FOOD+DRINK
A Year of Kent Gourmet
FOLLOW CHAPTER ONE’S CHEF PATRON,
ANDY McLEISH, ON A YEAR LONG JOURNEY
TO DISCOVER THE FABULOUS FOOD KENT
HAS TO OFFER. PHOTOS BY LUKE YATES
IT’S CHRISTMAS…well not quite yet. We still have over a month to go but
you may be fooled into thinking it was with all the sparkly lights and
decorations on the high streets and the oversized turkeys on the supermarket
shelves. Christmas is a special time for me. It was actually the first time I
knew I wanted to become a chef. I was around six or seven and one year
my mum was too ill to make Christmas day lunch and was advised by her
doctor to stay in bed and rest. So it was up to my dad to take care of it.
The problem was his cooking skills were very limited, so my brother and I
set about the task ourselves. We decided to prepare and cook the lunch
and did everything from the turkey, spuds, vegetables and even the gravy.
I remember the food was too heavy for us to carry, so we wheeled it on
my skateboard into our parents’ bedroom.
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