Meet the top chefs keeping it in the family this Father’s Day

At work, professional chefs are rightly used having command of their kitchens, but when it comes to cooking with their children at home it’s a completely different story! Ahead of Father’s Day (June 19th) we discover what some of Britain’s food stars cook at home with their little chefs…

Mark Birchall, Chef Patron of Moor Hall 

“It’s such a treat cooking with my son in our kitchen at home on a day off as he likes to take full control - I’m certainly his sous chef! I might wait a year or two before I get him in the kitchen at Moor Hall though! I love seeing how excited he gets at the thought of cooking, he’s only eight! It reminds me of when I was younger. Scrambled eggs on toast is his favourite, he’d have that every day if he could. We use Cacklebean eggs at home, free range from their Cotswolds farm, which have the most brightly orange yolks. Superb quality. It’s the whisking of the eggs which James enjoys the most. He cooks them gently over a low heat, constantly turning them with a spatula and I’ve got to say, they’re the best scrambled eggs I’ve had, but then I’m biased!”

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Paul Ainsworth, Chef Owner of Ainsworth Collection

“Every Sunday, without fail, I make sure to carve out some time with my daughter CiCi to make pancakes together. To see her laughing when I flip them, often too energetically and occasionally they hit the ceiling, is just the best. We’ve also prepped fish together, not bad for a six year old! She is so interested to see how fish is fileted and has a real love for seafood. Most recently we made apple tarte tatin for her school, which donated a host of baked goods to the local hospice.”

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James Knappett, Chef Patron of Kitchen Table

“Sandia (my wife) and I have been cooking with our daughter Shea (three) from an early age. We never forced it on her, she just had a natural willingness to be involved which is lovely to see. She can make omelettes and scrambled eggs as well as all sorts of cakes.

She really loves stirring and weighing out all the ingredients, so something like banana bread is perfect for that! Cooking with Shea is a bit more stressful for me because I’m used to working in a super clean kitchen but she has definitely improved over the small amount of time that we’ve been cooking together. There used to be flour everywhere but now she takes real care in everything she does and has even started to boss us around!”

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Patrick Williams, Chef Patron of Kudu Collective 

“My favourite thing to cook with my girls, Luna (three) and Fleur (two) is chocolate chip cookies. I think baking is the best way to introduce young kids to cooking - there’s so many elements that they can get involved in. You can just throw everything into one bowl and they get to mix it all together with a big spoon and make as much mess as possible!

They really enjoy the process of seeing how all the ingredients blend together to make something totally different. They especially like rolling out the cookies, I guess because it’s a bit like playing with play dough. The good thing about cookies is that they don’t take long to cook at all - kids can get a little impatient when they are waiting for cookies!”