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MsMarmite in the Independent on Sunday

March 28, 2011 6 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Kerstin Rodgers: ‘All those no-salt cooks – have you tasted their food? Dreary’

Interview by Hugh Montgomery
Sunday, 27 March 2011
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Rodgers says: My dream dining companion would be Julian Assange - it would be fascinating to get all the secrets straight from the horse's mouth'

JEAN GOLDSMITH
Rodgers says: My dream dining companion would be Julian Assange – it would be fascinating to get all the secrets straight from the horse’s mouth’
  • Photos ENLARGE
My earliest food memory… Suddenly having this thing about fried eggs when I was about four, and getting my mum to cook me one, which I loved so much. But then after that she made me a couple more fried eggs and I tried them and said, “I don’t like them any more.” I was quite a fussy kid! My mum was a good cook but also quite experimental, and it didn’t always work out – she had a phase of making Japanese soup which tasted like dishwater.
My store-cupboard essentials… Marmite, obviously! I’m a Marmite baby and was brought up on the stuff. Also, good-quality pasta; Normandy sea-salt butter – I love it so much I could eat it on its own; ponzu, which is a kind of soy sauce flavoured with yuzu, which is a Japanese citrus fruit – if you put it on rice, it transforms it; and chestnut purée: if you don’t know what to do for a pudding, mix some with crème fraîche or cream or yoghurt and it’s delicious.
My culinary tip… Remember to salt to taste as you’re cooking. I’m a great believer in salt, and I hate this government anti-salt thing: a decent sea salt contains lots of good minerals such as magnesium and zinc, which women are often lacking in, and if you talk to a doctor who actually knows their stuff, there is no definite relation between high blood pressure and salt. And all those no-salt cooks… have you ever tasted their cooking? It’s dreary.
My favourite food shop… Quite a lot of Polish supermarkets have appeared near my home in Kilburn and they’re great for discovering new foods such as green pickled tomatoes, which sound vile but are delicious. Eastern European food has a bad reputation, probably because of the Soviet years, but thanks to the Polish immigrants who have come over, there are a lot of goodies and gems we’re only just discovering.
My top table… Koya, a brilliant Japanese noodle place in Soho. The other ones I love are Tayyabs [a curry house in east London], which is so cheap but amazing, and Polpetto [in Soho], which is all tapas-style plates. Sometimes with tapas restaurants, you end up paying a fortune and you’re still hungry afterwards, but there they give you really generous portions and they also do really lovely flatbreads.
My dream dining companion… Julian Assange – it would be fascinating to get all the secrets straight from the horse’s mouth. Also, Madonna: I like some of her music, but I’m mainly a fan of her career strategy. She’s an amazing over-achiever, and it would be a bit like meeting the Queen. I’d have them round to my Underground Restaurant, because they’re more likely to be relaxed and open there.
My desert-Island dish… Spaghetti with my own tomato sauce and lots of garlic. It’s my favourite comfort food, because it’s got loads of carbs in it. I hate the anti-carbs movement: in fact, I want to start a restaurant just called Carbs.
My pet hates… Meat-eaters on public transport: people who eat a lot of fried chicken as a diet really sweat and smell, especially when its hot weather and you’re crammed under their armpit. Also, okra – texture is important to me in food, and I don’t like things which are slimy.
My tipple of choice… A margarita. I’ve never had a decent one in this country, but I was recently talking to a mixologist and he was saying the reason was that the limes you get here are not the right ones: they’re not the same as you get in the States. The key is getting the right balance of sour and sweet: the margaritas I make at home might be too sour for most British people, but I like food and drink that makes you wince a bit.
Kerstin Rodgers, aka MsMarmiteLover, is chef-patronne of The Underground Restaurant, based at her house in Kilburn, north London, and one of the country’s most popular food bloggers (marmitelover. blogspot.com). Her first recipe book, ‘Supper Club’ (Collins, £25), is released on Thursday

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Previous Post: « Video: early days of The Underground Restaurant
Next Post: The Underground Restaurant on the road: Camp Bestival/Bestival »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Curious Cat

    March 28, 2011 at 9:43 am

    Wicked interview! Love it! Never heard of the butter – where do you get it from? And those tomatoes sound interesting – what have you eaten them with? xxx

    Reply
  2. maratanga

    March 28, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    fab – salt, salt et encore du salt in my book aussi! x

    Reply
  3. Devadeva Mirel

    March 28, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    love it love your pic!!!

