest with you, you can do that when you're young. The successful guys in the industry can still do it, but they've always done it. It's a job where there's no short cuts. Running a restaurant and being a chef, there's no BS. That's not to say anybody can't do it - it's just easier to do the hours when you're younger, but you become more experienced as you get older!

[ZingSweetPea]

I love Bearnaise sauce!
with parma ham and asparagus rolled up in a tortilla - food of pg women with cravings!

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

I loved junior bake-off. Did you have to bite your lips about some of the food or was it all as good as you said?

[JamesMartin]

@thekitchenfairy

Hi James

Bit of a long question.

I have one DS who is 11 and a total foodie recently diagnosed anaphylactic to some ordinary ingredients including most fruit, (apples, berries, tomatoes etc). Meals are hard to plan and fraught with fear for him. Lots of things he previously loved are now out of bounds.

Raised on the same home cooking etc youngest DS is 7 and does not seem to enjoy food unless sweet or bland. He has never knowingly eaten a vegetable unless artfully disguised and I am running out of time and patience at mealtimes.

How can we restore some joy to our family table?

Hope you can answer, DS2 will be delighted if I can show him a reply, he's a big fan of Saturday Kitchen. Thank you!

I think the best thing you can do is take him food shopping and take him to the butchers and fishmongers. I think if you do that, rather than put stuff in front of them, it's fascinating to see. Because of that fascination, all you have to do is cook it. It will never be bland because it's all about the quality of the product. We're only as good as the ingredients that are put in front of us. Make him fall in love with food again by taking him out. When you go round food markets, there are so many different things!

[Mignonette]

Do you read any food blogs or magazines? My favourite is Lucky Peach.

[JamesMartin]

@SelfRighteousPrissyPants

I loved junior bake-off. Did you have to bite your lips about some of the food or was it all as good as you said?

Some of it was funny because there was one bit where I got elbowed in the ribs by Mary because all I could do is laugh, and then I couldn't stop laughing. The kid I was laughing at started to cry, and then he started to laugh, and when he started to laugh I just laughed even more. It was a dog's dinner, and he knew it!

[JamesMartin]

@Mignonette

Do you read any food blogs or magazines? My favourite is Lucky Peach.

As you all are probably aware, I only started social media this year so I don't have a clue what you're talking about –MyFace?! In Twitter-land, I'm still not very good. However I have 63000 peoples following me and a load of Facebook stuff that I don't even know about. I don't really have time for blogging or anything - I have restaurants to run! I spend my life trying to get away from everybody, not telling everyone where I am.

Saying that... I have just told you all I'm in a dressing room with four women. I will take a picture of the tiny shower!

[RachelMumsnet]

Any more Qs ? If not we're going to wrap up for now as we started early (James has to rush off to a book signing at Selfridges and then read the script for tomorrow as Mary Berry's on). However as we said the webchat would run until 2.45, if you've just joined and have a question for him post before 2.45 and we'll send the Qs over to him and post up his answer over the next few days.

[JamesMartin]

Gotta go! I've got a signing at Selfridges, then a script reading for Saturday Kitchen, then Pierce Morgan, then home. Then tomorrow I've got Saturday Kitchen with Mary Berry. Then I'm cooking dinner for 450 tomorrow night. More hospitals next week, and talking turkeys with the biggest turkey of them all, Brian Turner. Two Yorkshireman on the show - how is the nation going to cope!? We're joined by James Blunt. I've been told I look like a fat James Blunt, but it's all good fun!

[Mignonette]

Thank you James and maybe a cold shower for Rachel?

[RabbitsarenotHares]

Many thanks for your advice re the duck. At the moment he's still flapping around the place but I'm looking forward to seeing him on my table!

[princessalbert]

Thank you James!

Looking forward to Saturday kitchen tomorrow.

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

Thanks!
Wondering if it was the chilli choc cake with mint icing that was so bad it was funny

[Fontofnowt]

Cheers James!