This week John Torode talks us through his Dream Dinner Party and we are off to Singapore to board the Orient Express! All aboard!
John is one of the food world’s most recognisable faces. He grew up in Melbourne, Australia, starting his career in the world of food at the age of 16.
He credits his love of food and passion for cooking to his grandmother, who raised him from the age of 4. After apprenticeships at some of Melbourne’s best restaurants, he moved to the UK in the 1990s, where he quickly made a name for himself. He worked his way up from a sous chef at Quaglino’s and he’s had his own hugely successful restaurants, the likes of Smiths and The Luxe.
He first appeared on ITV‘s This Morning in 1996 and became a household name as the co-host of Masterchef in 2005 which will enter its 20th season next year. He’s written numerous best-selling cookbooks and made a whole host of award-winning TV shows and was honoured in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2022 for outstanding services to food, broadcasting and charity.
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Side Dish: The Dream Dinner Party with John Torode

What would you choose as your last meal? Chef Margie Nomura talks to a special guest about the seven dishes that have shaped their lives. In this podcast you will find conversations with interesting people from the world of food and beyond uncovering the seminal dishes and experiences that have shaped who they are today. We will find out about their favourite childhood dishes, the dishes they eat the most often, and the dishes that mean the most to them. And of course we will also discover what their last dish would be before being cast off to the desert island. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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My guest today is the founder of Hoppers - Karan Gokani. Combining his passion for cooking with his love of the country of Sri Lanka he has built a restaurant empire celebrating the food of Sri Lanka and Southern India. I went to Sri Lanka last year for the first time and completely fell in love with the food. I’ve been to Hoppers many times so I kind of knew what to expect but honestly it’s just the most amazing country and the most delicious food so it was brilliant to hear from Karan about his love for it it too.
I know I told you that this was going to just be a little short season for the month of February but already we have come to the last episode of this mini season – it’s gone very quickly but fear not as we are already recording the next – so hopefully wont be too long to wait. 
Another reminder to any one listening – if you haven’t yet subscribed to my newsletter Dinner Tonight, please do think about it. It’s one easy weeknight recipe, often one pan, mostly 30 minutes or less and I look forwards to writing it every week and it’s honestly amazing that there are so many people reading it. Over 22,000 of you now which is amazing but there’s always room for more. https://dinnertonight.substack.com/
I do hope you enjoy todays episode and thank you for listening. If you don’t already, come and follow me on Instagram @desertislandishes and you can sign up for the newsletter and find a whole host of different recipes at www.desertislanddishes.co 
Thank you again to HG Walter our sponsor for this month of Desert Island Dishes, and thank you for listening! 
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Karan Gokani the founder of Hoppers on his love of Sri Lanka, his passion for cooking and the best dish he's ever eaten

This week we have Ravneet Gill on The Dream Dinner Party– she is an extraordinary pastry chef who just makes the most amazing cakes and puddings. She’s also a TV presenter and cook book author – her third – Baking for Pleasure is out now and it’s all about baking for the pure joy of it. She has been a guest on Desert Island Dishes – a few years ago but well worth a listen. I knew Rav loves to entertain so was great to hear more about that and how she envisages her Dream Dinner Party.

 Thank you to our sponsor for this month – the brilliant family run butcher HG Walter. www.hgwalter.com
I do hope you enjoyed todays episode and make sure you’re subscribed to catch all episodes of The Dream Dinner Party and Desert Island Dishes. Thank you so much for listening bye! 
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Side Dish: The Dream Dinner Party with Ravneet Gill (mini episode)

My guest today is Bee Wilson. In all honesty, Bee is one of the most interesting and thought provoking food writers and historians we’ve ever known.
She is the author of 8 books about food and eating. Her books have won multiple awards, and she’s won 5 Guild of food writers awards for her journalism. After over 20 years of food writing, this year she released her first cookbook, The Secret of Cooking, something she says she’s dreamt of doing since the age of 8.
She has been described by Yotam Ottolenghi as "the ultimate food scholar" and writes brilliantly about all aspects of our current food culture.She counts Nigella and Diana Henry as friends (and fans) and I so enjoyed getting to chat to her and hear her Desert Island Dishes. 
I hope you enjoy this one and thank you so much for listening. 
A huge thank you to our sponsor HG Walter for bringing the podcast to you this month - visit them at www.hgwalter.com 
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Bee Wilson, food writer and historian on what comfort food means to her, the joy of potatoes and her 7 Desert Island Dishes

This week we have Zena Kamgaing on The Dream Dinner Party. I love bringing you Desert Island dishes but I also selfishly do love the dream dinner party – it’s a just a little bit of fun, I love how everyone of the guests have really embraced the theme and taken it seriously – in a very unserious way. Zena was no exception – I love the sound of her dream dinner party – there is a part in this where she gets me to play one of the games she likes to play but we cut out the actual game part as I would have given away the answers and potentially ruined your fun. 
Hope you enjoy listening to the dream dinner party as much as I enjoy bringing it to you and I always want to hear from you the listener about who you would be inviting and what you would be serving!
Thank you to our sponsor for this month – the brilliant family run butcher HG Walter. www.hgwalter.com
So there we have it Gennaro’s dream dinner party is over, the food has been eaten and the guests have gone home. I do hope you enjoyed todays episode and make sure you’re subscribed to catch all episodes of The Dream Dinner Party and Desert lsland Dishes. Thank you so much for listening! 
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Side Dish: The Dream Dinner Party with Zena Kamgaing (mini episode)

My guest this week is the world famous photographer David Loftus. David is one of the most influential photographers of all time often fondly referred to as Lord Loftus. Award-winning and internationally acclaimed, David has done the photography for the books of Jamie Oliver, Rachel Khoo, Gennaro Contaldo, Elizabeth David and April Bloomfield. For over 20 years, David has photographed over 150 books including all but one of Jamie Oliver’s international best-sellers. His work with Jamie Oliver alone has resulted in book sales of over 30 million copies. You will have looked a David’s photographs even if you were unaware of it at the time. 
Thank you so much to HG Walter for sponsoring this month of Desert Island Dishes. Head to www.hgwalter.com for nationwide delivery. 

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Side Dish: The Dream Dinner Party with John Torode

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