Summer 2009
WHAT DOES FOOD MEAN TO YOU?
Starting with the next edition, your take on V magazine’s issue theme will be what matters. But to start you off, the magazine team explain what food means to them…
1. Darren Styles, Publishing Editor
“I wasn’t allowed to be a fussy eater as a child, so as I’ve grown older I’ve never been afraid to try a little bit of everything that’s crossed the dinner table – from kangaroo to alligator, from snails done six ways to sushi. But again, reflective of my formative years, it’s the basics done beautifully I find exciting nowadays.
“I can admire the art in a courgette-infused foam, or an intricate basket of caramelised sugar atop a dessert containing five different chocolates, but oysters pulled straight from the sea, a medium rare fillet steak with proper thick-cut chips and some good cheese to finish is Utopia found.
“The Fairyhill Hotel and Restaurant, on the beautiful Gower peninsula near Swansea, has been my escape from reality for nearly fifteen years now, and when asked what constitutes eating happiness, the image that flashes before my eyes is the very one you see here. Plus they roll fresh cockles in seasoned flour, deep fry them and serve as an amuse bouche as you peruse the menu. How could that fail to whet an appetite?”
2. Lee Penton, Art Director
“Summer picnics are my favourite way of enjoying food. They were a big family thing when I was young. My dad used to pile us into the car on a sunny Sunday and we’d drive out to the country or the beach with the picnic my mum had prepared... cheese and ham sandwiches, crisps, home-made cake and pop. It always seemed like a feast to me, and taste so much better for being eaten in the open air. My daughter, Evie, is only 18 months old but my wife Sarah and I have already started our own family picnic tradition with her.”
3. Ann Wallace, Editorial Director
“My first foodie memory is of sitting on the back step of our house, in the sun, helping my mother to shell peas that she had just picked from the garden. One for the pot, one for me…
“When I was a bit older, I would be sent off to pick mint for the sauce to go with the roast lamb on Sunday and, rather dangerously in today’s eyes, then allowed to stir the saucepan of Bird’s custard on top of the stove until it thickened (it seemed to take forever). The custard was to go with home-made apple pie, made with apples from the tree in the garden, of course.
“My mum came to live with us when our children were small and insisted on taking over all the cooking. No ready meals or instant mash for my two as they grew up – every meal was home-made from scratch, just as it had been in my childhood. Today, my son is a chef and my daughter an enthusiastic cook – everything fresh and home-made, of course. My mother’s cooking was the best gift they – and I – could have had.”
4. Nina San, Editor
“I belong to a truly cosmopolitan family – it includes French, Italian, Finnish, English and Cambodian – so I’ve been lucky enough to experience a wide variety of different foods over the years. We’re a pretty far-flung family, all living in different countries, so on the occasions we do manage to get together, we always celebrate with a meal that can last for hours. Sharing food gives us the perfect opportunity to catch up on family news – and there’s always so much of both!
“Perhaps it’s my cosmopolitan background that has encouraged me to try the local cuisine whenever I travel abroad. It’s also a great way to get to know the local people and understand something of their culture.
“I never take food for granted. I’m very aware of the hunger that exists in the world so I try not to waste anything. Not that there’s much chance of that when my family gets together!”
5. Matthew Jenns, Account Director
“As a youngster, being able to choose whatever I wanted to eat on my birthday was always a great end to an exciting day. Though I was easily pleased. Some of my friends went to Wimpy (we were given £1.50 each and left there, feeling like proper adults), others had their mum do cheesy-beans on toast. But my choice was always spaghetti bolognaise. From the age of six until I left home twelve years later.”
YOUR VIEW
Want to see yourself on these pages? The next V magazine is our British issue, and we want you to tell us what British means to you. There’s a £30 Waitrose voucher for the senders of all contributions that we use, so give us a shout today at vmeditor@vauxhall.co.uk or write to The Editor, The Vauxhall Magazine, General Motors UK Ltd, UK-103-315, Griffin House, Osborne Road, Luton, Beds LU1 3YT by the closing date September 1st 2009