As part of our Cooking with Kids campaign, we thought it would be fun to share with you the foods that influenced our chefs when they were growing up and what they now enjoy cooking with their own children.
Looking at the work of top chefs, we can be tempted to think they’ve been cooking since they could toddle into the kitchen! Obviously this isn’t the case and it was fascinating to discover that food hasn’t always been a dream for our chefs. Andy Waters had a working class background and never imagined he’d be running an award winning restaurants.
Andy is head chef of The Queens at Belbroughton a 16th century pub in Worcestershire. Andy was recently awarded the prestigious Robert J Smith Award by the British Culinary Federation, for professionalism and dedication to the hospitality industry.
However, Andy grew up on a council estate and comes from a large family of six. He remembers how his mum, a confectioner, created beautifully scented vases of flowers from sugar.
Fortunately, being in a house that was often full of sugary delights, didn’t give Andy a great sweet tooth. “I never really took much notice of my mum’s cakes and to be honest becoming a chef when you grew up wasn’t inspiring back then. When I give talks at school assemblies now, everything has changed and children have a much greater interest in foods from around the world. I love their curiosity too and how they get excited when I show them that pancakes don’t just have to have sweet fillings”.