James Martin gives advice on cooking roast potatoes

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Saturday Morning chef James Martin, 49, is full of surprises and left Christopher Biggins stunned throughout his recent feature on his Show And Tell podcast. One surprising admission consisted of him driving to school on a tractor… at the young age of 10.

I was driving motorbikes and cars was when I was a kid!

James Martin

“Your driving test, did you pass first time?” Biggins asked the chef.

James beamed: “I did! I passed first time!

“I had a half an hour lesson and I did it, but I used to drive to school in a tractor when I was 10!”

Not expecting that revelation, Biggins burst out laughing and pressed him for more information.

“I used to drive through the farm and the back fields,” James continued before widening the host’s eyes a little more.

“I was driving motorbikes and cars was when I was a kid!” he admitted.

Remembering where he was, he quickly added, chuckling: “Not on the road may I add… occasionally!

“When you were young kids, that’s what you did!

“I remember tinkering with them mechanically wise and that’s what got me interested in them. Now my collections grown!” he said, showing of three bikes that were sat in his garage.

But that wasn’t the only revelation that left Biggins totally stunned.

Alongside one of his many culinary awards, James admitted he keeps his dog’s ashes in box that he taps every night before he goes to sleep, a mantra he described as “pretty special”.

“To me, pets are like family,” he said.

“When I was growing up, I grew up on a farm and I remember my first dog and the stuff that you go through when that dog passes away.

“And people look at it like, ‘Oh, it’s just a pet!’ It’s not just a pet,” he snapped.

“It’s a member of the family and those people who haven’t got any family, [to them] it might be a direct member of their family.”

He recalled first getting Fudge and how he soon became a “monumental pain in the a**e”.

“When I was about 26/27 I had a little dog called Fudge, who came to be a monumental pain the a**e,” James laughed.

“But he as my bestest friend and at the age of three months, he nearly died. I took him to the vets and they turned around and said, ‘In the morning he might not be here, so just hold him.’

“So, I fell asleep on the vet’s sofa and woke up in the morning and this little spaniel, who was 12 months old licked my face and we had this bond ever since!”

While James was over the moon Fudge was OK, he joked that things soon went down a very expensive hill as he was “allergic to everything”.

“It cost me £800 a month, every month, and the little s**t lived until he was 14/15! He would also never ever go upstairs, he’d just growl at you.”

But despite his flaws, James was devastated when his little pain passed away, saying: “When he passed away, I had his ashes put in a box and that box is by the side of my bed, next to this award.’

He added cheekily: “Because he never went upstairs, now he’s permanently b***dy upstairs! And every night I tap the box and look at this [the award] and it’s pretty special.”

Show and Tell with Christopher Biggins is available to listen to now on various platforms.

Source: Read Full Article