Samantha Dorling is head chef at Tymperleys, Colchester, and has a wealth of experience in the kitchen.

As well as working on the cruise ship the QEII and in a number of high profile restaurants she has also appeared on a number of cookery programmes.

She completed her degree at Colchester Institute and also teaches within her chosen field.

Here we ask Samantha about her Life in Food...

  • What food reminds you of childhood?

Braised steak and mash potato – nothing beats a good rich gravy to warm you after a hard day at school.

I remember the freezing walk home from school and entering into the warm kitchen to that smell. It’s hearty and traditional – a hug on a plate.

  • What is your favourite family recipe?

Beef stew and dumplings – proper suet dumplings.

Growing up, my family always ate together around the table and I’ve continued that tradition with my family.

When my boys are back home, it’s a help yourself from the central dish at the table. I make a delicious stew- the trick is not to overcook the meat.

  • If you were on Death Row, what would be your last meal?

Beef en croute with dauphinoise potatoes. What can I say? I love good meat!

It’s one of the things I love about working at Tymperleys – the meat often comes from Layer Marney Tower where they raise the animals themselves and I get to choose the cuts of meat. Dauphinoise potatoes, when done properly, are a gift from the gods. For me, the flavour of the food is everything.

While a beautiful plate is very important, if the flavour can’t match it with every mouthful, it’s pointless.

  • Which celebrities would be your ideal dinner party guests?

Marco Pierre White, the chef, because I consider him to be a genius with flavour, and Idris Elba, just because!

  • What is your ultimate comfort food?

I’ll be honest, chocolate. Anything chocolate. I made a chocolate fudge cake the other day at Tymperleys. It disappeared in half a morning so clearly I’m not the only one.

  • What is the ingredient you use most at home?

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. I love the variety there is, the colours, the textures, the smells. You can be following the same recipe precisely but use a different type of tomato and the flavours and consistency change in ways many people underestimate. In autumn, you’ll always find me making sauces and passata from them.

  • What is your guilty pleasure?

White chocolate baked cheesecake. It’s such a rich, intense flavour. That slow release that only comes with a baked cheesecake – the initial sweetness, then the soft cheese savoury sensation and then the lingering white chocolate that stays with you...

  • What is your signature dish and what is the secret to making it?

Fishcake Florentine. I’ve just added it to the menu at Tymperleys.

The trick lies in good quality, fresh ingredients. Fresh fish, lightly seasoned with a little something; Hollandaise sauce made daily and a soft poached free-range egg, which are normally from Layer Marney Tower. The free-range bit is so important. The chickens get more sunlight and exercise which gives the yolk a brighter yellow, and richer, yolk. If the poached egg doesn’t spill forth with that intense soft yolk when cut into, it’s not good enough.

I’m a stickler for things like that. When I serve food, I have to be 100 per cent confident that it is the best. I accept nothing less. I put my heart and soul into the food I cook and it shows, I hope.