In conversation with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
The last in our guests sharing their Food Experiences at Kino is none other than the incredible chef, food writer and campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. As he prepares to head to Leeds, we were keen to discover the impetus behind his new book How to Eat 30 Plants a Week and what diners can expect when they join him on 4 September.
My latest book grew out of my interest in the fact that recent scientific research indicates good health outcomes aren’t simply the result of which diet you follow as previously thought, but how many plants you eat. The optimum amount came out at 30 per week.
The good news is ‘plants’ doesn’t just mean fruit and vegetables. The term also includes pulses, nuts and seeds, spices, tea, coffee and even oils. Sometimes a simple change can add to your count such as using rapeseed oil for one dish and coconut oil for the next – or sprinkling seeds on top of your salads and making nuts your snack of choice. What I try to encourage people to do in my book is to try different types of fruit and vegetables rather than always reaching for the same ones which, let’s face it, is something we all do. I think most people will be surprised at how easy – and fun – it actually is.
Seasonality is another of my passions because, by eating seasonally, we also eat more sustainably. I suggest getting about a third of your intake from the fruit and vegetables in season and then filling in the gaps with herbs, spices, nuts, seeds and pulses. It might sound complicated, but it’s much easier than you might think. After all, there are around 11,000 edible plants to choose from!
This may sound like I’m saying everyone should become a vegetarian, but that’s not actually the case. I do think we all need to eat more plant-based meals but that doesn’t necessarily mean cutting out meat and fish entirely. I’m an omnivore myself and my book includes recipes for both. I do encourage people though to buy with care and, if they can, to stick to whatever has been sustainably farmed or harvested.
The menu I’ve created with Head Chef Josh Whitehead at Kino is a brilliant showcase for everything I believe in, showing how my passions come together to create amazingly flavourful dishes. That means it includes plenty of plants, while also featuring sustainably produced meat and fish. Something which diners might be surprised to see on there is grey squirrel, but it’s a very sustainable and healthy meat which we’ve been serving at River Cottage for many years now.
I must say it’s been great working with Josh, because his beliefs align with mine – in fact, he used to watch the River Cottage series as a child. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how his team bring the dishes to life on the night, while I chat about my inspirations and my food journey so far.