Celebrity chef James Martin reveals his 10 commandments

JAMES MARTIN is one of TV’s most popular chefs.

At 43, he’s a successful restaurateur and is also the face of BBC’s long-running Saturday Kitchen series.

Yorkshire-born James’s new book is simply called Sweet (Quadrille £20) and is just out this month.

He says it was a labour of love that was four years in the making as he cooked and had every dish photographed at his home.

James tells us his 10 Commandments:

GRAFT

I was always taught you get nowt for nowt you’ve got to work for everything. I still hold to that ethos.

I work seven days a week and last year had nine days off. I know that’s probably crazy, but I love my job and when you’re a farmer’s kid from Yorkshire with a dream of being a chef, you have to work.

I’ve also got in the back of my mind what my grandparents and my folks said about no one giving you anything in life other than opportunities.

You have to take those, graft and run with them.

I did that, took huge risks, made huge sacrifices and it paid off. LISTEN TO OTHERS

It’s a common mistake, particularly in this industry, not to listen to others.

I always do my mum Susan tells me every Saturday afternoon my hair was a mess on the show and my shirt didn’t match my trousers!

When I got the job for Saturday Kitchen I remember doing a book signing and Sir Michael Parkinson was there. I said I’d have to interview people and his advice was research, research, research. He said I needed to know as much about the guests as they know about themselves.

Even now, I spend six or eight hours every Friday researching our guests for that seven-minute interview. It makes me comfortable that when we go live, I’ll never be short of something to say.

James as a youngster

HAVE GREAT FRIENDS AND KNOW YOUR ENEMIES

It’s vitally important to have the support of loyal friends because in this game you know your true friends big time.

You get a lot of what I call the fluffy clouds and bull in this job. The media hype and the fame is all a load of rubbish. It will come and go but true friends will always be there.

You have to be wise enough to know what people’s ulterior motives are.

I’ve probably been too honest sometimes and I’ve been burned.

You have to learn to be careful.

ALWAYS HAVE A SANCTUARY

Mine is my home. The TV side of my life is one thing but my home is different. I never let anybody from the media side in because the minute a camera comes in you have nowhere to hide. When the doors close behind you, that’s your time.

There are a lot of chefs who speak too much about their private lives, which should be just that.

If you want to increase your career by talking about that, fine. But don’t complain when it comes back and bites you on the backside.

I’ve kept my family out of the spotlight because I got where I am through my love of food, not through being on reality shows and dragging my family into it. LOVE FOOD

Next February is my 20th anniversary on TV but I’ve been cooking since I was eight. That passion for food has never dwindled. To me everything I work for is food. It’s what gets me up in the morning and makes me work all the hours I do.

The TV is the fancy bit of tinsel in the middle, but when that goes away the food will still be there. Other chefs, like Jamie Oliver, might be away from the kitchen but my God does that guy graft. He probably works harder than anybody I know.

In my case, though, I like working in my little restaurant in Manchester.

James enjoys passing on his windom to a new generation of cooks (Danny Lawson / PA) KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT AND IMPROVE WHAT YOU’RE NOT

The prime example is that I only discovered I was dyslexic when I started Saturday Kitchen. I’d never had to read under pressure before and I suddenly found I just couldn’t do it. I turned into a nervous wreck.

We only had two weeks before we went live but there was an amazing woman at the BBC who spotted it and said they’d get me treatment.

I was sent away to understand just how dyslexic I was and what could be done to help. You might notice that when I’m doing the show I’m always walking about. They found that I was all right with the autocue as long as I was doing something. The minute

I stopped and just became a newsreader was when I’d mess it up.

I’ve never read a book in my life and I don’t feel ashamed about that I was always too busy in the kitchen. So it’s one of those things I’m always going to have and you just have to try to improve it as and when you can. RESPECT YOUR MOTHER

You’ve only got one and life is very short and sometimes cruel. You look after your mother and that to me is the most important thing in life.

She’s number one. She sacrificed so much to help me get what I have.

When I moved to work in London she used to send me M&S vouchers for food because I didn’t have any money.

Now the biggest benefit of this job is I can treat her. She always wanted to go on safari, as did my grandmother before she died. When she did die, we were going through her paperwork and discovered both she and my mum had cut out the same fancy safari piece from a magazine.

I treated my mum to that same one.

VALUE YOUR HEALTH

I’ve had several friends pass away recently, including the guy who used to run my restaurant. I’m not going to tell anyone how to live their life if you want to smoke or drink, fine, but you should value your health.

I’ve been working with the NHS for nine years now on trying to improve hospital food and when you’re in there you realise how fragile life is.

I became friends with a little lad in Birmingham who was in having ops every single month and you appreciate what you’ve got. I try to look after myself, although it’s not easy doing the hours I do, grabbing food on the hoof.

But you need to get off the day-to-day hamster wheel and look around you.

James is a pilot too!

ALWAYS HAVE A HOBBY

I think you always need to have something that’s totally different to what you normally do and in my case that’s flying. That’s where I get the release from all the pressures. My mobile’s not ringing, the computer’s not on and my staff aren’t around me.

It’s an amazing thing to get into an aircraft and fly. When you are up there you can imagine what it was like as the first pioneers. It’s just you and the sky.

Also, as someone who never passed a single exam at school, to be able to pass my pilot’s licence was even more special. BUY THE BEST BED YOU CAN AFFORD!

When I made a bit of money, in my late 20s I suppose, I gave my mum my credit card and asked her to go and buy me one as I didn’t know what I was looking for.

She used to go on shopping trips every couple of years to Harrods or ’arrods as she calls it so, she went in there. I got the bill and thought she’d bought me a house!

But she said that you’ve got to buy the best you can because you’ll get a great night’s sleep and be at your best the next day.

She was right and it’s the best thing she’s ever taught me but I swear to God it’s more expensive than a Jaguar.Gizzie Erskine reveals 10 myths you shouldn’t believe about your food – click here to read more