Everyone’s got that one meal that can lift the spirit and right the wrongs of the day in a single bite, and celebrity chefs are no exception. There are some pretty iconic celebrity chef dishes to take inspiration from, but sometimes, no matter how many international kitchens they’ve graced or how many perfectly plated meals they’ve created, nothing beats an easy-peasy meal to satisfy the guts of the most famous cooks. Jamie Oliver has no doubts about his comforting pasta dish that he’d happily eat as his last meal, Gordon Ramsay likes to keep his breakfast simple, and Marco Pierre White would gladly wolf down a straightforward ham sandwich. Turns out that nothing compares to a good ol’ ham sandwich, even for the godfather of modern cooking. Noted.
Marco Pierre White’s entire career has been outlined by his commitment to culinary excellence. At 33 years old, he was the first and youngest British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars (and then returned them after retiring and shifting his mentality about his place in the restaurant scene). The restaurateur and TV personality has opened restaurants across the U.K. including Marco’s New York Italian, Wheeler’s Fish & Chips, Mr White’s English Chophouse, and more. He has also trained some of Britain’s most successful chefs, such as Gordon Ramsay, Eric Chavot, and Curtis Stone. Still, having dedicated years to his craft, a ham sandwich is what he craves when he gets home after a long day out. While a basic ham sandwich is a humble and less-than-fancy meal, the celebrity chef hailing from Leeds does have a secret weapon to up the taste factor. Marco Pierre White enjoys his ham sandwich with some piccalilli — a mixed vegetable mustard relish — for ultimate flavor.
Is Marco Pierre White known for super simple dishes?
Yes and no. Marco Pierre White is adamant about cooking good food simply, as if you’re cooking for family more than to impress industry peers. In the past, he has commented on the disappointment of finding two or three Michelin star restaurants that prepare dishes that are technically perfect, but lack emotion. Staying true to the natural flavors of food is his north star. This also speaks to his upbringing in the countryside, where he began to appreciate nature in its simple beauty and brought that philosophy into his long career. The chef also names Italian food as one of his favorite cuisines, a country that has a restaurant culture of elaborate courses that require a cheat sheet to understand. With the hard-to-ignore flavors of Italian cuisine, it’s clear that White is no stranger to the art of extravagance balanced by the simplicity of good quality ingredients that elevate the plate.
The British chef has a knack for making the best of simple recipes and really working with the flavors and techniques to intensify them. One of his most famous and head-turning dishes is actually a pretty simple comfort food staple in British cuisine called shepherd’s pie, a casserole made with minced beef and vegetables and topped with baked potatoes. The ingredients are simple and easy to find in most grocery stores themselves, and the cooking doesn’t require expert-level skills. The legendary chef pairs the basic ingredients with a top-quality beef stock as the secret ingredient to turn a simple dish into a mind-blowing one. In fact, one of the signature dishes across the Marco Pierre White Restaurants is his Mr. Lambs Shepherd’s Pie. An internationally acclaimed chef that champions comfort food will always score highly in our books.
