MasterChef John Torode the 10 best meals of my life

The 10 dishes that have shaped John Torode’s life.

Christmas Roasts

I lived with my nana for five years after my mother died (John was just four when Ann passed away from a heart condition). She was my greatest food inspiration.

The most important thing she taught me was to make people happy when you feed them, don’t try to show off.

I fondly remember Christmas when I was eight. We had roast chicken when chicken was still really expensive plus roast pork, roast beef and a leg of lamb.

The whole family came round and afterwards I got paid a dollar to do the washing-up. I spent hours doing it but I loved that day, just watching Nana cook. I can still smell the house now.

Strawberries Romanoff

My dad was always aspirational. When I was 11 he took my two brothers and I to the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne. It was very posh in those days.

I remember being very well dressed for the occasion and thinking how grand I was sitting in these big chairs. We watched this guy at the table serve us strawberries and cream, which looked amazing and had booze in it which I was allowed to have.

My dad was a really incredible man who travelled the world and was always a great cook. He opened the doors to show me things I never knew existed.

Pork Wellington

When I was 17 and had just started my cooking apprenticeship my dad decided a celebration was in order. He took me to a place called the Belvedere which was trendy and cutting edge.

I had Pork Wellington and I can still see that fillet wrapped in spinach and in puff pastry. It was served pink and looking at it I remember thinking this world of food was really exciting.

Ravioli

For my 21st birthday my step-mother Annie took me to the hippest place in Melbourne called Bar Biffi. It was this new Italian restaurant and it felt like being in Italy.

I ate pasta for the first time in my life. They had these tiny raviolis filled with pigeon and venison which was really unusual for Australia.

Annie had split from my dad and moved out by then but she was a very interesting lady from a very different world. She was fun, properly posh and we stayed mates for a while.

Gurnard Over Coals

I had just had two children very young and my first wife and I went on holiday to Portugal.

We didn’t have much money and it was a big thing to go away. We stayed in a place called Dunas Douradas in the Algarve and wandered down to a caf on the beach called Maria’s.

A man came round with a freshly-caught fish, gurnard, and this massive woman took it out the back, cut it up and cooked it over coals on a halved 44-gallon drum. We drank ros and ate fish like I’d never tasted before, simple and delicious.

Olive Oil Day At The River Cafe

When I was 27 I was working at Le Pont de la Tour and I was invited to the tasting day at the River Caf. I met a man called David Gleave who is a great wine merchant and he became a big mate.

The four courses were cooked by some of the great chefs and those people were so influential in my life. I can still recall the sea bass cooked in olive oil and the orange and olive oil cake.

Thai Fish Cakes

My love of Thai food came from a stop-off in Bangkok when I was going back and forwards to Australia for cook books.

The Thai fish cakes cost me 5p. They came in three bags one with the fish cake, one with chilli sauce and one with cucumber. I wandered along the street thinking how unbelievable this food was, fresh and just so cheap.

That’s where my love of Asian food came from. Until that day I didn’t realise how clever it was.

Two Bottles Of Grappa With Fish And Beef

I went on a road trip from Rome to Salerno to get mozzarella with a guy called Francesco who was big importer of it into London.

We stopped for lunch at an empty restaurant in an empty town and had the most amazing beef and fish with two bottles of Grappa (grape-based brandy).

I realised this was what cooking was all about. Forget the frills and other bits and pieces.

He was such a cool guy although later in the trip he took me to the airport and I’ve never been driven so fast in my life.

He disappeared and I don’t know what happened to him. But if you’re around, Francesco, I say hello!

Chicken Pie

I went to Claridge’s for a special occasion I’m not telling you why and had chicken pie on room service.

That’s when you realise you can take the most ordinary thing in the world and serve it in a way it can be worth a million dollars.

This man comes in and lays white linen on the table with these silver dishes.

There was beautifully-piped mash potatoes and peas piled up at the side of the plate. It might have been just like it had been done for 30 or 40 years, but was simply delicious.

Beef Sandwich

Despite all my time on MasterChef I can’t think of one dish that’s had a huge influence or impact. But my latest epiphany was when I was filming the BBC’s A Cook Abroad in Argentina just recently.

It gave me an understanding of how incredible meat can be when cooked slowly. I had been horse riding with the Gauchos and they had a whole rib of beef crackling away over an open fire for three hours.

At the end of it the guy got a knife, put a slice of bread on either side of the meat and then cut round it to make this amazing sandwich. Delicious!