Geoffrey Smeddle

Celebrity chef

A Michelin-starred chef proprietor of The Peat Inn, Cupar, I've been sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm of cooking in the Sunday Herald and HeraldScotland since June 2004.

A Michelin-starred chef proprietor of The Peat Inn, Cupar, I've been sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm of cooking in the Sunday Herald and HeraldScotland since June 2004.

Latest articles from Geoffrey Smeddle

Sweet taste of home: nostalgic desserts from Geoffrey Smeddle

A WRITER once noted that we get the restaurants we deserve: if people do not support a business, it will shut. What remains, for better or worse, are the places that punters do visit. Since May 2004, when I submitted my first ever column to this paper, I have seen many restaurants come and go. I have learned, too, that writing is quite like cooking: it’s not as easy as it looks, everyone thinks they could do it and everyone has an opinion. My mission here has always been simple: make cooking techniques more transparent and less intimidating, so people enjoy cooking more at home. Some amazing readers have inspired me, especially the man who, for a full year, cooked each week’s recipes. It has been a privilege to be here every Sunday for the last 12 years. But nothing lasts forever; today is my last column. So, what parting cooking advice then?

Still game ... whatever the season: Geoffrey Smeddle's pigeon recipes

WHEN the game season ends in late January, there is an odd sense of shock. Suddenly, you are deprived, as a chef, of using some of Scotland’s most wonderful ingredients. But the return of the next game season in August still far beyond the horizon, I still find a way to serve game, both on my menu and at home, thanks to wood pigeon.

Give pizza a chance: Geoffrey Smeddle's cooks up an often-overlooked classic

OF all the excellent reasons to visit Italy, my list of priorities is topped, every time, by something so simple: pizza. If this sounds like the dull side of predictable, I would understand: I mean, what could be more familiar? But I beg to differ. We all like to believe we know pizza. In truth, the thinly-stretched dough base and carefully paired, intense toppings you experience when in Italy bear little relation to the pizza so frequently offered once home. A whole new, revelatory light illuminates pizza in Italy: the uncompromising floodlight of authenticity.

Movie night treats: Geoffrey Smeddle's snack recipes

IT'S movie night. On Sunday evenings, when the restaurant is closed, we shut the door on the world and hit the living room. We will swing the sofa around to face the television, square on, just like in the cinema. My wife and I will cram onto the sofa with our two children (both still young enough to want to be with us, thank goodness) and the film starts.

Feel the heat: Geoffrey Smeddle makes curry

THE hard frost has stayed crisp and immovable outside all day, even under the bright glare of the sparkling winter sun. When temperatures are this icy, a spicy curry – offering heat in every sense – always beckons.

Warming as toasties: Geoffrey Smeddle's delicious variations on everyone's favourite winter snack

BRIGHT, cold Sundays were made for winter walks. I never mind how low the temperatures drop, if the pale blue sky dazzles with the glare of the January sun. Off we stomp together, down to the dense woods that lie beyond the frosty fields, behind The Peat Inn gardens, with our children. Their little legs keep them going for an impressive distance until a wearying mix of cold, tiredness and hunger wins the day. It’s straight home for tea. No matter what options we might suggest, Mum and Dad’s post-walk offerings are drowned out by the same conspiratorial cry: "Cheese toastie."

Geoffrey Smeddle: A super-food start to the New Year

NEW Year’s Resolutions. There. I said it; what are your emotions right now? Does your soul stiffen with determination? Are your teeth gritted against the swirling winds of temptation pushing you from your course? Do your eyes narrow on your distant but worthy goal?

Geoffrey Smeddle: mulled wine and sweetmeats to start the year

HAPPY New Year! Does a new year mean a new dietary regime? Promises of personal improvement? I have a confession to make: I still have Christmas goodies sitting in cupboards and corners of the fridge. My shopping in the approach to Christmas can be a little exuberant. What hope is there of a disciplined January with treats still lurking, waiting to derail good intentions? So, for just a few more days, let’s use up the festive season’s flavours before the opportunity is lost.

Rock that stock

THE backbone of any kitchen worth its salt is good, freshly made stock. Our most used stock is a combination of roasted chicken carcasses and necks, carrots, onions, a few tomatoes and mushrooms, water and time (not thyme), nothing else. Wine, herbs, seasonings and garlic come later, when we use it. The resulting brown stock is the basis for sauce-making, braising meats and simmering certain vegetables. From unremarkable ingredients, comes an indispensable, precious foundation.

Trimmed with love: Geoffrey Smeddle's special sprouts and mincemeat crackers

THERE is excitement and anticipation; there is the agonised yearning among children, for whom each crawling day feels like a week. There is some anxious organisation to undertake for the person (or hopefully "people") taking care of the cooking: all these brushstrokes of emotion paint a picture of the approach to Christmas Day.