Feedback with Rick Stein

Feedback with Rick Stein

If there’s one thing Rick Stein knows, it’s that food isn’t just about what’s on the plate - it’s about the people you share it with, the memories you make, and, of course, a few essential ingredients you just can’t live without.

From the humble Copernicus sausage in his fridge to a perfectly indulgent roast turbot with Hollandaise, Rick’s love of food is as much about joy and tradition as it is about flavour. In his new book, Rick Stein's Christmas - Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season, he shares everything from childhood Christmas memories to present-day celebrations that have made the season special, whether he’s cooking up a family feast in Cornwall or jet-lagged but determined in Australia!

We have three recipes from Rick's book for you to browse here.

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Photo by James Murphy

What food or ingredients could you not do without?
I would say fish, but also olive oil, garlic, chillies, salt, pepper and vinegar

Is there a memorable meal you remember eating?
I think it's more down to who you’re with and where it is, than the food that makes a meal memorable. When I was on my tour I went to Riley’s Fish Shack, in King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth. It’s fantastic, two shipping containers lined with driftwood are joined together down on the beach. It was a really cold day, and they have little wood burners at table height. On the menu that day was exactly the right dish a lovely, crab souffle with thermidor sauce. It wasn’t too expensive, but suited to a cold, windy beachside day in March, I knew nothing about the place before I went, but since then lots of people I know have said, it’s amazing.

Is there something in particular you always keep in the fridge?
Yes. At the moment I am slightly addicted to a Polish smoked sausage called Copernicus!

Despite the huge choice of takeaway deliveries, home delivered food boxes, do you think people still want to cook at home?
I hope so – my stepchildren have a lot of takeaways, and I do like Japanese sashimi delivered. It’s very convenient and can be a great pleasure. But when we do cook at home as a family, it’s clearly much more enjoyable.

Is roast turbot on the bone with a generous helping of Hollandaise still your ‘favourite ever’ dish?
I would say so, yes. It's just becoming absurdly expensive, unfortunately, but yes, it is.

Your new book Rick Stein’s Christmas  - Festive Recipes, Memories & Stories is the first Christmas book you’ve written – why now?
I had thought of doing one for a long time, it was my wife, Sas who felt the time was right for me, she loves Christmas particularly in the UK, even though she’s Australian and enjoys it there as well. Through writing it, I realised, how many traditions and memories I have, much like many other families in this country. Sas’s enthusiasm for Christmas got it all going, she likes to decorate the house and a big thing for her is laying the Christmas table with white, red and silver and lovely glasses. So together, I like cooking dinner, and she likes entertaining. I enjoyed writing it because I love cooking, I love doing recipes, but what I really liked was just writing everything else that goes with it. I really enjoyed the whole process it means a lot to me.

The book is full of your own family Christmas traditions and stories, was it an easy book to write?
It was. I think if you're going to write convincingly, it has to be based on some sort of experience. I'm not a sort of natural sort of novelist - I can't make stuff up. What I enjoy is just writing about what I remember hoping other people enjoy it too. I was looking through the book recently and there was one bit in the intro, which I was a bit dubious about including. I wrote an exact account of what happened last Christmas, in other words, the timings for what I should have done, and what I actually did! When I read it, I thought, actually, this is quite interesting, because it's a record of something that happened, including what worked and what didn’t. I just write about what's happened to me - with a bit of embellishment at times!

You alternate your Christmases between the UK and Australia – where will you be this year?
It's Australia this year which works well because the book is about last Christmas. This year I'm cooking Christmas lunch which will be a little bit interesting because I will still be slightly jet lagged, so I’m sure things will go wrong because of that. The best thing about hosting an Aussie Christmas is that everybody brings stuff, so I will only have to concentrate on the turkey, and everyone else can bring the rest.

What would be your last supper if anything was available to you and where would you eat it?
I do love all food, but I guess it would probably be turbot. It's not just about the fish it’s the Hollandaise Sauce, and spinach (or hispi cabbage), with some very simple new potatoes and a white Burgundy would reall ymake it perfect. For dessert, it would have to be something light, I like Summer Pudding it’s not rich, just bread and fruit, and I think it's a fabulous British dish. I’d probably be in my cottage in Cornwall, with Sas and as this is fictitious, Barry Humphries; we were really good friends with him (and are still friends with his wife Lizzie). They came to Cornwall one Christmas, and I cooked dinner for them in St. Petroc's our hotel just down the road. So, they would be there and a good friend David Remfry who is an artist and his wife Caroline.

CLICK HERE TO WIN A COPY OF RICK STEIN'S CHRISTMAS - RECIPES, MEMORIES & STORIES FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON

Rick Stein's Christmas - Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season, BBC Books, £28. Published 6th November 2025. Order here