Chef Profile: James Martin
James Martin began cooking at an early age with his father, who ran the catering at Castle Howard in Yorkshire.
At 16 he started his formal training before embarking on an early career in London and France, during which he excelled as a pastry chef.
He went on to take the position of Head Chef at the Hotel du Vin and Bistro in Winchester at the age of 21.
As presenter of BBC One’s hugely successful Saturday Kitchen and regular guest chef on BBC’s Ready Steady Cook, James has become one of the best-known and most popular chefs on TV, revealing further talents and delighting his loyal fan-base as a dancer, on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The Great British Village Show aired on BBC One in June 2007, presented by Alan Titchmarsh, Angellica Bell and James Martin.
The series celebrated the institution of the traditional village show, the home to the best of British cooking for generations with its energy, its friendly rivalries and its prize-winning produce.
Fresh from his success of growing his own kitchen garden for UKTV’s James Martin Digs Deep, James remains passionate and committed to locally sourced, organic fresh food. He says:
It’s not just the produce that makes village shows up and down the country so special; it’s the people, their stories, their personalities, and their quirkiness…. what’s great about everything on offer is that it’s made and produced by people who really care about what they do. How else could you explain why someone would spend up to a year growing massive long carrots in drainpipes down the side of their house, just for a rosette and 30 quid if they win?
James Martin is the author of The Great British Village Show Cookbook, published in July 2008 by Dorling Kindersley.
Filed under: Chef Profiles