An interview with Chris Baber

Ever since winning BBC’s Yes Chef in 2016, Chris Baber has charmed the nation with his upbeat recipe videos, charismatic persona and no-nonsense attitude to food. But beneath that jovial exterior there’s a deep-rooted desire to get more people cooking from scratch.

At the beginning of every recipe, “the first job is to get some good music on,” Chris Baber tells me. It doesn’t matter what – his own music taste is “eclectic”, as his Instagram followers will attest, ranging from 1980s pop to early-2000s hip-hop and modern hits. But, “if you’ve got some good music on, you can just switch off from everything and enjoy it.”

It’s likely this attitude began in childhood, when Chris would visit his nan and grandad’s house. “[They had] a tiny kitchen, it was always like a sauna. My grandad would be in there, the music would be on and he’d be singing and dancing. I could see how much he enjoyed the process and how much satisfaction he got from feeding the whole family."

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“What he did for me was make food fun.” From the age of just eight or nine, Chris began making dinner for his family at home in Hexham, Northumberland. “The reward for cooking is that when you make someone happy with your food, it’s the best feeling ever.”

Although it’s taken a variety of different forms since then, Chris’ love of simple home cooking has only strengthened. From appearing on Yes Chef to securing a deal with Marks & Spencer and writing his own recipe book, Easy, it’s safe to say the last few years have been a whirlwind for Chris. But he’s as keen as ever to stay true to his roots.

From TV to Michelin-star kitchens

Many people will recognise Chris from the BBC1 show Yes Chef, which he appeared on – and went on to win – in 2016. When he was contacted by the BBC to take part, ““I already had a few thousand followers on Instagram, but I was just posting pictures of my dinner for fun.”

After citing two-Michelin-starred Atul Kochhar as his inspiration on his application form, Chris’ biggest challenge came when the British-Indian chef ended up judging him on the competition. To raise the stakes even more, Chris had chosen to make one of Kochhar’s own recipes.

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“I remember plating it up for him and I’d never been so nervous in my life. He took a mouthful of it and said nothing for a few seconds. Then he looked me in the eye and said: 'Chris, you’ve absolutely nailed it.'"

“It was a defining moment. I suddenly realised I needed to be working in food. My friends and family had said I could cook, but when your hero, a Michelin-starred chef, tells you you can, it's something else entirely.”

After the show, Chris trained under Kochhar at his Mayfair restaurant, Tamarind. “It was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done, but it was incredible. I learned so much from being in a professional kitchen.”

Chris Baber's strawberry and raspberry crumble [image: Haraala Hamilton] Chris' strawberry and raspberry crumble (Image: Haraala Hamilton)

Yet after a while, he missed the simple, fuss-free meals that had got him into the culinary world in the first place.

“I realised my passion isn't actually Michelin-star fine dining. It’s helping people at home cook.” So Chris made the difficult decision to leave Kochhar’s kitchen behind (although he’s remained “a great friend and mentor” ever since) and go after his passion.

Building up a following on social media

Chris’ success, both before and after the show, has been thanks in no small part to social media. He’s racked up more than 160,000 Instagram followers thanks to his cooking videos, which deliver easy-to-follow recipes with a good dose of his trademark cheeky humour.

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“The thing I love about social media is I've built a really nice community of people. I never get any bad comments, because I genuinely go on there to have a bit of fun and share good recipes.”

And of course, all of his videos are set to his favourite tunes – Chris has even curated a playlist with all the music he likes to cook along to.

Removing barriers to cooking

Beneath the jovial persona that many of his fans will recognise, Chris has a more serious side. The one thing he’s most passionate about? Getting rid of the obstacles which prevent people making meals from scratch. He describes the three main barriers he’s identified and how he’s worked to address them in his cookbook, Easy.

The first is language. “Say you don’t do much cooking and you’ve been given a recipe book, and the first word you read is written in French. It'll say 'julienne the carrots' or something like that."

