Gill Meller is a celebrated chef, food writer, and teacher, who continues to make significant contributions to the culinary world. Currently, he teaches at the River Cottage cookery school, collaborates on various projects, and writes cookbooks that highlight the joys of outdoor cooking and the natural connection between food and nature. His latest work focuses on simple, seasonal cooking that emphasizes the natural flavours of ingredients, a philosophy that has defined his career.
It was a pleasure chatting with Gill and learning about his journey. With over 18 years of experience, including 11 years working closely with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage, Gill’s passion for cooking and the outdoors is truly inspiring. His dedication to simplicity and letting ingredients shine, whether cooking indoors or over an open fire, is a testament to his love for food and nature.
What does your Monday morning routine look like?
I always plan to wake up at 6 am but usually, I won’t get up until 6:30 or 7 am! I’ll have a black coffee, usually in bed, shower, dress and sometimes take the dog out with my wife, although she’s usually better at doing that than me, particularly on a Monday morning when I feel I just need to throw myself into all the work I didn’t do over the weekend. I’ll think about having something to eat, but usually, I’ll wait till lunch as I feel it’s good not to eat too much in the morning after too much excess over the weekend. I’ll think about the week, look at the schedule and plan loosely what I’m going to be doing, and where I’m going to be. I’ll get my head in the right space to kick off the week. And then I’ll also think about the food that we’re going to eat and whether we’ll be at home or out and how that all stacks up – normally that condenses into about 20 minutes and then it’s straight into it!
What’s your all-time favourite movie, and why?
Hang fire a minute! That’s hard. There are a lot of good movies out there, too many to choose from, but if I were to land on something that I always thought was really good and quite unusual, it would be Platoon. A war film. A great portrait of a time and a place that we weren’t party to but was quite recent. It was almost like a biography for Oliver Stone (the director), because he was in Vietnam.
What are you currently reading?
I’m not reading a book as I’ve been completely distracted by other things but my daughter bought me a subscription to Classic Boat magazine. I love wooden boats and old sailing boats and I have an old sailing boat. This pile of magazines had been stacking up and I hadn’t had a chance to read them and then we had a bit of a break and I took them with me and I read them cover to cover and that was quite nice! I love anything that takes me to a different time, takes me away from modern life for a moment and old wooden boats do that. Old Land Rovers and old films too. Obviously, I found a wooden boat that I fell in love with that was for sale in one of the magazines, so now I’ve got that on my mind! I’m trying to work out how I sell my boat and buy that one. The problem is that no one wants old wooden boats anymore, so they’re quite hard to sell.
What’s a hidden talent or skill that most people don’t know you possess?
I’m quite creative. Before I started cooking, I was studying art, photography, art history and graphic design. That has come into play in all sorts of ways in the work that I do with food, but I still enjoy creating something nice to look at that’s not edible. Just sitting down and doing a pencil drawing can be very, very rewarding. I like to write poetry too. That has appeared here and there in my cookbooks and that’s something I enjoy. It’s not something everyone knows about and I wouldn’t say it is a hidden talent, but I certainly enjoy doing it.
If you could visit any place in the world right now, where would you go?
I’m very torn up about what’s going on in the Middle East and I have internal battles all the time about how I could potentially help, even in the slightest way, bar donating some money, which I have done. In the darkness of it all, I think what I really should do is go and volunteer to cook in a field kitchen in Gaza. I could possibly make it happen, but the other problem is HOW do you make that happen, you know?
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
I don’t really do karaoke, but there is a really lovely Bob Dylan song called Moonshiner. It’s hard not to break out into song when that comes on because it is very beautiful. Tonally it’s just great.
What is your most memorable foodie childhood memory?
There are lots, but one I’ve written about in the past is when a friend of mine and I were mucking about. We grew up in the countryside and we were out in the fields during autumn, and we found some mushrooms growing at the foot of a tree. We picked the mushrooms, climbed into the bough of this tree, just off the village cricket pitch and we got a fire going. Just a small campfire and we cut the mushrooms up and put them on sticks and toasted them in the fire and ate them. It’s a very poignant little moment in my food life. We had no idea if they were poisonous or not before we toasted them, but they were very tasty!
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?
There are two things. I’d quite like to be able to fly. I mean, who wouldn’t! That’s a great power. The other thing I’ve always slightly fantasised about would be to have a laser beam that comes out of my finger that no one can see and when you point it around it will cut whatever you’re pointing at in half. But not only that – it would go through, and it would never stop, so it would cut whatever was behind that. It would be very dangerous, and you’d have to be very careful – wield it with care. I’ve also always thought it would be amazing to have your bed outside in a storm but protected by a force field or bubble of sorts. You could be anywhere in your bed, but you’d be completely protected.
What job is the favourite you’ve ever had and what made it so special?
I’ve got two! The first one would be when I was a young chef, and I got the job at River Cottage. I felt an enormous sense of satisfaction and I was very happy because it felt like such a great opportunity. I was a fan of River Cottage, and I’d watched it on television, and I had bought Hugh’s book. To suddenly be part of that and cooking alongside him was a great moment in my career. The other job I felt a huge amount of satisfaction from was building the house that we live in. Not all by myself but being part of that big project has been very rewarding. It’s played a big part in our life and now we’re 10 years after we started and we’re in a good place. It’s been a hard job, but not one I would shy away from.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
I think some of the advice that you get from your mother is probably some of the soundest advice you’ll take with you into adulthood. Something as simple as: ‘Be a kind person.’ I know it sounds insignificant, but it’s probably one of the most important characteristics you can have as a person. If you can do that throughout your life, then you stand a better chance of being happy yourself, I think.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
I think maybe some of the sailing voyages that I’ve been on, on my own. They’ve been quite adventurous in the sense that you’re out there on your own without anyone else to lean on. Just you, out in the elements. I quite like doing that. It’s a good time to switch off and that’s an adventure in itself! To just be comfortable with being alone with your own thoughts.
If you could meet any living person for a conversation, who would it be?
I would love to sit down and have a conversation with David Attenborough before he dies. I’ve watched him since I was a child and he’s always been a person that inspires respect. He’s got a very endearing personality and is very comforting to listen to – beyond his knowledge of nature and the natural world I would just like to be in his presence and listen to him.
What is your favourite food/drink product on the market right now and why?
Pipers Farm chicken for roasting. Their chickens are really, really good. So delicious. I would also recommend Bold Bean Co’s Queen Butterbeans. They’re amazing. That and their chickpeas.
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
The thing is, we live in such an amazing spot that it’s hard to go on holiday! We love going to the south coast of Cornwall and spending a weekend there. In the winter it’s quite bleak and wild by the coast – very nice. A little moment away.
What would you do if you weren’t in the food, drink & hospitality industry?
I often have a longing to just do something very simple, like dry stone walling or log splitting. Something where there is no need to think. It’s timeless, physical. That kind of work. Or perhaps building wooden boats. Something that hasn’t changed for hundreds of years in how it’s done. The skills you need, the tools you use are essentially still the same.
To connect with Gill you can contact him via gill@gillmeller.com
