Photography: James Murphy
There’s no denying Rick Stein is a source of wisdom when it comes to food. He has more than 25 cookbooks under his belt, and has run restaurants since 1975. A self-confessed lover of Australia, Rick and his wife opened their third restaurant here last year. We’ve seen him travel the world on TV, always ready with a smile and his genuine passion for food, particularly fish. But what’s reassuring is that even a pro like Rick has mishaps in the kitchen.
Rick Stein’s Christmas tips come from hard-won experience – including one disastrous goose that taught him valuable lessons about Christmas cooking.
Have you had any mishaps on Christmas Day over the years?
RS: Things can – and often do – go wrong over the season. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I realise these moments can be just as important in our memories as the things that go right. The pressure for one person cooking Christmas lunch is much relieved in Australia because everybody is expected to bring a contribution.
But this can produce problems of uncontrollable timing not experienced in the old country. On this occasion, the first courses arrived about an hour and a half later than anticipated, by which time everything else was cooked and had been ready to go for far too long. Added to that, in the course of preparing lunch, I managed to cut myself so badly that I had to retire to the bedroom to bandage my bleeding finger.
There I found my wife who, as far as I can remember, had fallen out with one of her children – which is often the case at Christmas!
Even worse, the family dog appeared to have eaten some rat poison that had been put out near the pool and there was some doubt as to whether he would survive. We finally sat down to eat about three hours later than planned. I was acutely embarrassed because my goose was inedible and everything else was overcooked. But by the time we were well into the second bottle of champagne, and we started laughing about all that had gone wrong, the food was still delicious.
Once the tables had been cleared, we were all dancing to ABBA. It was one of the most memorable Christmases we ever had.
What’s your favourite thing to make on Boxing Day with the leftovers?
RS: Salad, and bubble and squeak with leftover potatoes and sprouts.
What advice would you give our readers to make cooking for a crowd a bit less stressful?
RS: The great thing about entertaining in Australia is that everyone you invite brings food, so it is much more about sharing and far less expectation on the host.
What summer produce do you most look forward to?
RS: Watermelon and rockmelon, avocados, mangoes, prawns, oysters and flathead.
You share your time between Australia and the UK, why do you love it so much here?
RS: We have three restaurants in Australia so I like to visit two or three times a year to check on everything. And I can’t help admitting that spending December, January and February in Australia is much nicer than in the UK!
Are there Christmas food traditions you’ve discovered and adopted while travelling?
RS: Yes, in Australia, prawns and oysters on Christmas Day, pavlova ice-cream cake and plum pudding ice-cream cake.
Read more Christmas tips from Rick
Rick Stein’s Christmas is available to buy at Amazon, Dymocks, Booktopia and Big W. It contains more than 100 recipes to get you through the Christmas season.
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