out of the lesson,” she says, chuckling at the memory.
Andi Oliver on turning 60 and channelling her anger into power By Katie Price, PA Andi Oliver was already whipping up cauliflower cheese at the age of seven, and could make a full roast dinner by the time she turned nine. So when she witnessed a home economics teacher pouring a packet of rice into a big, bubbling pan of water, leaving it to simmer then straining and rinsing it, she was puzzled to say the least.
“I had to stand in the hallway. I was like,‘What is she doing to the rice?’”
Not that this incident derailed the culinary career of the 59-year-old chef, restauranteur and Great British Menu host, who was born in Kent and has lived in East London for 25 years. Oliver was taught to cook by her mother, who was born on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts (her father hails from Antigua – the pair met in Leicester). Soon, she was in charge of dishing up dinner for herself and older brother Sean, who died of sickle cell anaemia in 1990, aged 27.
“I was like,‘That’s not how you cook rice’.And I got kicked
52 | mccarthyholden.co.uk
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