Rick Stein Acknowledges Keith Floyd’s Influence and Reflects on Changing Culinary Landscape

Celebrity chef Rick Stein has openly admitted that his culinary style owes a great deal to the late TV cook, Keith Floyd. Stein acknowledged Floyd’s impact on his career during an appearance on Mark Wogan’s Spooning podcast.

Stein confessed, “He once said to me, slightly irritated, you stole all my ideas, right? And at the time, I said ‘no,’ but what I should have said was ‘yes I did’.” He further explained that Floyd’s uniquely “bloke-ish” approach to cooking shows, often featuring a glass of wine, had a profound effect on him.

Floyd’s Impact on TV Chefs

Stein said that watching Floyd made him realize that a TV chef didn’t need to emulate figures like Delia Smith or Mary Berry. Floyd’s influence is widely recognized within the culinary world. Following Floyd’s death in 2009, Antony Worrall Thompson stated, “I think all of us modern TV chefs owe a living to him. He kind of spawned us all.”

While Floyd served as an inspiration, Stein wasn’t as impressed by Fanny Craddock, another TV icon from the sixties, whom he described as “a terrible cook.” Stein characterizes his own style as more akin to “rock and roll,” contrasting it with the “good housekeeping type” of earlier TV chefs who adhered strictly to rules and recipes.

He noted that his generation was “cooking from the seat of our pants”. He also admired ‘Galloping Gourmet’ Graham Kerr, adding that Kerr’s now largely-forgotten show was a fixture on British TV in the late sixties and early 1970s. “I worked on a show once in Australia,” Rick says. “He was a great guy.”

Reflecting on Changing Standards

The seasoned broadcaster also reflected on the differences between past and present culinary programmes. He expressed empathy for Gregg Wallace, formerly of Masterchef, calling his situation “unfortunate”.

Stein acknowledged the seriousness of such situations, admitting that it would “affect me terribly” to experience similar issues. He also clarified that he doesn’t have “any skeletons in a cupboard.” However, he emphasized that Wallace has “just a different personality to me”.

Navigating Societal Shifts

Speaking to the Telegraph, Stein remarked, “I think partly he hadn’t really taken on that you can’t say certain things now. It’s not so much that he was a nasty person.”

Stein credits his sons with helping him stay aware of current sensitivities, saying, “I’m lucky that I’ve got sons who will instantly tell me, ‘Listen, you can’t say this’. And if you don’t pick up on that, the fact that things change, well that’s not very clever.”

He further added, “Sometimes you think, ‘I can’t believe this’, and then you think, ‘Well, that’s the way it is’. There’s no point in getting all stroppy about it.”

Despite his sympathy, Stein made it clear that he disapproves of sleaziness, stating, “I feel a bit sorry for him really. But I don’t like sleaziness so I’m not saying that (about all of Wallace’s behaviour). But he just didn’t realise that the wind had changed.”