Following on from the previous post, one of the interviews I listened to the other day on Monocle 24, was with Allegra McEvedy. She was so interesting; a lively, engaging character with strong ethical values, and a passion for people to create tasty, wholesome food. The most interesting part of her progression up the culinary ladder was the fact that at the age of 17, when her mum died, she did 'some serious misbehaving' and went off the rails, before getting thrown out of school. At 21, her father encouraged her to 'get a grip' and she completed classical French training at the Cordon Bleu. After a tumultuous career (she was sacked from The Groucho Club for various naughty shenanigans...) She became Head Chef at Tom Conran's The Cow (the first place that she lasted more than three months).
'...there are more ways for a chef to make a difference than by winning Michelin stars, and good food should be available to everybody.'
After a spell in the U.S Allegra returned to London, and ran The Tabernacle, a cheap community restaurant in Notting Hill. She then opened The Good Cook, in Kensington, where she adopted a Robin Hood approach... An extra 2.5 per cent was charged to diners, which was then given to local charities. Her backers didn't like the idea of reasonable prices, and didn't like the idea of 'giving back to the community'. So unfortunately an amicable split occurred... Despite this though, Allegra has gone on to win countless awards after co-founding Leon... One of my favourite places to grab delicious, healthy fast food!
Her latest book is called 'Bought, Borrowed & Stolen: Recipes and Knives from a Travelling Chef.' It documents at first-hand the foods, flavours and... knives, of her many trips around the world. When she was younger, and visited new lands, instead of keeping a diary of places of interest or holiday romances, she would write down a detailed description of all the food that she had eaten... She has whittled the book down to 336 pages, from carefully studying 20 years worth of culinary note taking. Not only does she convey the many cultures and tastes that she came across on her travels, but she also depicts a knife for each country that she was in. I can't wait to get my hands on it... Maybe I'll find it under the tree? Hint... Hiiiint!
Images from 'Leon: Ingredients & Recipes' and 'Bought Borrowed & Stolen' both by Allegra McEvedy.
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