TV dinners and cinema snacks with pasta salad expert Tom Jackson

Pick ‘n’ mix

What was the last takeaway you ordered?
Sichuan Fry, part of the Dumpling Shack group. The mala chicken sandwiches and seaweed fries would win gold at the takeaway Olympics. They’ve now added Dumpling Shack’s dumplings and noodles to the existing menu, so I don’t need another restaurant to order from. I’d eat anything that owners John and Yee develop.

You can only have three condiments for the rest of your life – which are you choosing?
Assuming olive oil doesn’t count… Any Sichuanese-style chilli oil, Kewpie mayo, hot sauce (Kold Sauce is my favourite). Can I also have HP Sauce, specifically for well buttered sausage and/or bacon sandwiches?

What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you in the kitchen?
The first week working as a video chef I attempted to cut pierogi dough with an upturned martini glass. I still bear the scar, as does the hard drive.

Which are your favourite social media accounts you follow and why? The nicher the better…
Currently: Turkish restaurant @tasfirin (captions specifically), Aston Villa FC @avfcofficial, and cooks @rachelaliceroddy, @nick_bramham and @millielagares. Not an account, but I love to follow the #pastasalad hashtag; a really good laugh and a daily reminder of why I wrote my book.

The main meal

Which region of Italy do you think is home to the best pasta?
Oh dear. Really? This changes based on where in Italy I’ve recently returned from. So, this year, following my first trip to Rome, it’s going to have to be Lazio. My guanciale bar is higher than ever. I went to Emilia-Romagna on my honeymoon – wow, no messing around up there. I’m often drawn to Sicilian pasta, though. I crave sweet and savoury flavours, and the Arab influence on Sicilian cuisine is so interesting. Also, the closer to the equator (or Mt Etna) you get, the better the aubergines are. I love aubergines. In southern Italy the vegetables (and the pastas that carry them) are on another level.

What’s your favourite pasta salad from your cookbook?
I recently made pizza fritta pasta salad from the Great Sandwiches chapter and it was so good that I made it again the following day to take to a friend’s to watch England lose to Spain. Let’s just say it wasn’t all doom and gloom. It was born from a good memory of eating a volcanically hot ‘nduja, artichoke and olive pizza fritta on a volcanically hot day in Naples a few years ago. People should make that one, the salad alla norma, spanakopasta and/or the Sichuan-style pici salad.

 

What’s your TV snack of choice?
Usually my TV snack is dinner. All hail TV dinners. But if we’re talking cinematic snacks, it’s specific. Peanut M&Ms (it used to be chocolate peanuts but pick ’n’ mix stands don’t do them any more) and sour, chewy sweets, eaten at the same time, washed down with cold sparkling water. A bracing combo that commands your attention (and that of the film).

When did you learn to cook?
Save for a nine-month stint cooking at Railroad in Hackney (RIP), where I learned a lot, I’m self-taught. I guess I started cooking at the top of the stairs, smelling whatever Mum was making for her dinner party (usually something from the Moro cookbooks). Cooking with my family on holidays; watching Indian cooking channel Vahchef on YouTube; and cookbooks… I was obsessed with the Jamie At Home series at uni – I’d watch them all the time.

What attitudes towards food did you grow up with?
I wasn’t fussy per se but I was particular. We’d have themed meals for each day of the week, which laid the groundwork for my love of different cuisines. Growing up in Birmingham meant lots of spices and Indian food, which I find the most therapeutic to cook now. My attitude to food was simple as a kid – spaghetti with jarred pesto, merguez sausages from the barbecue and slices of french baguette heaving with Nutella.

How does your job (or hobbies) affect how you eat?
Unless it’s a restaurant reservation, I don’t like planning my meals too far in advance, as I spend so much time watching food content. I am a sponge for ‘foodfluence’, and like to keep my options open. I see someone making big fat chewy noodles? I make big fat chewy noodles.

What’s your biggest obstacle when it comes to cooking?
Time! And the sheer limitlessness of food and cooking. Sometimes it can feel daunting how little you know.

My bite-size week

What was the best thing you ate this week?
Spiced king prawn spaghettini. A recipe I’ve been making ever since our first trip to Venice. Thin spaghetti, a stock made from the shells infused with cinnamon and ginger. We call it prawns pasta. It’s absolutely mega.

Was there a meal you planned as a treat?
One of the things I miss most about living in Bethnal Green is a restaurant called Tas Firin. We’d eat there (or get a takeaway) at least once a week. They specialise in pide (like Turkish-style pizza) but everything is great – we particularly liked that you could order a side of halep sauce to eat with all the grilled meat, kind of like a build-your-own iskender/yoghurtlu kebab. They were closed for a refurb for ages and recently reopened. We went and it was as expected: everything.

Where did you shop for food – and what did you buy?
The International Store by St James Street in Walthamstow is great, and lives up to its name. The butcher at the back does great lamb chops. I also bought some delicious prawns from Fin and Flounder (for my pasta).

What did you do to relax?
Spent a Sunday down at Lloyd Park. A great park. The Finest Wines Available to Humanity has a stall next to the William Morris gallery – the selection there is always ace (and on ice).

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