Andrew J Burton, joint head chef at the Rothay Garden Hotel, Grasmere

Essential ingredients

Whatever happened to eating fresh vegetables? After all, they are a necessary part of our diet. I also love eating and working with fish as well as locally sourced meat and artisan cheese.

First kitchen worked in

The first kitchen I worked in was the Le Talbooth restaurant at the Milsom Hotels Ltd in Dedham, Colchester.

First dish I prepared

On my first day at Le Talbooth I was given 5lb of minced turkey of meat to push through a drum sieve to make turkey pate with. It took me from 9am until 2.00pm then I went off on my split and came back at 6.00pm and was given another 3lb to do the same. And then the first whole dish I prepared was a good old classic prawn cocktail.

Signature dish

I don’t personally agree with this term. Over 42 years one prepares and likes so many different things and times change. This is like asking what your favourite song is, and for me it depends what mood I am in.

Food philosophy

My food philosophy is to take good fresh, and preferably local, and seasonal produce when it is available. It is then that I treat them with respect and keep it simple.

Biggest kitchen disaster

That really is a tough call. My biggest kitchen disaster could may have been the time I was to some degree involved with a can of petrol getting placed near to the fryer. It was accidentally confused with cooking oil and was used to top up the fryer! Another disaster was when I dropped a five litre pot of very hot oil between the head chef's feet, causing it to splash upwards under his apron. And finally, the time I left a stock pot on full gas at the end of service and then went off to a nightclub...

My favourite chef

At the moment my favourite chef would have to be Paul Martin.

My biggest influence

There are so many people who have influenced me but at the top of them would be Albert Roux.

My favourite meal

If I am honest it would have been simply Marmite on toast, but unfortunately I can’t eat it anymore as I have a yeast allergy. So I have had to replace that with either a beef Wellington or lobster thermidore.