Celebrity chef cooks Somerset curry dish for television

A pork vindahlo recipe from Exmoor, England, caterer Mignon Johnson could soon be sweeping the nation after celebrity chef Antony Worrall-Thompson cooks it on prime time television. Mignon, who runs The Saffron Kitchen from her home on the edge of Exmoor, in Somerset, UK, was asked to take part in a new series commissioned by UKTV Food to celebrate home cooking.

The show, The People’s Cook Book, is a nationwide hunt for favourite family recipes which best reflect British contemporary food culture. Two recipes are chosen for each show and Antony Worall-Thompson and fellow TV chef Paul Rankin stage a cook-off in front of a panel of judges.

The winning recipes will be made available for anybody to use, either by downloading from the station’s website, or possibly in the form of a book to be published after the series ends. Mignon’s pork vindahlo will be pitted against a traditional English steak and kidney pudding in her episode of the series, which will be screened at 8 pm on February 22.

The Saffron Kitchen - a finalist last year in an HSBC-sponsored national search for a new generation of business stars - offers traditional home-cooked Indian food for weddings, dinners, banquets, and parties, mostly using local Westcountry produce. It provides meals for all occasions, from an intimate dinner party to corporate entertainment, and can advise on planning the perfect Indian meal to suit any budget.

Mignon, an Indian national, is passionate about dispelling the myths associated with Indian food in the UK.

She said: “The great myth of vindahlo being a blisteringly hot dish has always mystified me. Good Indian food is about a range of flavours, not just how hot it is.

"Many of my dishes are prepared using recipes handed down through several generations and I want to encourage people to try real authentic Indian food as it would be enjoyed in India.“

Every dish from The Saffron Kitchen is freshly prepared to order, using locally produced meat and vegetables, and can be delivered directly to the door in parts of Somerset free of charge. The Saffron Kitchen also sells a range of food, pickles, and chutneys through farmers’ markets in Taunton, Exeter, Minehead, Wellington, Crewkerne, Glastonbury, and Cotford St Luke, and hopes soon to be able to sell via its website www.thesaffronkitchen.co.uk.

More information about The Saffron Kitchen and the pork vindahlo recipe is available from Mignon and husband Andrew Johnson by telephoning 01984 656931 or emailing to enquiries@thesaffronkitchen.co.uk