    Reply
  4. Dom at Belleau Kitchen

    March 28, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    excellent interview Kerstin… and that photo of you is genius… you look like a sexy munchkin… if there could be such a thing… anyway, before I dig any bigger holes, its a fabulous piece!… well done!

    Reply
  5. theundergroundrestaurant

    March 28, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    Aw I am a sexy munchkin! Well I certainly do plenty of munching….

    Green pickled tomatoes, I'm a pickle fiend so on their own is good or with cheese?

    Reply
  6. Sally - My Custard Pie

    March 31, 2011 at 5:27 am

    Love carbs…detest okra (agree about not eating slime)…great interview.

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa
Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite pop up yesterday. I’m all about repairing and upcycling my brocante finds: this time a beautiful pale wood lamp shade stand which had broken off at the bottom. I’m going to rewire it with 2 core sky blue twisted fabric wire, pop on my hand sewn pleated lampshade I learnt to do @workshopminerva and it shall be beautiful. Don’t chuck out your chintz: repair it! #therepairshop #selfie #interiors #popup
in June I’m having my first supper club in two y in June I’m having my first supper club in two years: here is the link to book: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club £50 18th June  Saturday night. Byo.
#chelseaflower coming up. Last year I bought these succulents and planted them in a vintage zinc garden sieve. Now they are flowering. My balcony is like a little greenhouse: I can grow aubergines & other plants that usually need to be under glass. #londongarden #may #plants #succulents in the garden
Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on t Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on the citrus. I used 7: 2 Italian lemons (from Lidl):some ordinary lemons and some limes (18p) at Lidl. Don’t be afraid to mix and match your citrus. I also used buttermilk from @fenfarmdairy in Suffolk from their honesty shop. Last night we ate it still warm from the oven. #cake #lemondrizzle #homebaking #citrus #buttermilk
A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spa A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spanking fresh asparagus / fried in olive oil, season, then add a little boiling water, not too much, put on the lid, dressed with lemon zest & Parmesan, @fenfarmdairy baron bigod cheese, good bread. This is how I like to eat. Claire’s plates found at the beccles brocante. #suffolk #suffolkfood #supper #dinnerwithfriends  #vintageplates
Can’t wait to see what they will be like when th Can’t wait to see what they will be like when they are fired. All my favourite themes: gingham and scallops. Thanks to @clairebelljar for a wonderful weekend and pottery workshop. Such fun! #workingwithyourhands #playtime #creativity #ceramics #pottery #suffolk
Making plates with talented potter & old South Ham Making plates with talented potter & old South Hampstead girl @clairebelljar in Suffolk. She has the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Such a joy to be reunited with her. #friendsreunited #makers #potters #scalloped #wildflowers #cowparsley #pottery
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Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Lemon & herb smoked mackerel fillets from @lidl (take off skin)3 big scoops creme fraiche from Lidl and juice of half a lemon. Blend. Plenty of black pepper. Serve with bread. #budgetgourmet #costoflivingcrisis #eatorheat
Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh o Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh on my decade as a single parent on benefits, how I learned to cook & how things are so much harder now because not only are ingredients pricier but the cost of cooking them is too. 3 budget gourmet meals serving 4, for £2.50 each. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #povertyshame #singleparents #foodblogger
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Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange u Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange upside down cake as I had some to use up. It tastes very marmeladey. Probably used too deep a pan. #sundaybaking #recipe #thelastofthebloodoranges #april #easter
Today learning how to build a dry stone wall in t Today  learning how to build a dry stone wall in the cotswolds which is famous for the picturesque walls & hedgerows. My teacher, Richard Gray, told us about the different stones: face, foundation, pin & coping. It is a mortal ( mortar?) sun to use cement on a dry stone wall- it means the stones can’t breathe. These walls last 100 years- they cost £300 a metre. A pro can build 3 metres a day. Richard once did a quote for kylie Minogue. His firm is Hillrise stonework. This course is run by @notgroveholidays There is a world championship for drystone walling. #craft #building #drystonewall #cotswolds #staycation
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Ukrainian quick cucumber pickles dipped in honey. Ukrainian quick cucumber pickles dipped in honey. Strangely addictive. Recipe from next weeks column in the ham and high. #cookforukraine #supperclub #slavaukraini #pickles #dronedowner #ukraine #recipe
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