Wednesday, 9 February 2011

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Phil Vickery turns Fern Britton's kitchen into a food-lab

TV chef Phil Vickery reveals why he won't be beaten by a pork pie

Phil Vickery loves cooking for wife Fern Britton

Phil Vickery is tucking into a late, gluten-free breakfast at the stylish Covent Garden Hotel in London when NOW's Let's Eat page catches up with him.

TV chef Phil Vickery, all twinkly blue eyes and checked shirt (you're a lucky woman, Fern Britton) has come along to help Warburton's launch a range of tasty, gluten-free loaves and tea-cakes.

Because these days, Phil's quite the Heston Blumenthal of the gluten-free and coeliac world and he's turned the family kitchen into a food-lab.

‘I spend hours experimenting in our kitchen at home,' says Phil.

‘Cooking without gluten turned out to be far more complicated than just swapping wheat for a different flour.'

Not that wife Fern or the kids has problems with wheat. Phil's interest happened by accident.

‘A few seasons ago the price of organic flour shot through the roof which made things difficult for my range of Christmas puddings,' says Phil.

‘Then I heard rice flour was just as good, but a fraction of the price.

‘So I tried it and it was perfect. Then I realized the puddings were now gluten-free too. 

'But I couldn't believe it when people on gluten-free diets started buying ten at a time.'

Realising he was on to something, Phil started to create more gluten free dishes for a cookery book: Seriously Good Gluten Free Baking.

‘It was much more difficult than I realised,' says Phil.

‘My focaccia bread went flat as a pancake and I had to make it over and over again before l got the recipe right.

‘Turned out adding salt early on killed the mixture.'

Fortunately Phil isn't a man who gives up easily. Right now he's wrestling with flakey pastry and an authentic pork pie.

‘I haven't got the flakey pastry right yet,' he says, ‘and as for the pork pie - I've tried nine versions and it's still not up to scratch. I won't be beaten though. I'll get there!'

Seems like Fern won't be getting her kitchen back for quite a while.

SEE PICTURES The amazing shrinking Fern Britton>>