If you were after any further proof that Gizzi Erskine is an excellent human being then how about this; she knows All Saints.
A few months back, All Saints came to an awards do The Debrief gang were at and, well, as expected, we lost our shit. For whatever reason, I chose to regale Gizzi with this tale the other week when I spoke to her which was when she told me that, since they've come back on the scene, she's got to know a couple of them a bit. 'Fucking hell they have the most perfect skin of all time.' She whispers.
Gizzi, a chef you by now know very well from writing dead good cook books like Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts, having a no nonsense approach to food, wearing excellent clothes and having a brilliant taste in cats, is very clearly an excellent human being.
Her newest book Seasons Eatings is basically about how to stuff your face in style from October through to January. It's about holiday feasting and, let me tell you this for free; there's not one recipe in the book you won't want in your mouth immediately. Even the ones with brussels sprouts in.
We had a chat with Gizzi to find out what her holiday season was like growing up, what her views are on so-called 'wellness' bloggers and what her perfect pre-pub stomach lining food.
Gizzi, I’m not goung to lie, reading this Christmassy book in September was a bit weird. It’s sunny outside.
I know I’m roasting.
Was it weird eating a mince pie in like, May?
It was actually the quickest book I’ve ever done. The deal was signed in October and then I cracked on for Halloween, then did the bonfire section… so everything was kind of done when it was meant to be.
What was your holiday season like growing up?
It actually makes me vomit a bit when I think about how nice and lovely it was. My mum always made a huge effort to make the house look incredible. It was full of all the lovely things, it smelt like Christmas. We made our own potpourri. There was lots of booze. Lots of bell-ringing…. Why didn’t I write about bell-ringing?
You did bell-ringing?
Yeah I loved it!
There’s loads of retro stuff in your cookbook. I feel like I haven’t seen a good sponge cake in ages.
Yeah I think we overthink dishes these days. I am the worst culprit for it. I love re-inventing food. I guess my favourite is doing new styles of old food. But sometimes I think ‘God we’ve taken this to another level now’ where like unless it’s got the next cool superfood or cool ingredient in it’s not considered a fresh idea. Sometimes I’m just like ‘what the fuck happened to that classic chocolate cake?’
Yeah I think we've gone a bit mad about food. Have you hear about the moderation movement? It’s a new 'trend' to eat healthily, in moderation, like we were always supposed to...
Has that really happened?
It’s really happened.
That makes me furious! I’m going to explode that’s so annoying. I do believe as a nation we need to be eating healthier but it’s a shame that we have to go to extremes. It is nice to have healthier options out there, it’s nice to have ethical options… But I feel like even people who wouldn’t have recognised that there might have been these issues [to do with wellness] are now accepting them.
Do you think the backlash is coming?
I’m seeing so many of these people who used to preach that we should be eating in this really extreme way going back on their words and it makes me so cross. Of course it’s imploding. Nobody can eat like that forever and be a happy, healthy person.
I think you’ve always been quite vocal about having a bit of what you want all the time, just make sure it’s in moderation.
Yes. Absolutely. Although I must say this book was the first book that I wrote that wasn’t a health book and it was really nice. No holds barred.
That's what Christmas is all about! Hey just finally... if you’ve got five minutes when you come home before you go to the pub and you need to eat some food before you booze what can you cook?
Do you know what, I would probably make pasta. Can I have ten minutes?
Seeing as it’s you.
Yeah I’d boil some pasta, fry some garlic, some chilli, some anchovies and get a big bunch of parsley or broccoli or kale and blanch it for like two minutes and blend them to make a pesto. Then I’d bung that in the pasta.
Good stomach lining food.
Yep indeed!
See you at the pub!
Gizzi's Season's Eatings: Feasts & Celebrations from Halloween to Happy New Year is out September 8th. Get your copy here.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Not Plant Based: Why 2 Girls Are Fighting Back Against So-Called 'Wellness' Bloggers
Gizzi Erskine: ‘If You Can Eat Wheat Then For God’s Sake Eat Wheat!’
The Moderation Movement Food Trend Is Proof That We've Lost The Plot About Our Diets
Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.