When introducing Prue Leith it’s easier to list the things she hasn’t done than those she has. At the age of 80 (her birthday was on 18 February 2020), South African-born Leith is known internationally as a chef, restaurateur and author – of cookbooks, several novels and a memoir – entrepreneur, television host, and board director. Her awards include a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), 12 honorary degrees or fellowships from UK universities, Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year, and her restaurant, Leith’s, in London, won a Michelin star.

In March 2020, her latest book, Vegetarian Kitchen, which she wrote with her niece Peta Leith, will be released, and in May 2020, South African audiences will be able to see her judging the 10th season of The Great British Bake Off. Leith was in South Africa during February 2020 and we had a lovely long chat in her suite at the Cape Grace Hotel at V&A Waterfront. 

‘This is a wrap even non-vegans can enjoy without feeling as though anything is missing – the falafels are packed full of flavour, and the pickled cabbage perfectly complements them,’ says co-author Peta Leith. Photo: Supplied

Knowing full well how much time spent translates to words on the page, I told her publicist I wouldn’t need more than 20 to 30 minutes of the scheduled 60. It turned out that an hour flew by as Leith answered my questions at length. In this edited account, we talk about her new book, how she got on Bake Off, keeping colourful as one grows older, and the beauty of leftovers. 

Of the timing of Vegetarian Kitchen, Leith says some have “mildly suggested” she is jumping on the bandwagon – and acknowledges there is some truth in that. “But the fact is, I wrote a vegetarian cookbook 25 years ago and at that time I wanted to call it The Vegetarian Kitchen and the publishers said if I use ‘vegetarian’ in the title I won’t sell a single copy. So we called it Contemporary Cooking. It’s a really good book but it sold extremely badly,” she laughs.

“Then I had a restaurant where we always had a vegetarian menu alongside the normal one. My sister-in-law – Peta’s mother – is vegetarian and I asked her how she liked her dinner. She said it was delicious but she always ate the same thing and it gets rather boring. I said we change the vegetarian dish every day, and she said she never looked in the menu because she didn’t like seeing her vegetarian dish next to the veal, or pig’s liver or whatever. So I realised what they want is a whole menu all to themselves.”

Persuading the chefs to do this was difficult at first until Leith pointed out to them that all they needed to do was take the delicious garnishes – it was a very posh restaurant – like little phyllo parcel of wild mushrooms, or a little compôte of chickpeas, tomatoes and garlic, and blow them up and add a few bits of greenery.

“The costing was excellent, so money really talks, and they were suddenly ardent vegetarian cooks,” says Leith, who has always loved vegetable dishes, but because meat tastes so delicious it’s always the star of the show and the veggies get neglected. “It’s like an afterthought… oh we’ll have a bit of spinach,” she says.

The reason she decided to do this book with Peta is because first of all, she figured she, Peta – a professional pastry chef, food writer and menu consultant – would do most of the work, says Leith with a chuckle. “I did make it clear she would have to shoulder most of the boring bits. Everyone thinks writing a cookbook is about being creative and dreaming up wonderful flavours. Well, there is that, but a lot of wonderful flavours don’t work so you have to do some more dreaming, or you have to retest, and roll back, in a hundred different ways; a lot of it is tedious hard work.”

Peta did end up doing most of that. “By the time we came to doing the photographs we had both cooked everything – I did hers, she did mine – I can’t pretend I worked as hard as she did,” says Leith. “She’s a great chef and a genuine vegetarian so she’s more inventive than I am – although I’m getting better.”

Leith believes the vegetarian movement is a good thing, although she admits to a rather selfish way. “I don’t think I’m ever going to give up good meat, but the more people who become vegetarian or vegan, the less we need to worry about the planet,” she rationalises.

“We have to do our bit too. I really think we should just not eat factory farmed food. It’s cruel, the meat is tasteless, and it’s just not the right way to behave. We shouldn’t be feeding animals what we feed them, it’s very bad. I think it’s perfectly okay to have meat a couple of times a week as long as it’s grass fed and preferably organic.”

We all know this costs more but Leith believes things do filter up and filter down – ideas too. 

