10 myths you shouldn’t believe about your food

SCOTTISH chef Gizzi Erskine wants you to forget what you know about food.

She shot to fame as presenter of Channel 4’s Cook Yourself Thin as well as being a judge on reality show Cookery School. Since then,thanks to her distinctive beehive hairdo and stylish clothing, she’s become known for being a fashion icon almost as much as her genius in the kitchen. Gizzi, 35, was raised in Dumfries and worked as a body piercer for seven years before attending the exclusive Leiths School of Food and Wine, where she graduated top of her class. Her new recipe book, Gizzi’s Healthy Appetite, tries to rehabilitate certain foods and change the way we eat. Gizzi spoke to The Sunday Posts’ iN10 to dispel some of the modern-day myths around healthy eating.1) Your pans are too coldAt home people tend to be more cautious with temperature because they’re scared of burning food. They think: “I’ll put it on a low heat and take it from there.” In a restaurant, they use really high temperatures. Their ovens are on at 240C and nearly everything is on full blast. The thing that gives food most flavour and colour is caramelisation and to do that needs heat, so start with a hot pan and work from there. Get your pans smoking hot then turn them down if you need to.2) Stocks are on the riseMy biggest cooking tip is using fresh stock. Many people will put together lovely ingredients and then use packets of stock cubes, which are filled with salt and MSG. It takes away the goodness of the fresh ingredients and turns it into a processed meal. Use fresh stock the good thing is you can find it in the chiller departments of the big supermarkets now. But you can make it yourself. Once you’ve had your Sunday roast today, keep the bones and boil them up with onions and a carrot. It’s recently been rebranded as “bone broth” but don’t call it that, it’s stock. We’re British after all!3) It’s Time to Forgive ButterWe’ve been giving butter a bad rap about six months ago nutritionists discovered we’ve been a bit wrong-headed about it. It’s a saturated fat but it’s a natural one so the body can process it in a completely natural way. People have stopped baking with butter and are using vegetable fats and spreads, which is awful as they have the most revolting flavour. Go back to butter it’s better on your toast for starters. And clarified butter, better known as ghee, is a superfood. Yum!4) Wheat is not the DevilIf you buy a loaf of cheap, rubbish bread it’ll be out of date in a couple of days, and it’s not great for you. People think wheat is evil these days. But we were brought up on it as a nation and it’s not all bad. It’s just a case of quality rather than quantity.

Get a really good loaf of sourdough bread with good quality wheat from an actual bakers and it’ll last all week. That’s why it’s called seven-day bread.

Gizzi in the kitchen5) Don’t Be Scared of DairyIt’s quite common for people to think they get a funny tummy from dairy, but that’s unlikely. I think eczema or psoriasis comes from some kind of dairy intolerance, but it won’t give you a sore stomach. Our bodies have been digesting it for thousands of years. Just because Starbucks decided that a soy latte was going to make them more money it suddenly means dairy is bad for you. People are suffering from really bad bone disorders because they’re not getting enough calcium. Drink milk.6) Five fruit and veg a day? Not quiteDoctors recommend we eat five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. But that’s not right it should be more. In Korea, the advice is to eat 10 a day, which seems like absolutely loads. How are you meant to do it in the UK though? Vegetables here are too expensive. One cheat that doesn’t work is juicing your fruit and veg. If you put your five portions in the juicer, the composition of the food changes so you’re actually only getting two portions.7) Buy pasta that looks a bit rubbishThe best quality white pasta is often the stuff that looks a bit… fluffy!

If it’s too shiny and sleek-looking then it’s probably a bit over-processed. I understand it comes down to how much money a shopper has in their pockets. They don’t want to buy something a bit higher quality if money’s tight. But a lot of those with wheat intolerance aren’t really intolerant to it they’re intolerant to the rubbish quality. Your body will appreciate a bit less of better quality.8) You’re making processed food and you don’t know it!Processing doesn’t mean it comes from a shop and has preservatives in it. Take a simple potato a baked one is very different to a mashed one.

When you mash potatoes you’re not only losing the healthy skin but changing the structure of it. Mash is a lot more sugary. I wouldn’t get too hung up on that though. Mashed potato is my favourite with stacks of butter. Yes please.9) Bacon sandwich and a cup of tea is a good breakfastA bacon sarnie and a cuppa doesn’t sound very healthy, does it?

Maybe with rubbish ingredients it wouldn’t be, but with good quality bacon on a slice of nice sourdough bread and real butter it can be. Combine it with a cup of tea and proper milk and you’ve got a lovely breakfast. French girls have got a clever trick they have tartines, which is just an open sandwich eaten with a knife and fork with less bread and more filling.10) Don’t eat with your calculatorI don’t want you to go overboard, so I live by the 80/20 rule. If you eat well 80% of the time then you can be a little bit naughty the rest of the time. What I want to get across to people is that quality is important when it comes to food if we all eat less food but of a bit higher quality we’ll all maybe feel a bit better. Carbohydrates have taken a bit of a kicking in the past few years with specialist diets. We all need carbs to live, it gives us energy. The message here is about eating with moderation as much as it is about eating the right things. Gizzi’s Healthy Appetite by Gizzi Erskine is published by Mitchell Beazley, £25 (www.octopusbooks.co.uk)