Marcus’s sessions in the Kitchen Garden Theatre at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival will focus on cooking with herbs, which he says is a great way to inject flavour into dishes. He hopes to inspire visitors to pick up a few pots of plants and enjoy cooking with them in their own homes.
He’s also looking forward to meeting up with his pal Adam Frost, the BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, who will be appearing in the Festival Theatre and Kitchen Garden Theatre during the weekend.
The pair share a mutual love of music and good food and their Instagram reels have been a big hit with fans.
“I have always wanted to bring the food and gardening worlds
together,” he says. “I think more people are starting to get to that point now where they’re starting to link the two and cook with things they grow in the garden.
“Whether it’s fresh vegetables or fruit off the trees, there are so many delicious things we can grow in the UK.
“One day I would love to create something that brings together food, gardening and music: it very much ties in with important things like mind sets, mental health and motivation. These are things close to my heart.”
Marcus had been cooking at the pub for five years when he was selected as a contestant for Channel 4’s Iron Chef UK, which he went on to win, even though he felt out of his depth.
“I had never cooked in any kitchen other than my own at the pub,” he says. “I just got on with it.”
14
While he’s proud of this earlier success, the thing that means the most to him is having helped 25,000 people to learn to cook at the Brompton Cookery School, equipping them with an important life skill with the power to have an impact on their quality of life, health and finances.
“It was our passion; we used to go foraging, use both world and seasonal ingredients, and grow a lot of stuff in the garden,” he says.
“We did subsidised junior classes for eight to 16-year-olds.
“Cooking is one of the most important things that any person can learn, and it still frustrates me that schools don’t have it as part of the curriculum.
“There’s the quote: ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’.
“Teaching people the basics, such as how to combine flavours, is something I’ve done at the cookery school, on television and at events such as the RHS Malvern Spring Festival many times over the years.”
Being able to cook means having the ability to make the most of many of the delicious, seasonal ingredients available from around the Three Counties and Shropshire areas, such as asparagus from the Wye Valley and Charles Martell’s Hereford Hop cheese.
“There are so many great things produced locally, such as Willy’s Apple Cider Vinegar and Two Farmers’ crisps, and I’m a big fan of the Beefy Boys, who I’ve known since the days when they were doing pop up burger stands and came to the Street Food Shrewsbury events we used to hold.”
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
To see Marcus live, book tickets at
https://rhsmalvern.co.uk For the full schedule and reserve your place at
threecountiesfoodfestival.com.
INTERVI EW MARCUS BEAN
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