“The young are particularly concerned about the planet. To be honest, if you are eating meat three times a day and it’s coming from the supermarket, if you give up that and eat – granted, much more expensive – a large organic chicken a week and two steaks, first of all it will taste much better, and secondly that chicken will do more than one meal. You can use the leftovers and make stock with the bones, and it will cost no more than what you’ve been spending on all that garbage from the supermarket. Eat less, but eat better,” Leith asserts. 

On the subject of leftovers, Leith says she loves cooking with them. “If you know how to cook and know how to blend flavours, you can make wonderful things. I try to remember to write them down but they do have to be quite fresh. Never waste anything.” 

At home, Leith’s go-to dishes include a lemon and polenta cake with a lot of almonds, from a recipe she originally ate at the River Café. “There are now lots of versions, so it’s easy to get it on the internet. It’s gluten free but that’s not why I do it. I do it because I like almonds,” she says. 

Since discovering paneer, Peta says she cooks with it all the time, and this curry is one of her favourite ways to use it. Photo: Supplied

Curries are another favourite. “Paneer is the easiest because it’s lighter,” says Leith. “I grow my own veggies so I make a lot of soup, always starting with onions and garlic. If you ask my husband he’d probably say ‘something on toast’. 

“If I’m tired we’ll have a tray supper. I do a recipe every month for a magazine called Bliss On Toast. It’s so comforting; bliss on toast for me might mean something smart like prosciutto and figs and goat’s cheese, or it might be baked beans with a bit of bacon in it.” 

Leith confesses she doesn’t watch much television, and certainly not cooking shows. “I spend so much of my time thinking of food, so it’s not relaxation for me. I think I’d seen one episode of The Great British Bake Off – by accident.”

Quite a lot of the press were quite critical of the bakers in Bake Off season 10 being so young, says Prue. ‘There were some older people, one was in his 50s. I rather enjoyed that.’ Photo: Supplied

When she saw Mary Berry was leaving the show, it flashed into Leith’s head that “oh, that would be a nice gig, maybe I can do that” but then immediately dismissed it. “I thought Channel 4 was supposed to be so edgy, innovative, different and politically correct, they’d never hire another old lady,” she says.

Then her agent rang her up and told her she was in the lineup of potential new judges, and sent her to meet Paul Hollywood to see if the chemistry worked. 

“I went to this house in South London which was being used for auditions but I didn’t realise I was going to an audition; I thought I was going to have coffee with Paul,” she recalls. 

“We judged a soda bread, and Paul knows a hell of a lot about bread so he was leading. I didn’t say very much – because I agreed with him. Also, I was quite nervous by then because there was makeup and clothes and the whole kaboosh. 

“When we broke after that, Paul said to me ‘you’ve got to push yourself, don’t just agree with me’. He was quite nice but he said he’d seen me on telly and that I’m quite opinionated, and not to hold back. So we did the brownies and I got stuck in.” 

Season 10 is Leith’s third on the show, which will air on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174, from Monday 25 May, 2020 at 8pm. “Quite a lot of the press were critical of the bakers in this season being so young. There were some older people, one was in his 50s. I rather enjoyed that,” says Leith. “They were subdued in the beginning and then got merrier and merrier, like school kids really. They weren’t all that young. The criticism was a bit unfair.” 

Just in case she’s not busy enough, Leith also puts her name on a range of brightly coloured spectacle frames. “Colour is everything!” she says, and she walks the talk with her vibrant wardrobe and chunky jewellery… and the glasses of course.

‘I adore treacle tart,’ says Prue. ‘At lunch before my wedding, I had 24 oysters followed by a bowl of treacle tart and custard. Bliss.’ Photo: Supplied

“First of all, I’ve always liked colour. What really made me more determined was when I married – or met, rather – John, nine years ago, he would encourage me, because he was in fashion. He likes colour and used to often say to me ‘go for it’. I’d ask if it was too much and he’d say it’s not enough. He likes me in colour, and if it wasn’t for him I’d probably be a little more muted. 

“Women write or email or Facebook, and say ‘I used to wear colour but once I turned 50 I felt I shouldn’t really, and you’re so brave and I wish I had the confidence’. I think that’s a terrible thing, to think you have to tone yourself down and disappear,” continues Leith. “It’s bad enough after the menopause you’re slightly invisible to men anyway, so do you have to be invisible to everybody? I think we should go for colour.” 

Leith married John Playfair in 2016, and announced this week that they will be moving in together for the first time. It’s unlikely Leith will become invisible any time soon. DM