It is Gino D’Acampo’s name on the cover but the celebrity chef admits much of the credit for his new book goes to his wife, Jessica, for collecting his recipes for the past 10 years.
“My wife has a blue folder in the kitchen,” explained D’Acampo, who regularly cooks on ITV’s This Morning. “I’ve been looking at that folder for the last six, seven years and thinking, ‘Why is that ugly folder always in my kitchen?’
“I asked her and she said it was a collection of recipes that I had been cooking over the years. So, I thought, why not take all these recipes and put them in a book? If they are good enough for our family, they are good enough for everybody.”
Naturally, Gino’s Italian Family Adventure, published last week, focuses on everyday cooking with simple ingredients and lots of flavour, and accompanies a new seven-part TV series.
The ITV show sees the D’Acampo family – Gino, Jessica and their three children, Luciano, Rocco and Mia – journey around the south of Italy, exploring the food and culture of the area’s towns, cities and villages.
Growing up in Napoli, D’Acampo says, the day was centred around food and eating, something he has been passionate about sharing with Brits since moving to the UK more than 25 years ago.
He continued: “It’s something we have been doing in Italy forever. Family recipes, everybody around the table – for us, in my family, in Italian families, it’s a natural thing to do.
“I’ve always wanted to share this experience with everybody because if I can convince only one family to eat well to eat at the table, everybody together, without mobile phones, without distraction and without television, it will make me a very happy Gino.”
With 17 cookbooks under his belt, there’s not much D’Acampo doesn’t know about Italian dishes – and asking him whether picking a favourite recipe is a little like picking a favourite child reveals the TV host’s typical dead-pan wit.
He replied: “I can easily pick my favourite child, I cannot easily pick my favourite recipe.
“It’s impossible to say what’s your favourite recipe. Today I really fancy meat, but tomorrow I might really fancy fish. Plus, Italian cooking is so versatile. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like Italian food. That tells you a lot.”
Although he now considers the UK his home – spending half the year in the UK and half the year in Sardinia – the 45-year-old admits there are a few quirks of our cuisine he can’t understand, most notably the lack of seasonal produce.
He added: “I love the UK as much I love Italy. I spend more time in the UK than I spend in Italy. But the thing that I miss the most? In Italy, one thing that we do better is fruits and vegetables. I have to say, we eat more seasonal as well.
“Unfortunately, sometimes in the UK, I get really annoyed when, for example, at Christmas, I see strawberries on the shelf. That is completely wrong, and it affects the flavour of a fruit and vegetable. We shouldn’t give people that option. I think we should start to tell consumers that certain fruits and vegetables are only available at certain times of the year.”
Gino: I’m living someone else’s dream…but it’s not all glamour
It’s not just pizza and pasta that has made Gino D’Acampo a household name. Over the past two decades he has hosted seven series of his documentary programme, Gino’s Italian Express, taken over as presenter of the rebooted Family Fortunes game show, and starred alongside friends Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix in yet another ITV series, Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip.
So, did he ever imagine he would go from catering college graduate to celebrity chef?
“Honestly, I’m living someone else’s dream,” he said. “My dream has never been to be on television or write a cookbook, and anything that I do, I’m grateful, one million per cent.
“I feel always very privileged that I’ve been doing this for the last 21 years.
“It’s not always as easy as one thinks. It’s not always glamorous. We travel a lot during filming, we change hotel every day, taxis all the time, it is hot – and you are eating rubbish sometimes throughout the day! But overall, the experience is fantastic.”
And no matter how busy the schedule, you can’t expect him to slow down anytime soon.
“We are filming more episodes of Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip. We are filming more Italian Family Adventure. I’ve got another cookbook to write for next year, and I’m opening five new restaurants. So, it’s quite busy. I don’t think I have time to do anything else new, let’s put it that way!”
Gino’s Italian Family Adventure, published by Bloomsbury, is out now
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