THE AGENDA Diary
Food writer and critic Tom Parker Bowles on a love of all things edible, a new adventure in the soft drinks world, and life as the son of a Queen
ago, and since then my whole life has centred around food. I eat it, write about it and I’m constantly thinking about it. Food isn’t just a hobby like flower-
arranging. It’s the prism through which one can see history, economics, sociology, all manner of things. Eating is the one thing that unites us; even if you’re eating to live instead of living to eat, you still have to do it, and it’s a shared experience. I think that’s wonderful and it makes me realise how lucky I am to have a job I absolutely love.
CORDIAL INTRODUCTION Now I’m starting a new chapter with my drinks brand, Christopher’s Cordials. My co-founder Jolyon Fenwick is really the genius behind it all, and he came up with the idea. Cordials are very English and I think
when one gets older, they tend to drink less [alcohol]. A lot of my friends don’t drink and they were fed up with being served the same alternatives all the time, so Jolyon and I decided to create a brand that focused on using quality ingredients like botanicals, organic cane sugar and fresh fruits. We’ve currently got three flavours: blackcurrant and blueberry; gooseberry and lime; and Sicilian lemon and redcurrant. Right now, it’s available exclusively at Fortnum & Mason but then we’ll be at Daylesford, Hertford Street and those sorts of places.
I GREW UP in a very food-loving household. My mother [Queen Camilla] is a good cook – she makes an excellent roast chicken – and my father [Andrew Parker Bowles] is a good gardener. It was certainly an adjustment when
I was sent off to prep school at the age of eight and the food was absolutely disgusting. But at home we’d only ever eat local, seasonal and organic foods – we hadn’t realised what a privilege that was then, because this was a time before that sort of produce became an excuse for supermarkets to charge extra money. I suppose all of that played a huge role in my becoming a food writer, because it was a very happy, well-fed childhood.
KING AND COUNTRYSIDE My stepfather [King Charles] is an absolute foodie. He was a food hero long before it was trendy, and has always talked about the importance of supporting regenerative and organic
My stepfather is an absolute foodie, a food
hero long before it was trendy
farming. People used to say: ‘What is he talking about?’, but now everything he’s ever said on the topic has been affirmed. It’s quite typical – everything he talks about, he’s spot-on. I can talk to the King about heritage vegetables and fruits for hours, and he has amazing knowledge on the countryside and British farming. He’s truly a magnificent man.
THE FOOD OF LIFE My career in food writing began 25 years
DRY RUN I don’t think alcohol will ever disappear, but people do need better alternatives, so we’re hoping to please everyone with these cordials, whether they want to drink it with water or use it as a mixer. Who’d have thought I’d be doing this at 50, but I’m really proud of it. It’s my mother’s birthday today, so perhaps she’ll celebrate with a bottle. She pays for it like everyone else, which is the best compliment – she wouldn’t buy it if she didn’t like it.
WORDS OF WISDOM It’s not difficult to balance being ‘Tom Parker Bowles, the food writer’ versus ‘Tom Parker Bowles, son of the Queen’. At the end of the day, you get on with it. You do the best you can. You write for your readers. You just do the work and you do it to the best of your ability. As told to Aisha Alli
ALAMY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
