Alongside the original TV chef Keith Floyd, Rick Stein is arguably one of the principle chefs to bring cooking back into populist culture and remind us of the quality of local ingredients available on our doorsteps, all of which inspired a new generation of TV chefs and home cooks. Still as grounded and infectiously enthusiastic as his days as a nightclub owner in Padstow, Rick has never taken his fame for granted and his clumsy but loveable on-screen and off-screen persona have forever instilled him as the Poseidon of our island’s fish-loving hearts.

You graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English; did you ever think you would end up in the food industry?
Not at all, when I left university I wanted to go into journalism if anything.  I did work as a commis chef for six months at The Great Western Hotel in Paddington as part of a management-training scheme, which I enjoyed a lot, but then I went traveling to Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. My father had just commited suicide and I was broken up by it so I thought I’d run away to sea and take some time out. I had agreed to go into hotel management because my father was keen for me to start some kind of career, but once I’d split the country my views changed radically.

How did you come to set up a nightclub in Padstow?
While I was at university I had a mobile disco that I used to run parties with, and after taking it to London I bought a nightclub in Padstow with a friend to try and give it a permanent home. We were very idealistic! Unfortunately it was just too hard to control, there were terrific fights – mainly with local fishermen, and in the end the police closed us down. Luckily we still had a license for a restaurant that we’d opened in another part of the building, so we carried on with that to pay the bills and I ran the kitchen because I had experience as a commis chef. I really enjoyed it, and that’s how it all started.

Did you ever dream that you would one day you would have the food empire you have now?
I certainly didn’t, I was just so glad to be off the hook! My friend Johnny and I were facing bankruptcy when the club was closed down so we were just focused on paying the bills. Plus we were in our twenties when life felt like it stretched out endlessly in front of us. 

Was there anyone who inspired your cooking?
My parents were good cooks and I was very familiar with the cookbooks of Elizabeth David, Julia Child and Jane Gresham. Most of my influences came from cookery writers rather than chefs, and my parents really. Everything has moved on so much now, in those days you could learn by your mistakes.

You’ve become Britain’s most famous seafood chef; did you grow up loving seafood?
I did, simply because my parents had a holiday house just outside Padstow ever since I was born. I went out fishing a lot with my dad and we always had fish at home, so I was privileged to understand how good fresh fish was at a very early age.

Do you think the quality of the ingredients is as important as the recipe?
Yes, that’s my particular enthusiasm. It’s unusual for chefs to have an interest in their raw materials, but it’s now recognised that that’s what chefs need. Really chefs are there to cook, not to source ingredients, but I’ve always done both. At the restaurant in the 70s and early 80s I was always looking for ingredients that you couldn’t get. I was so enthusiastic about putting mussels on the menu because they seemed so French and exotic that I’d drive for hours to pick them up from the nearest supplier. I had this vision, largely based on trips to Brittany and Normandy, of how I wanted the menu to be and was always looking for better ways to source good produce.

Do you think consumer mentality has changed since you entered the food industry?
I do, customers are much more discerning. The last thirty years has been a magnificent improvement in everybody’s appreciation of food, and I’m just part of that movement, I’ve grown up with my customers.

Recent news stories have claimed that organic food has no additional nutritional benefits, what are your thoughts on the debate?
I personally think local is much better, simply because it encompasses a whole load of concerns like food miles, traceability and also keeps local economies buoyant. I don’t think organic food is so much about the taste; it’s about the unique way it’s produced. You’ve got to be quite idealistic to think you can tell the difference between an organic and a non-organic carrot, but you can certainly tell the difference between one that’s just been pulled out the garden. And that’s my point; to me freshness is more important.