A DENBIGH chef is supporting a Welsh Government health campaign, and sharing his Christmas cooking tips!.
Bryn Williams, 34, from Denbigh, who has worked under Marco Pierre White and Michel Roux and now owns and runs Odette’s Restaurant, in Primrose Hill, London, is supporting the Change4Life campaign.
As a keen enthusiast of healthy cooking at Odette’s and at home, Bryn is supporting the campaign which aims to show how you can make small changes to your lifestyle to make a big difference to your health.
Bryn will be spending this Christmas Day in London, and is expecting around 12 family members around the table.
“It’s always a big family gathering, Christmas is really important for me as a chef and I think it’s rubbed off on the family,” he said.
And what will they be eating?
“I’m not a fan of heavy food so this year I think I’ll start off with raw fish such as tuna or salmon which is light but packs in a lot of flavour,” said Bryn.
“I cook the turkey the same as everyone else but I pay a lot of attention to the vegetables.
“Texture is really important in my cooking so I steam my vegetables quickly so they don’t go soggy and I like to scatter broccoli with toasted almonds to add a nice crunch.
“I also keep butter away from the veg – they just don’t need it.”
Bryn admits his favourite Christmas food is something very basic... bread sauce.
“It’s all about flavour for me so I add semi-skimmed milk to my breadcrumbs and infuse it overnight with an onion, clove and bay leaf,” he said.
“On Christmas day I just add a little salt, paper and nutmeg.
“When you focus on the flavour you don’t need to add butter, which makes it a lot healthier.”
In the run up to Christmas Bryn will be busy at Odette’s, with even more customers attending work parties and social gatherings.
“In December we have 50 per cent more work on top of the usual workload,” he said.
“Our last service before Christmas is on December 23 so we will have a week off until New Year’s Eve.”
Due to his long working hours, Bryn is not home much during the week, but when he is, both him and his girlfriend Sharleen Spiteri (lead singer in the band Texas) share the cooking.
“Not surprisingly it’s very different cooking at home to in the restaurant, but I really do enjoy cooking in both,” he said.
“We eat a lot of pasta, cured meats and I make my own sushi.”
Bryn’s tips for a healthier Christmas dinner
1. Choose a simple starter – The lighter and simpler the starter the better so that you can spend your time concentrating on the main course.
One of my favourites is a serving of cured ham and melon, which needs no additional oils or fats, and gives maximum flavour with little preparation.
2. Cook vegetables as quickly as possible – By boiling vegetables for too long you can end up with more vitamins left in the water than in the veg itself.
Steaming your veg quickly will retain its nutrients, colour and texture. If you prefer to boil them then save the vitamin-rich and flavoursome water to add to your gravy.
3. Cook with olive oil – Olive oil is higher in monounsaturated fat, which is a healthier type of fat.
When roasting try to use it instead of fats such as lard or goose fat, and when frying try an olive oil spray which coats the pan evenly and prevents using more than is needed.
4. Choose lower fat cream – If you can’t resist something creamy to accompany your Christmas pudding then swap double cream for single cream or crème fraiche.
Double cream has a minimum fat content of 48 per cent whereas crème fraiche has 30 per cent, and single cream has 18 per cent.
For more ideas from Change4Life and to get your personal health check, register at www.register-c4l.co.uk