Every month, the Money blog interviews top chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks, views on the industry and more.
Today they speak to Sian Almond, senior chef de partie – and former breakfast supremo – at the Michelin-starred restaurant Pavyllon London.
My favourite budget recipe is… a spag bol, absolutely looooooaded with veg, is a total winner – aim for a 2:1 veg-to-meat ratio. Veg is cheap, and you probably already have all the spices and sauces on hand, so all you really need is a pack of good-quality organic beef and some tinned tomatoes. The trick is to make your mirepoix (veg base) about 10 times the usual size, blitzing all the veg in a food processor, then letting the sauce simmer gently for one to two hours. Done. Just like that, you’ve got six meals for the price of one.
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My favourite cheap eat for under £15 is… Have you tried Whole Beast (various pop-ups in London, taking permanent resident in Brixton)? I would beg, borrow and steal for that burger – you’ve never tasted anything like it. They’ve actually won many awards for their burgers!
My favourite supermarket own-brand product is… the sour straps from Tesco (fizzy multicoloured belts), the heck. SO GOOD.
My favourite chain is… Hungry Jacks or, as it’s called in the UK, Burger King – for one item and one item only. The Whopper with cheese. The rest of the menu doesn’t exist for me. There’s just something about that flame-grilled patty and raw onion that just gets me… but you have to be lucky, though, because three out of five times it can be horrific.
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The item restaurants make the most profit on is… add-ons. Mate. No chef wants you to customise their dishes, so we will charge you through the roof for that extra egg!
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Restaurateurs/chefs should stop… following trends. Be unique! People like seeing different personalities – it’s refreshing.
The one thing you hate that some customers do is… act like we aren’t human beings, just servants. No thank you. Another one that drives us mad is when a table opens a tab, camps out for four hours and keeps adding bits of food here and there, so by the end we’re left with this absolutely massive bill we can’t close off because the table’s still open. Not great for the OCD…
On a fry-up, eggs are king of the plate… Also essential are the Cumberland and hash brown. Things that can get in the bin are soggy tomatoes – can’t stand them. The mushrooms better not be watery either!
The country that does breakfast better than anyone else is… Australia. When the sun’s out, it’s officially breakfast TIME. Nothing beats soaking up the rays with a delicious plate of food.
The best sauce for a breakfast bap is… Masterfoods Barbeque – please come to the UK guys!
My controversial food opinion is… it’s not that serious.
