Ten Questions with Chef Dan as he Discusses his New Cookbook

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1. Your new book ‘Toast, Hash, Roast, Mash’ has just come out and is doing very well. What was the inspiration behind it?
I wanted to share the kind of food I cook at home, be it quick and simple or a decadent brunch. The recipes are really easy and the ingredients are readily available too, which I think is really important.

2. How did you come up with the name?
It took a while, we really couldn’t think of anything. I remember one day just listing the kind of things that were in the book and it just came to me.

3. Do you have a favourite recipe from it?
I love the Mexican eggs, they aren’t too naughty and make a great hangover cure.

4. How does is it different from your first book ‘Duck & Waffle: Recipes and Stories’?
Recipes & Stories was a restaurant book, and had to reflect the restaurant in its entirety, meaning some of the recipes are quite technical. It was great to write that though, documenting those first 2 years was a special thing for both the team and me. Toast Hash Roast Mash is more homely I’d say, and more accessible.

5. If you were to advise someone who is rubbish at cooking, what three dishes would you say are great basics to know how to make?
Well, the first thing is to relax and enjoy cooking more; you’ll get better at it in no time. As for the 3 dishes, I’d say a good breakfast dish; so spend some time practicing cooking eggs. Then the possibilities are endless…. Next I’d suggest a good ragout for pasta, you can never eat enough pasta. To finish it would have to be a dessert. French toast perhaps?

6. Apart from your own books, what is your favourite cookbook?
I love books and have hundreds so this is a tricky question for me. If I had to choose, it would have to be the St John cookbook. It’s just a solid, simple book that works. Fergus is a legend too.

7. What would your death row meal be?
Langoustines with mayonnaise, a huge Sunday roast and a steamed treacle pudding with custard to finish.

8. If you could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life what would it be?
Tricky again. Would have to be Japanese if I had to choose. I think it has all the various elements we crave in its repertoire so would cover all the bases.

9. Who would your top five dinner party guests be – dead or alive?
Bobby Moore, My Uncle Dan, Lionel Richie, Amy Winehouse and Mo Farah.

10. What is your favourite dish on the Duck & Waffle menu?
I used to say the Ox Cheek doughnut but I think the baked eggs in wild mushroom cream with gruyere and truffle is taking over….

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