Bloggerview with Fi Cotter Craig

Fi Cotter Craig

Name and occupation

Fi Cotter-Craig - Television Producer

What would you like to plug?

The Middle Class ABC
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Middle-class-ABC-Fi-Cotter-Craig/dp/1848546807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366119435&sr=1-1&keywords=the+middle+class+abc

Name your three desert island ingredients

Banana leaves, Shellfish and if I'm lucky something from the Solanum family 

What would you have for your last supper?

First of all I'd prefer not to know it was my last, as that might rather colour things, so on that basis I think it would be this:
Nobu new style salmon sahimi,
Hawkesmoor sirloin , medium rare, Bearnaise sauce, french fries and maybe a green salad with a simple vinaigrette
Iles Flottantes from Brawn
That should do nicely

What foodstuff would you banish to room 101?

Parsnips, sweet potato or pumpkin i.e. any sweet veg

What's your favourite restaurant?

Anywhere they recognise me and are nice to me, so at the moment probably Rowley Leigh's Le Cafe Anglais, or Shoreditch House which consistently serves the best pasta in London 

What's your favourite tipple?

Hard to say, basically anything with alcohol. But if it had to be just one, probably Berry Bros NV UK Cuvee Champagne

Which book gets you cooking ?

Anything by Enid Blyton, all those references to ginger pop and sandwiches, and I'm in my pinny knocking up a Victoria sponge before you can say "Crikey George, I think that tramp hiding behind the hedge is actually a spy!"

What's your dream dinner party line-up?

The Mitford Sisters - All of them

And what would you cook for them?

Potted Shrimps , 
Roast Partridge, buttered baby brussel sprouts with breadcrumbs
And then Crab Apple Queen of Puddings
Simple nursery food, I wouldn't want anything to distract from the fabulous arguments they'd be having with each other, so I would give them food they felt comfortable with and just watch and listen

What was your childhood teatime treat?

Ma's Drop Scones, butter and her homemade raspberry jam.

What was the first thing you learnt to cook?

Pastry - It's been a lifelong love affair

What was the first thing you taught your children to cook?

I'm very fond of getting children to make meringues and jelly - both fun and easy and then a long wait, lots of anticipation and a delicious outcome. A perfect metaphor for life

What was your mothers signature dish and do you try to copy it?

Steak and Kidney Pie with frozen peas, I have tried but never quite succeeded. Her secret ingredient was ground white pepper. 

What would you make to impress your partner?

Lammingtons, but I would have had to have done something unspeakable to force myself to do it.

What was your most memorable meal?

I'm ridiculously optimistic so I'd like to think I haven't had it yet.

What was your biggest culinary disaster?

Wilfully not following a recipe by Tamasin Day Lewis for Rosti Fish Pie. The key to it was the rosti, grated potato topping, which was really what I was interested in, so instead of the restrained two or three potatoes that the recipe stipulated, I used about eight. End result. The grated potato turned itself into a thermo nuclear shield and insulated the rest of the contents from any heat from the oven so when I brought it to the table, it was literally uncooked from about 3cm in. Total disaster.
    

What's the worst meal you've ever had?

Anything that has included unavoidable soft boiled egg, anchovy, pigeon or sweetbreads. Luckily they are all quite avoidable 

What's the most outlandish thing you've ever eaten?

Now, that would be saying .........

Who's your food hero/food villain? 

HERO = Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall 

VILLAIN = Gordon Ramsay

Nigella or Delia?

Nigella, no contest

Gin or Vodka?

Gin , every time

Muesli or fry-up?

Fry up

Wine or beer?

Wine

KFC or Burger King?

Tough call, but I think it has to be KFC. Mostly because I once sat beside the real Col. Sanders on a flight from Chicago to Vancouver. He was in his red suit and everything.

Kitchen implement you can't do with out.

That would have to be a very sharp knife.

Your best cooking tip.

Do it because you enjoy it not to show off.  

What is your favourite cooking aroma ?

A roasting chicken.

What do you consider the best of the best of British?

A really great peppery butcher's  sausage and also grass fed beef. Both unbeatable.

What's the best/worst thing about the British restaurant scene?

The best thing is almost certainly the incredibly diverse ethnic restaurants to be found in every major city. Often incredible value and delicious in ways that their British counterparts could only dream of .   
The worst Pretentious, overpriced, bad British restaurants where no one complains about second rate food and service   

What do you think will be the next big thing?

I hope that more and more restaurants like the mighty Brawn or The Rochelle Kitchen will begin to appear so that every neighbourhood has a really good, straightforward local restaurant, run brilliantly by people who know and care about food but aren't  poncy nigthtmares. That's my dream 

What would you do if you could choose any other career?

I often think about this, but the truth, but the truth is, I am so lucky to do what I do that really I couldn't imagine another job 

What do you have for Christmas lunch?

This year it will be pretty much the same as I dished up to the Mitford's with the exception being pudding. This will be a Christmas pudding my sister Sarah made and gave to me two years ago.

 

Make a wish

That I could have more followers on twitter @ficottercraig