Beverley Knight: 'I grew up with Scotch bonnet chillies'
My life in food, Beverley Knight: ‘I grew up with Scotch bonnet chillies’
The singer/songwriter, 50, tells Tom Parker Bowles about her dad’s Saturday soup, the greatest shepherd’s pie and why tomatoes are off menu
My first food memory is smelling Mum’s Jamaican cooking in the kitchen, especially her goat curry. She is a superb cook. It was only when I went to school that I realised what I ate was a little different from most other kids.
My dad was also a great cook. His speciality was a West Indian Saturday soup, which is always made… on a Saturday. Obviously. It’s a bit like Welsh cawl, as it’s lamb-based, but instead of leeks and potatoes, it has white sweet potatoes and dasheen, which is similar to yam.
At school I was introduced to dishes like spotted dick and toad in the hole. I enjoyed some of it, because it was so different from what I was used to, although I always had a massive problem with soggy vegetables.
The singer/songwriter, 50, tells Tom Parker Bowles about her dad’s Saturday soup, the greatest shepherd’s pie and why tomatoes are off menu
Beverley’s dream dish? Mushroom and truffle risotto at Sicily’s San Domenico Palace Hotel (pictured)
We got pocket money for doing our chores – me doing the polishing, my sister doing the ironing. And I would mostly spend it on sweets. To this day, I love sweets. Mum and Dad never used to buy us a lot of them, but on Fridays, Dad would come in with a brown bag of pear drops after work. We’d see that brown bag and get so excited.
No one does sweets better than the Brits. American ones are awful.
Growing up in a Jamaican household, you had to learn to cook. From an early age, we were peeling and chopping veg. And then Mum would leave me to do the yams or the green bananas or season the meat. And I quite liked that. But when I got to my teenage years, I was like ‘Ew, I don’t want to get my hands dirty.’ That phase passed and, as an adult, I went back to it.
I still cook classic Jamaican dishes. Well, when I get a chance to get in the kitchen, and my husband James doesn’t beat me to it. He’s a damned good cook and does most of the meals. I’ve taught him some Jamaican dishes, and then he turns around and does some of them better than me, which is really annoying.
Beverley eats avocados with lemon and a pinch of salt
You have to actively choose to eat well on the road. When you’re on tour, it’s so easy to eat badly. I’m lucky as I have caterers who come with me. I look at their menus and tailor them: if I’m eating healthy, then everyone is eating healthy! There will always be rotisserie or grilled chicken, huge salads and lots of vegetables. But everything is cooked from scratch, never any processed stuff. I try to eat as naturally as I can.
One of the best meals I ever had was at the San Domenico Palace hotel in Taormina, Sicily. We had just arrived, and were pretty knackered after the flights, so we ordered room service risotto. The flavours of mushroom and truffle were so potent and gorgeous, we’ve never forgotten it. James and I still talk about that risotto, and go back to the hotel just for that dish.
I hate raw tomatoes. Always have. It’s something about the texture. If it’s in a tomato sauce, then fine. But raw? No way. And I hate peas, too.
I grew up with Scotch bonnet chillies. I adore them. Encona Hot Pepper Sauce is a staple.
The singer’s final meal would be ackee and saltfish, with boiled green bananas and some callaloo
Shepherd’s pie is my favourite comfort food. I eat it with a spoon, like a child watching a movie. My friend James Lloyd is a superb chef and he does the world’s greatest version. I eat it until I’m so full I can hardly talk.
I always have avocado in the fridge, which I eat as a snack with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. And coconut water too; brilliant for hydration.
My final meal would be ackee and saltfish, with boiled green bananas. And some callaloo for my greens. I’d be away, and I’d say goodbye, and I’d be happy.
- Beverley’s new album, The Fifth Chapter, is out now and her UK tour starts next month. Tickets from gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk
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