Feedback with Paul Ainsworth

FEEDBACK WITH PAUL AINSWORTH

This month our guest is Michelin-starred Chef Paul Ainsworth. 

Born and brought up in his parents' guest house it was inevitable Paul would follow their footsteps into the hospitality industry. At the age of 12 he had four paper rounds, worked nights at the fruit and vegetable merchants and collected orders for the Betterware catalogue - so he's no stranger to hard work!

Now he's carved out a distinguished place in the world of British cooking. From his Michelin-starred restaurant Paul Ainsworth at No.6 in Padstow to his passionate advocacy for local Cornish produce, Paul’s journey is as inspiring as the dishes he creates. Here we find out why he and Tom Kerridge had a sleepless night in Stockholm, why he loves the combination of eggs, butter and toast, and why he's a sucker for a lovely label on a jar!

His latest book For the Love of Food published by Pavilion Books is out now.

Photo by Simon Burt

It's Father's Day on Sunday June 15th.  What will you be doing?
The best Father’s Day is a beach walk with my wife Emma and our daughters Ci Ci & Audrey-Bloom (the centre of my world), and Freddie our Cavapoo, followed by lunch at Caffe Rojano.  For me, nothing could be more perfect!

What food always reminds you of your childhood?
Rhubarb! My dad grew some in our garden, although to this day I don’t know why because he didn’t have green fingers by any means. He was a fantastic cook, and he would make the most amazing rhubarb and almond crumble – nothing fancy, with Bird’s custard, out of the packet, but made with milk! on the top. I loved it, and that would be my absolute childhood. food memory.

Do you have a current favourite restaurant or type of restaurant?
I really enjoy it when we go to London as a family. We have two daughters one is 9 and our second is just 1, so for quite some time it was just the three of us, and we love going to Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat in London. It’s Japanese/Asian inspired, with lots of small plates and a really relaxing vibe. In Cornwall we like Nancarrow Farm, what those guys there are doing is absolutely brilliant. They’re just going from strength to strength, and each year they invest a little more. It's a rare place to eat and I love going there.

What food or ingredient could you not live without?
I have two ingredients…. Great quality salt; we are so lucky down here we have lovely sea salt; and the other one is butter. I decided I needed to make some changes in my diet last year, as I was heading towards type 2 diabetes. Now I eat food that hasn’t been messed around with; such as good steak, good extra virgin olive oil, good quality eggs and great butter from grass-fed cows.

Is there a memorable meal you can remember eating?
For me it would be when my wife, Emma and I went on an amazing weekend trip to Stockholm with Tom and Beth Kerridge. We were in a restaurant which was then called Frantzén Lindeberg, and it was absolutely incredible. Tom and I were so inspired we just couldn’t go to bed - we were talking about it until sunrise!  It was just an amazing moment, I will never forget that night.

The cocktail bar Ci Ci’s above your restaurant Paul Ainsworth at No6 is named after your daughter – what’s, your favourite cocktail?
I’m not that adventurous when it comes to cocktails, but I love a Tom Collins. I love the citrus flavour, and it has to be in a great glass. We did a collaboration with Salcombe Gin and created a Ramos cocktail using a limited-edition gin called Daring, which was named after a Salcombe fruiter that used to carry cargoes of exotic fruits and spices to Padstow from all over the world in the 1800’s. So, we named the Ramos Who Dares Wins after the boat.

After a day of working, what’s your quick supper.
My really quick supper would be St Ewe Rich Yolk eggs cooked in butter, sea salt, black pepper, a touch of balsamic vinegar on the eggs (there’s something about balsamic and eggs I just love), served on a nice big, crisp piece of sourdough. I think it’s ingrained into my brain from my gran. I used to stay with her every weekend and on a Sunday morning she would always make me boiled eggs and soldiers and the combination of butter, toast and egg yolk is unbeatable! So, if I want something really quick at the moment, it’s four eggs on a slice of buttered sourdough. I’m training for the London Marathon and the Ironman 70.3 Zell am See in August.

Is there something particular you always keep in the fridge?
Condiments - jars, bottles and tubes of them! They vary from chutneys and relishes, to mustards in all their guises and a variety of pastes. Sometimes I will buy them because they have a nice label! I think if someone has made the effort to create something in a nice jar, and they’ve thought about how it’s presented, the contents are generally pretty good.

What would be your last supper if literally anything was available to you and where would you eat it, and who would you be with?
I would be with my family, and close friends, and I would love to start with beautiful Padstow crab on toast. Lobster gets the prestige but for me crab is the hero. Main course would be a lovely rib of beef, chips, salad and a Bearnaise sauce. For dessert I’m torn between trifle and an apple tarte tatin and a slice of Montgomery or Lincolnshire Poacher cheese. I love the tangy saltiness with the sweetness of the apples and puff pastry – that for me is heaven. To drink we’d have Emma’s favourite which is Champagne, and my favourite beer on the planet is Sharp’s Offshore Pilsner made here in Cornwall – and of course Tom Collins! 

Although I am not originally from Cornwall, and not classed as a local, I can’t believe how lucky I am to call this home and live here. I’d cook everything on an open fire, and we’d sit and eat at a big table on the beach at Padstow – with no shoes or socks!