Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White reveals one thing you should never freeze
There are lots of associations we make with frozen foods as a society, from the unhealthy or fried food connotations to the 'this can be frozen, but that can't be' debate.
However, celebrity chef Marco Pierre White says it's all down to "snobbery", not bad food or lazy cooking, and admits he freezes things not just at home but in restaurants.
"I think there's nothing wrong with frozen," White tells 9honey Kitchen in London.
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Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White says there is "nothing wrong" with frozen food and admits he freezes things not just at home but in restaurants. Supplied
"I could braise an ox cheek today with red wine, like a bourguignon, cool it down, portion it, freeze it, serve it in my restaurant, and no-one would ever know it was frozen.
"I've worked in three starred Michelins that have braised food and frozen it down in portions, because it doesn't affect it anyway, whatsoever. And when you braise a big batch, it always tastes better than a small batch."
The well-loved TV personality became the first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars back in 1995.
Now, the famed restaurateur, who has a number of best-selling cookbooks to his name, is teaming up with Australian gourmet meal delivery service Providoor.
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He's designed a menu range of 11 dishes, including dairy-free and gluten-free options, which are pre-prepared, frozen and brought to your door (though currently only to households across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane).
White says even he's been known to defrost and use food in a similar way in his own home over the years.
"On a Sunday when I was at home, when I was a younger man, I would always make one of the major sauces, like I'd make a ragu or Bolognese today, two litres of it, and I break it down into four portions.
Marco Pierre White's Guinness Braised Brisket Stew for Providoor Supplied
"So therefore, when I've got the family and I want to make things easy and simple, just bring out a pouch from the freezer, defrost it, cook my pasta and then work it through, a bit of Parmesan, bit of olive oil. Delicious.
The father-of-three adds that while he was "trained to do that" and knows "it's slightly easier for me", it's an idea any household can adopt.
There is one thing the celebrity chef will never freeze, though.
"I wouldn't advise freezing fish, for example, when it's cooked," he tells 9honey Kitchen.
However other items, like the much-debated potato, he says are totally fine.
"I do my own mash rage in England, which is frozen. It's fine. And then the individual just adds their butter and milk to it and finishes it off," White says, adding that "the technology" has come a long way.
The famed restaurateur has teaming up with Australian gourmet meal delivery service, Providoor, to design a menu range of 11 dishes. Supplied
One of his Providoor dishes, the Guinness Braised Brisket Stew, is recommended to be eaten with mash but White's favourite of the bunch is a classic.
"Pasta's always the winner," he tells 9Honey Kitchen.
"I always believe in keeping things simple, [so] I would mostly go for the Signature Bolognese, with the veal and the pork, wine."
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