Kevin Gould: the guru of food

Journalist, consultant, photographer, designer, campaigner, parent. What words best describe Kevin Gould? He is a man of many talents but his finest attribute is that he is fun to be with. All those who come into contact with him, leave with a spring in their step and a smile on their face. So what is it that makes this man tick in overtime?

Passion is Kevin Gould's driving force, not least because we feasted on artichoke at our meeting (incidentally, a food he recommends to eat with lovers in Loving and Cooking).

Food is of great concern to him and he is worried the way we British treat it. ‘Part of the problem is that we have a wide but relatively shallow food vocabulary.' The television is awash with food programmes and ‘We all know our linguine from our fettucine and pesto from Parmesan.' But do we know how to cook it? Ten years have seen great changes but inevitably as the vocabulary expands, it is in danger of becoming more clichéd.

In order to overcome this, Kevin's approach is thus, ‘All I can try and do is add a little bit of context to food by using little devices that just make you think more about it. There's nothing more intimate that you do in every day life than make and eat food. It becomes you and nourishes. The idea that it should be reduced to a formula is to denigrate it somewhat.' Kevin wants to get people to take notice. This seems like a formidable task when we are a nation of fast food consumers.

As a writer
Kevin writes for a number of newspapers and magazines. His dry sense of humour is always prevalent in his articles. But it was his first book, Dishy, that made everybody sit up. It broke new ground with the clever use of flow charts. Subsequently, certain elements of this device were employed in some advertising campaigns, namely Heinz tomato ketchup and Nescafé. Kevin also feels that it also made people, who were writing cookbooks at the time, think about how their books should look. He is proud of Dishy, written at a mad time in his life, and he admits that you either loved it or hated it and he says ‘Many did hate it'.


Kevin wants to make you understand that you, as the cook, are the most important ingredient. This concept is fundamental to his latest book, Loving and Cooking. By introducing recipes with a story, he hopes to make you feel different about the end product. He injects romance and passion to what is essentially a life skill. The photography in Loving and Cooking is not proscriptive either.

As a photographer
Kevin has no formal training in photography, just help and support from friends, Jason Lowe and Simon Bell, who happen to be at the forefront of their profession. They said that photography was the natural progression for him and they gave him a camera and some lenses. He loves being artistic with the one drawback that he cannot draw so photography is the one outlet where he can express himself.

He particularly likes the fact that it is easy to break the rules too. He loves putting things out of context, closing right in on a shot of crackling on a suckling pig. Or injecting some humour by balancing a bowl of tomatoes perilously close to the edge so they have that will they, won't they look about them.

He now receives commissions from all over the world, the top Australian and American food magazines are crying out for his services.

As a designer
Another facet of this diamond is Kevin as a designer. He was approached by Ikea to design a range of tableware, which would sell at their stores worldwide. Kevin saw this as a huge challenge. It has been a fascinating project on all levels: the range was to be interchangeable for all family occasions. Kevin learnt about working within various restraints: manufacturing, transport and merchandising.

What sells in Shanghai must also sell in Brent Park. This led him to think about the differences between bowls of noodles, pasta and rice. Although Kevin says that ‘I didn't really design them as Ikea has a team of designers.' We do know that Kevin was instrumental and inspirational in the design. The range will be introduced into the stores in mid 2003.


As a campaigner
Kevin insists that he is not a natural campaigner but feels that he has a responsibility as a food writer to make people think about where food comes from. He is annoyed at the way organic food has been marketed here. ‘You don't trust the rest, try this one.' He believes there will be a big fallout when parents and their children continue to get ill, even though they've only ever eaten organic food.

We talked about chemophobes. These are the mums and dads who say ‘Sorry kids, we're not eating vegetables today ‘cos we couldn't find anything organic.' Kevin reckons that sadly elements of that will come here from the States. As he puts it, ‘I would rather have non organic asparagus from Evesham than organic asparagus flown half way across the world.' He feels we are being slow to grasp this and wants to inform both his readers and clients, so that they become responsible for their actions.

Kevin wants us to go beyond organic. People have to understand that buying into the name organic doesn't always give health and happiness. He urges us to get away from food fashion. He has seen this faddism as a grocer, writer and photographer. Let's just get real.

Pisciculture
As an example, be aware of farmed fish and the antibiotics and anti fungals that are pumped into them. Buy your piece of fish and the care that you put into it can make it good food. ‘May be there is a certain alchemy that takes place in the kitchen. With your mindset and your positivity, there is a transformation that you can achieve, which is what makes you the most important ingredient. If you want to take it further, call it kitchen yoga.'

Kitchen yoga
‘I don't mean you have to wear a leotard' Kevin laughs but it is all about your relationship with your ingredients and how you interact with them. In Loving and Cooking read the recipe for massaged shoulder of lamb. Kevin says ‘The better you feel about massaging it, the better it tastes.'

The ingredients should be allowed to shout for themselves, rather than be thrashed into submission and manipulated beyond measure. Kevin believes that ‘Less intervention is better than more'.

To Kevin, food cooked in tense conditions, tastes tense and is in as much need of therapy as the cook. It can be full of angst so his answer is, if you are not a natural cook, go to Marks & Spencer and just add a bit of cream or some extra herbs to make it yours.

As a parent
Kevin's three children have always shown a healthy interest in food. They have gone beyond the peeling garlic stage and now ask for more demanding tasks. ‘I love that as they will then eat it and understand where flavours come from. After all, cooking teaches children physics, chemistry, budgeting, art and grace. It is all encompassing. If they can cook, they can do anything.' And as a man, you get the girls (apparently).

Food faddism
And we end on a note that Kevin would just hate: food predictions and food fashion.

Don't forget, you read it here first. Kevin Gould, the guru of food, believes that YOU are the next big thing. ‘It's your personality in the food. You become the focus.' If it's that simple, we can all buy into it.