Ella Walker chats to the celebrity chef about his favourite tipples - boozy and otherwise.
Rick Stein very much seems like the kind of guy it'd be fun to share a fish supper and a beer (or two) with.
The revered celebrity chef and seafood aficionado is often seen in his television series eating an enviable array of food, with a cold glass of white on the side. So on the releases of his latest cookbook, Rick Stein's Secret France, it seemed only right to find out what's in his drinks repertoire...
What's your desert island drink?
"Just to dispel any blues, I'd go for a negroni."
Soft drink: diet or full fat?
"Full fat."
How do you take your tea?
"With milk, English breakfast, Yorkshire tea with milk."
Still or sparkling or tap?
"Sparkling. I just find tap water and still really boring I'm afraid, and I love sparkling water."
Are you fussy about your ice?
"I am not fond of - going back to negronis - the trend for having a big ice cube in your glass, it doesn't work. I like ordinary ice, thanks, it makes nice clinking noises as you stir it round with your cocktail stirrer."
What's the cocktail you make when friends come round?
"I don't, really. I tend to just make gin and tonics or vodka tonics, but I find the gin craze bloody confusing. [But] I do appreciate there are some lovely gins out there. I think it's quite fun."
Any booze you just can't stand?
"I can't stand sweetener in drinks. It's a real sadness that so many hitherto lovely sweetened drinks, like San Pellegrino, now have sweetener in them. I just can't stand the taste, and I wonder how healthy they are ultimately."
What's your beer of choice?
"Now there you're talking! Ha ha! My favourite is St Austell Brewery in Cornwall's Trelawny, it's only 3.8%, you call it a session beer. And in Australia [where Stein runs restaurants and spends much of his time], Victoria Bitter for the same reason. It's not-too-strong draught beer. If bottled, I tend to just drink Peroni or Corona, because I like the lime in Mexican beer - memories of Mexico for me."
What did you first get drunk on?
"Actually with my dad on St Austell beer, ha ha, I must have been about 16. I'd had a couple of pints in the pub and I just remember stumbling out; a rite of passage really."
If money was no option, what would you drink?
"Montrachet or Corton-Charlemagne, because I love white burgundy."
Rick Stein's Secret France by Rick Stein, photography by James Murphy, is published by BBC Books, priced £26. Available now.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here