We live in a world with plentiful food options and fortunately here in the UK we have an abundance of fantastic ingredients to choose from. 

We choose foods for many reasons other than just being hungry. I’m not referring to the basic inventory of foods that we eat throughout the week but more about the ingredients that mean something to you, and what influences our decisions to use these ingredients. 

As a chef, food is my profession but it’s also my passion and without a doubt I spend the majority of my day thinking about food and what I can create with it. 

I decided to use this opportunity to list my top ten ingredients. These are 100% clean flavours, nothing can compare to them, they’re untouched, not altered or enhanced in any way and if you went back 100 years they would taste exactly the same.

1 Pomegranate Seeds

This is a unique fruit with a rich flavour and ruby red seeds that can bring a dish alive.  

2 Bee Pollen

This is one of nature’s most nourishing foods. It’s also a great natural energiser. It’s got a subtly sweet taste with a floral tang.

3 Simply Boiled Cauliflower

This reminds me of my childhood. There’s nothing better than a plate of simply boiled cauliflower with lots of cracked black pepper and salt.

4 Full Fat Milk

Remember when the milkman delivered milk bottles with the little foil caps? During the winter the cream would separate from the milk and it tasted delicious. The birds would even peck through the foil to get to the cream! 

5 Rock Salt

Using table salt on a dish is just like adding a blanket of saltiness. In comparison, you can control where you put rock salt. Season where and when you want in its raw and unrefined state. 

6 Vinegar

Any type of vinegar. When I was a child it was our tradition to eat lots of bland salads over the summer months. However, the highlight was the pickled onion and beetroot, simply because of their juice! I loved the sharpness and sourness. Now we’ve got a huge variety of vinegars available so there’s no need to crack open the pickled onion and beetroot. 

7 Caviar

From a chefs point of view it’s the ultimate food item. What a flavour. It’s the food of the millionaires and a symbol of luxury. 

8 Sirloin Steak

There’s nothing like beef – the King of meat. 

9 Farmhouse Cheddar (18 month old)

Cheddar puts a smile on my face. Whether it’s from Lanarkshire or Isle of Mull, the creamy concentration of flavour is exquisite.

10 Water

Simply nothing will quench your thirst like water does, it’s life and it’s in everything we eat. 

We’re in complete control of what we eat. We don’t think about this enough, so I’m asking you today to think of your top ten food items. Try and draw from past experiences and childhood familiarities. We all eat food, it’s such a huge part of our every day lives – but why do we eat the food we do?