Aaron Lumsden, head chef at the British Golf Museum Cafe in St Andrews, sings the praises of tomatoes and other foods to Caroline Lindsay
Q Desert island food?
A My mum’s roast chicken dinner. It’s my favourite meal.
Q Favourite TV chef?
A The Hairy Bikers. They are honest and entertaining.
Q Favourite cook book?
A Practical Cookery. It’s abook that has been training chefs for 50 years and gave me the foundations of knowledge so I can now express myself creatively.
Q Favourite ingredient?
A Tomatoes. They can be used in anything cooked or uncooked, in light summer dishes or warm winter warmer, with a huge variety to choose from.
Q Most hated ingredient?
A Fennel. I really dislike the flavour.
Q Perfect dinner guest?
A Taylor Swift. Why? Well, that’s between me and Taylor. Sorry, Alyx.
Q Favourite kitchen gadget?
A Robot Coupe. Quite simply because I can grate or slice 10 kilo of anything in two minutes.
Q Favourite music to cook to?
A Anything by American rock band Fall Out Boy. I connect with their lyrical creativity and transfer that energy and enthusiasm into my work.
Q Perfect menu?
A A good variety of very different dishes and not just the usual ones I would cook at home.
Q Favourite country for food?
A Italy. Great tastes and relatively simple and straight to the point good food.
Q Favourite chef, alive or dead?
A Keith Floyd. Very entertaining and passionate about food.
Q Favourite culinary season?
A Summer. I like using our fresh local produce.
Q Salt or pepper?
A Pepper because I like a bit of heat in my food.
Q Favourite herb?
A Dill – it’s fresh and strong-tasting and can be used in many dishes.
Q Favourite spice?
A Cajun. I like heat but it also has a great flavour.
Q Favourite way to cook the humble potato?
A Mashed with plenty butter, seasoning and a little truffle oil.
Q Favourite go-to recipe if you’re in a hurry?
A Stir-fry – it’s tasty, quick and great for using up stuff in your fridge .
Q Favourite health food?
A Avocado.
Q Ideal picnic dish?
A Scotch eggs.
Q Ideal BBQ food?
A Marinated whole king prawns.
Q Are you critical of the food when you’re dining out?
A Not at all. I appreciate not having to cook once in a while.
Q Do you tip in restaurants?
A Always.
Q Top tip for failsafe cooking?
A Follow the recipe and don’t cut corners.
Q Worst cooking sin in your opinion?
A Dried herbs! Fresh herbs are so easily available and taste so much better.
Best ever scones
Makes 10-15
Ingredients
900g self-raising flour
200g sugar
188g salted butter
2 eggs plus 1 for egg wash
450ml buttermilk
1tsp baking powder
Handful of sultanas (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a bowl or mixer combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter together rubbing in the butter until you have a smooth crumb. Next add in the eggs, butter milk and baking powder, plus any other additions such as sultanas. Best to use a spatula if you don’t have a mixer for this Combine the mix together but don’t overwork it – you want to have it mixed and no more . It will be quite sticky at this point so lightly flour your hands and work surface and roll out the mix until it’s the thickness of your scone cutter.
Cut your scones and place on a grease proofed tray. Beat one egg and egg wash the scones. Place in oven for 20 minutes.
To check scones are ready lift one off the tray and tap the bottom and it should sound hollow.
