John Whaite Quotes

John Whaite

Profession : Chef

Birth : May 23, 1989

One of my favourite low-carb suppers is a Spanish tortilla using cauliflower in place of the potato.

John Whaite

While most kids turned their heads in disgust as a plateful of broccoli landed before them, I ate what I was given. My mum would harp on about how 'life is not a cafe' - I still hear that mantra in my sleep.

John Whaite

There's something very relaxing about the aromatic scent of rosemary. I adore it.

John Whaite

I have to disagree with William Shakespeare: love doesn't look with the mind. For me, and most of those around me, love looks with the tummy.

John Whaite

I can vividly remember the first time I ate a pasty. After a busy day shopping with my gran, she treated me to one. Wide-eyed and with a watering mouth, I chomped down into the crisp, buttery casing. It yielded to my eager bite; the pastry flaked and fluttered down my front.

John Whaite

I don't question the importance of learning how to cook at school. It's vital that children know how to create a few dishes to sustain themselves in later life, but that's different from the emotional, nurturing environment of the home kitchen with Mum.

John Whaite

A school culinary education is a militant operation. In that world, everything depends on grading and competition. The emotional element is extracted, leaving raw, regimented skill.

John Whaite

When we revel in hindsight, we have a tendency to embellish. We weave romantic and poetic fibres into the gaps in our memory.

John Whaite

I started baking with my family and friends. We would make easy and competent dishes and spend our evenings and weekends together in the kitchen. It was quite argumentative and ferocious - it was family life. That instilled the love and comfort of food for me.

John Whaite

I like pie! Pie with proper pastry and a meaty filling always works. It just makes you feel good.

John Whaite

If I'm peckish and I want something sweet and quick, I make a batch of scones, because they're easy and reliable.

John Whaite

Nigella Lawson is truly sexy.

John Whaite

I was doing my barrister training in Leeds, so I was getting up at 5 A.M. and getting home and 10 P.M., and for me, that was a really stressful time.

John Whaite

I grew up on a farm, so I've always been keen on nature, animals and the simpler things in the life - that simple existence.

John Whaite

I learned my love of food from my mum.

John Whaite

Baking is very meditative. It's precise - you have to weigh out the ingredients, follow it step by step and focus on everything, so it's just right. It also brings you out of your shell, because if you've made a batch of brownies, you share them and its really sociable like that.

John Whaite

There's little in life so disappointing as a sunken cake.

John Whaite

I'm all for a healthy diet. I don't eat junk very often, and I try not to have too much sugar or refined carbohydrate. But I don't mince my words or try to elevate people's perceptions of my diet into something snobbish and superior-sounding.

John Whaite

I've grown quite tired of the term 'superfood.'

John Whaite

A cake overpopulated with air is due to either too much chemical raising agent, an over zealous whisker, or a yeasted dough/batter that has had too long a rising stage.

John Whaite