What’s in your kitchen?

I’ve always got good basics in my house. I tend to buy different oils – I’m fascinated by them. I’m one of these people who’ll be driving and say, ‘Oh, that looks interesting,’ and jump out of my car and have a look. When I went travelling I used to crave mustard. So I’ve always got English mustard and coarse grain mustard. There’s always good vinegar. I’ve actually got my own live vinegar culture so I pour any leftover wine onto it – which doesn’t happen much in my house!

I’ve normally got vegetables from my garden but this year because of the weather I haven’t got the quantities I normally would. Living right next door to the hotel I can just go over and steal some scallops or oysters or beef. Whatever I fancy.

What’s your food philosophy?

Keep it simple. It sounds really clichéd, doesn’t it, but let the food do the talking, don’t adulterate it. I went through a stage where everything got made into a soufflé or something but now everything is just so simple. If I’m making a puree, just some veg stock, a bit of olive oil and a bit of butter. It gives me a bit of lifestyle too, because you can spend all bloody day cooking, parsing and sieving. I like to jump on my motorbike and go up the mountain or go and do something on the farm.

How have our attitudes to food changed?

Massively. I don’t think they’ve ever changed as much as they are now. The most important thing is that you’ve actually got people asking the question, “Where does it come from?” People now really want to know provenance. It is one of the best things that can happen for the industry because it means it will become market led. I do feel it is a great time to be in the industry I see every day little changes and it’s all the little things that add up.

What annoys you about food in Britain?

Our complaceny. We’ve become lazy with food. We need to respect food and think where it comes from and how it was produced.

Do you prefer eating in or eating out?

You can’t beat the pleasure of going out. I’ve got a lovely old dining table and I really like cooking for friends but to be able to go out and not know what’s on the menu is amazing. Whether it’s a bowl of soup or a five-star dinner I love the surprise.

What’s Britain’s best-kept food secret?

The best-kept food secrets are often the things that are on your doorstep. Simple things like honey from local bees, vegetables from different people’s gardens, an apple from your neighbour’s tree as opposed to the apple your own tree. They are often the things that are so close to us that we take them for granted.

What is the next big food trend?

Provenance. People really do want to know where their food comes from. Seasonality and provenance are getting massive. Also, we are beginning to realise that our national dishes are great and lot of the old favourites are coming back. People are taking more time to cook and using cheaper cuts so dishes like Lancashire hotpot, Scotch broth are becoming popular.

Tom Lewis will be giving cookery demonstrations at the Loch Lomond Food & Drink Festival , Loch Lomond, 8-9 September

More Real Food Pioneers

Times Recommends

• Gordon Brown’s favourite pud
• Five-spice butternut soup
• How to make popcorn and crisps