“As chefs, we take it for granted that everyone understands this, but quite frankly, they don't” he stresses. “In the book, I’ve written everything in easy-to-understand, descriptive, everyday language.”

Chris Baber's pesto baked eggs [image: Haraala Hamilton] Chris' pesto baked eggs (Image: Haraala Hamilton)

The second is the ingredients. “There are some beautiful cookbooks out there, but they’ll have massive long lists of ingredients and you'll think: I can't get all of that in one shop.”

“There's nothing wrong with that, but the audience I cook for is real people, with real lives. And if [they] haven't got access to the ingredients, that's another barrier. So everything in my book can be bought in the supermarket.”

The third is equipment, an issue which Chris became aware of when he moved from his family home to “a tiny box flat in London” where he didn’t have much space.

He realised he needed to simplify things. “In the book, I’ve made sure that for the majority of the recipes you only need basic equipment – most of them are made either on a chopping board, in a pan or on a baking tray.”

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Championing local ingredients

Chris is a huge advocate for eating seasonal, British produce, which is something he explored while filming a mini-series with M&S Food and ITV last year.

“We travelled all around the country, from Arbroath at the very top of Scotland, where we ate the most amazing Scottish strawberries, down to Jersey where we had Jersey Royal potatoes.”

The farmers he met had a clear message. “If you eat seasonal food, number one it tastes better and number two, it costs less. Why are people not doing this?”

It’s also more sustainable, I add. Which leads us nicely into a discussion about food waste – Chris believes binning food is “scandalous” and is a huge advocate for learning to love your leftovers.

“Rice is one of the most wasted ingredients, everyone bins it in this country. But if you go to China, any fried rice dish is made from cold rice from the previous day. So just depending on where you are in the world, reheating rice is an incredibly normal thing.” (Make sure you do so safely though – check out our tips here).

Chris Baber's Hoisin duck rice bowls [image: Haraala Hamilton] Chris' hoisin duck rice bowls (Image: Haraala Hamilton)

“Putting food in the bin is a waste of money, it’s bad for the environment. And I always say to people: imagine you’re throwing your money in the bin, because you really are.”

Keeping health simple

True to form, Chris is keen not to overcomplicate things when it comes to nutrition. “I'm a bit old-school,” he muses, “but I think it’s just about being mindful. I'd rather eat a smaller piece of really good cake than some 'healthy' brownie that isn't going to taste as good.”

The key may also lie in cooking from scratch. “It makes you understand what goes into the food you eat – whereas if you’d picked it up in the shop you wouldn’t have a clue.”

The bottom line? “I think food is there to be enjoyed in moderation, like everything in life.”

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Chris’ top tips

To save money: Go for cheaper cuts of meat, such as chicken thighs or chicken breasts. Use a little bit less of it, rather than scrimping on quality.

To cut food waste: Plan your meals each week before you go to the supermarket. Also, make sure you only cook what you’re going to eat.

If you buy a bunch of fresh herbs and only use half, chop the rest, put it into ice cube trays, pour over water and freeze it. That way you can just pop it into soups, stews and curries for an instant hit of fresh herbs. The same works for grated garlic or ginger.

To build confidence in the kitchen: Only choose a recipe you’ve got plenty of time to make. Read through your recipe and prep all your ingredients before you get started. Read through the first section of the book too – there are so many tips that will help beginners.

Top store cupboard staples: You should always have some basic carbohydrates on hand, so rice and pasta as a minimum. Chopped tomatoes and tinned chickpeas are always useful too. Make sure you’ve got a good selection of oils – olive, vegetable and extra-virgin – and stock cubes. They’re a great way to add a lot of flavour very cheaply.

Chris cookbook, Easy, is published by Ebury Press and reached #2 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases chart five months ahead of publication. It's available to purchase now and can also be found at Waterstones, Blackwells and Foyles. You can find out more about Chris via his website or by following him on Instagram.

Lead image is courtesy of Haraala Hamilton.