Photo: Simon & Schuster
Since controversially mocking vegans in 2018, British food critic William Sitwell has been "nicer" to people with a plant-based diet.
But he still doesn't think the vegan philosophy is sound.
Thousands of city-dwellers "worship at the altar of vegan food" without thinking about where it comes from, the long-term MasterChef judge tells Kim Hill.
"Too much vegan stuff that apes conventional food is overprocessed, transported across the country …. To me, the simpler the food the better."
Photo: Diversion Books
Next month, William Sitwell visits Aotearoa to talk about his latest book The Restaurant - A History of Eating Out at the Auckland Writers' Festival. (Details are here)
Local and seasonal eating should "defeat" any other food philosophy, Sitwell says.
"When you see a piece of beef and the only thing it's got in it is cow... versus a piece of simulated beef created in a laboratory in Israel with a 3D printer and about 300 ingredients, I know what I'd go for … I know what feels natural."
Men bringing up in conversation how food makes them feel has only become "acceptable" in UK society quite recently, he says.
While Britain is becoming more "foodie", UK politicians still don't regard food as a key part of the culture, Sitwell says.
He's interested to find out how New Zealand is working to simultaneously protect and popularise our food identity.
"I'm gonna come and eat myself stupid and learn a few things about your culture."
Sitwell's own heritage is aristocratic, but his Sitwell ancestors were artistic rebels who picked up pens instead of guns, he says.
His great aunt, the poet Dame Edith Sitwell, was a very strong and striking-looking person who wrote moving anti-war poetry during World War II.
"She had a talent with words that was musical and when you read the poems and you understand the rhythm, the way that she understood how words can create meaning just from the sounds."
Growing up in a huge gothic house with her eccentric writer father George Sitwell and bullying, alcoholic mother Ida, took comfort in the servants' quarters.
Although George didn't like Edith's extraordinary appearance - and even sought to have it surgically improved - his daughter's formidable appearance lent her distinction, Sitwell says.
"She was extraordinary to look at. She had the physique of a large bird."
British poet Dame Edith Sitwell Photo: Public domain
