Tom Kerridge reveals the best part of a Big Mac

Tom Kerridge, the television chef, has hailed the taste of the Big Mac, praising honest interviewees who say the last meal they enjoyed was a McDonald’s, KFC or Domino’s Pizza.

Kerridge, whose restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars, told the High Performance podcast that when he speaks to applicants looking to work in his kitchens, he always asks them where they last ate and why it was good.

The Great British Menu judge said he had no problems if they sang the praises of a cheap takeaway like McDonald’s.

Kerridge said: “I’m quite happy for them to say McDonald’s. I’m quite happy for them to say KFC, a late-night Domino’s.

“Big Mac burger sauce is great. There’s a reason why that burger’s been around for ages.

“There’s something about that burger sauce – the connection of the mustard and the mayonnaise and the chopped gherkin. There’s a flavour profile.”

He says nervous but honest interviewees are quite surprised that he likes their answers, even if their last meal was somewhere cheap and cheerful or a takeaway rather than a fine dining restaurant.

He said: “It doesn’t matter what the answer is. They think I’m looking for them saying the Fat Duck or The Ledbury – super exciting – but I want them to be brutally honest.”

‘You need to get the best out of those people’

In the interview with Jake Humphrey and Damien Hughes on their High Performance podcast, Kerridge discussed the high-pressure environment of a kitchen and how he has worked to build establishments that challenge that habit, creating a more positive culture.

“You need to understand and get the best out of those people [in your kitchen].

“I think all good leaders try to connect with an individual, even if it’s just for 10 seconds, ask them how their day was.”

Kerridge also discussed the challenges of growing his culinary empire while battling his alcohol addiction. As he approached his 40th birthday in 2013, he decided to “ditch the alcohol” and lost 12 stone in five years.

“I think 40 for many people does get to a point of reflection… one of my best mates described it as halfway to death.

“I was 39 and I was like, you know what, if I keep doing this I’m not going to get to 50, I know I’m not. I’m over 30 stone, I’m drinking 20 pints of lager/ half a bottle of gin a day. No one’s getting through that.

“You have to start making decisions. [The] correct and right decisions at that point.”

Kerridge opened his first restaurant, the Hand and Flowers of Marlow, in 2005. Joined by his wife Beth, the pair took the run-down eatery and turned it into a Michelin-starred gastropub within its first year. In 2012, it received a second Michelin star, becoming the first gastropub to have been awarded the joint honour.

Since then, Kerridge and his “crew of culinary pirates” can be found across London, Manchester and Marlow, including the Butcher’s Tap and Grill pub in the Buckinghamshire town.