Food writer, chef, president… and now BHWT supporter

We talk all things food with Orlando Murrin, President of the Guild of Food Writers, and get the lowdown on why he’s become a huge champion of our Size Matters campaign…

Orlando Murrin has been on the UK culinary scene for decades. He was the founder of Olive magazine and a former editor of many well-known magazines including BBC Good Food, Woman & Home and Cosmopolitan. Orlando also spent a decade as a hotelier-chef in France and the UK and was one of the first ever contestants on MasterChef!

Orlando is also the author of Two’s Company, a new recipe book focused on creating dishes for two people and reducing waste. So, you could say he knows a little bit about food!

To celebrate Orlando’s new book and fabulous contribution to the Size Matters campaign by helping us connect with key foodie people, we thought it would be good to learn a little more about the man himself and caught up with him for a chat…

Jane: Orlando you’ve had a long career related to food. When did your love of food begin, and did you always know it would be such a big part of your life?

Orlando: I had a lucky childhood, although of course you don’t realise it at the time. I was born in the United States, we moved to Rome, then we settled in Jersey. It was amazing – beaches, sailing boats, weekends in St Malo. My mother was an excellent cook, and my father loved restaurants, so we ate very well. This was the 1960s, and I remember my parents throwing extravagant dinner parties. My mother was a fan of Robert Carrier and Delia.

After university I moved to London, to work as a magazine sub-editor, and had to learn to cook for myself. I didn’t earn enough money from sub-editing, so I got an evening job playing the piano in restaurants and hotels. I always liked being around food.

Jane: You were one of the first contestants on MasterChef which must have been amazing, tell us about that experience?

Orlando: It was 1992 – the second series. I hadn’t actually seen the programme, but someone said, you need to enter this new TV competition. I got through to the semi-final but was knocked out because Sue Lawley didn’t like my ginger ice cream. I think it was a bit unfair because it later turned out she hated ginger, so I didn’t stand a chance.

These were the days of Loyd Grossman. It was a totally different show then – a celebration of British home cooking, nothing to do with being professional. And although it was competitive, the production team were warm and friendly – they really wanted you to shine and do your best.

By this time, I was a magazine editor, so when the editorship of BBC Good Food became vacant, I went for it. I was there for six marvellous years. The magazine was on a roll and so was I.

Jane: Now, you’re President of the Guild of Food Writers, what are you seeing as the big trends in the food we like to cook, and eat, in the UK?

Orlando: I’ve seen so many trends. For many years, it was all about discovering new cuisines from round the world – I can remember when Moroccan was new, then Korean, then Cajun. Now I think we’ve been round the world and back again – though I’m seeing a lot of Scandinavian-inspired food at the moment.

I think that now people are looking much more carefully at labels, whatever they’re buying. They want to know if it’s the right palm oil, how the animal was raised, whether the cider was made from actual apples. They’re more curious, inquisitive, which can only be a good thing.

In terms of cooking, people want different experiences for different occasions. For every day, one-pots/roasting tins/traybakes are here to stay. At the weekend, many people enjoy cooking something authentic, using genuine ingredients and techniques, even if the recipe is laborious. Ottolenghi is a fascinating example – I want to weep when I see some of the ingredients lists, but the food is glorious, and people really do cook the recipes.

Against all this there are the very real, if un-glamorous, problems of waste, packaging and food miles. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet, my new book, Two’s Company, was largely born out of frustration (for which read fury) with wasted food and leftovers, because so many recipes and ingredients are scaled – wrongly – for four or six.

Jane: How important do you think ethics and sustainability in our food chain is to consumers in the UK these days?

Orlando: Consumers are sick to death of idiotic packaging and food being transported from the other side of the world. Unfortunately, for all their golden words and marketing messages, the supermarkets refuse to take the lead in this.

I can sympathise up to a point – no point in doing the right thing if it’s going to make you bankrupt – but it is supermarkets who make the rules, so they’re the ones who are going to have to change them. If they stop putting onions in plastic bags, we’ll get used to buying them loose; what’s the problem?

If the asparagus from Peru isn’t there, we’ll have to buy another vegetable instead; what’s the problem?

I do appreciate that there are economies in Africa and South America which have geared themselves up to supply the British market, but as it’s a wrong thing to do, it can’t carry on.

Which brings us to the large v medium egg debate. Supermarket buyers are not stupid, nor unethical, and here is somewhere they could easily lead the way. Put the medium and mixed weight eggs in the middle, not on the bottom or off to the right. Is it too much to ask?

Maybe I should set up a militant consumer group, to put pressure on supermarkets. I’ll put it on the list, along with the ‘Dignity in Public Life’ pressure group I have in mind, to bring back courtesy and discretion in the age of Twitter.

Jane: Speaking of egg size. Thank you so much for your support in our Size Matters campaign – we hear it’s become a bit of a hobbyhorse for you – why did you feel so compelled to get behind it?

Orlando: Guilt. For over 20 years I told British cooks to buy large eggs. I have a lot to make up for.

Jane: Why do you think recipe writers have historically recommended large eggs? And how optimistic are you that we can change hearts and minds on this?

Orlando: Recipe writers have excellent reasons for having recommended large eggs in the past. They just happen to have been wrong reasons.

First of all, one wants to be consistent. So instead of telling people they needed a large egg for this, a medium one for that, we said, we’ll use large for everything, keep it simple. (In the same way as we said, we’ll use salted butter for everything, so you don’t have to buy salted and unsalted.) Unfortunately, we should have been saying, use medium for everything, or use any size egg, it doesn’t matter.

At some point, it crossed my mind that medium eggs might be better value, so I got out my calculator. Weight for weight, large eggs worked out better value than medium. (Maybe this is still the case?) It seemed too good to be true – getting something better (i.e., larger) for less money, so on we went with large eggs. Everywhere I worked, everything I wrote, large eggs.

In my defence nobody ever told me I was wrong, until I heard you give a talk to the Guild of Food Writers last year. You might say the scales fell from my eyes.

Jane: Do you keep pets, and would you ever consider hens as pets?

Orlando: I live in the centre of Exeter with two adored cats.

When I was eight a rooster took a peck out of my shin – I still have the scar. But I don’t bear grudges, and if I lived in the country, I would love to keep hens. As long as I could make them fox secure.

Jane: What do you think about the British Hen Welfare Trust’s work?

Orlando: I deal with lots of organisations, so I consider myself a good judge. Efficient – effective – intelligent. Also, excellent choice to base it in Devon.

Jane: Your new recipe book, Two’s Company, came out in October 2021, tell us all about the idea behind the recipes and what people can expect from it?

Orlando: It’s a celebration of the fun and pleasure that can be had from cooking for two, as opposed to families or guests. No half-finished packets – no leftovers – just a lovely meal to enjoy cooking and eating.

Best of all, almost every time an egg is mentioned I say, ‘any size’. I’ve really tried to drum it home that 90% of the time, it makes no difference what size egg you use. As long as it isn’t a quail’s egg or an ostrich egg, obviously.

I’ve also started a Facebook Group – easy to find, it’s called Two’s Company – where I hope to share the joy of cooking for two with fellow cooks. If you like Facebook, please join – no large eggs, I promise.

Jane: And finally, what is your favourite recipe involving eggs? Can you share it with us?

Orlando: If you love macaroni cheese – and who doesn’t? – try my recipe on page 41. And note that even in a soufflé – it doesn’t matter what size egg you use.

Look out for the golden egg in this magazine, if you spot it, you have the chance to win a copy of his new recipe book. Details on page 19.