Championing heroic home cooks
Kate Chapman speaks with MasterChef finalist Claire Syrenne, who has launched a podcast highlighting the benefits of home-cooked family dishes.
Food layed a leading role in Claire Syrenne’s recovery from postnatal depression, and now the MasterChef runner-up hopes her new podcast honouring heroic home cooks will help others celebrate their own culinary achievements.
Claire, from Newark, appeared on the BBC One show last summer, and has recently launched her podcast, Cook and Nourish, to honour other people who are managing to get food on their table, no matter what form it takes.
Claire, who made it to the final three on MasterChef, was encouraged to apply for the show by her husband Paul, who suggested it would be the perfect way to celebrate her recovery.
Advised by a doctor, Claire wrote down her daily activities looking after young children, and one constant accomplishment was that she fed the whole family. Seeing that in black and white made her realise she was doing something deeply worthwhile.
“This clarified the idea that the family cook is the hero,” says Claire.
“I love a home cook – people who manage to get food on the table every day, whether it’s a frozen meal or cooking everything from scratch.
“The home cook does not get enough credit. A lot of people feel guilty about not being better cooks, but nothing good ever comes from guilt.
“I want this podcast to help people be the best cook that they can be – and to be proud of that. If I can make a difference for one listener, I’ll be really happy.”
The podcast was launched at the end of January and Claire has plenty planned to inspire and encourage her listeners in the coming months.
World travel
Claire grew up in Doncaster and has always been enthusiastic about food and home cooking. When she was younger her parents grew vegetables in their garden and preserved food by pickling and drying it to make it last as long as possible.
Although she loved cooking, Claire’s heart was set on a career in political communications. She studied English Literature and political theory at Lancaster University and had ambitions to be the next female prime minister. After a while she found the working environment brutal and not particularly female friendly, so moved into copywriting.
She recalls: “A lot of my friends were settling down and I didn’t want that. I got the travelling bug. I left the UK when I was 25 and went off to explore Japan and Australia.I was only going for a year, but when I came back I wanted to go further afield, so I went to Canada and ended up staying there for 12 years.”
Claire lived in Vancouver, working as a copywriter for Canadian charities. She was inspired to launch her own bra company, Butterfly Collection, after being unable to find suitable underwear anywhere in the city.
Road to MasterChef
She met and married Paul and their family grew with the arrival of Evelynne, now 11, and Henry, nine.
They returned to England nine years ago, after deciding they could afford a better quality of life here.
The isolation of leaving her support network behind and having no family close by brought things to a head and Claire sought help for postnatal depression, which by this time she says had become horrific.
She slowly began piecing herself back together, with food playing a key role, as she focussed on the daily achievement of feeding her family.
“My recovery took a long time, it wasn’t a matter of weeks, more months and years,” she says.
“I said to Paul that I was thinking of approaching a publisher with some of the recipes I’d written down to create a cookery book. He suggested I apply for MasterChef instead. We always watched it. He said I always knew what the contestants should be doing before they did. I thought nothing of it and never thought they would want me – but they did!
“I went for an interview where I had to assemble a dish – something impressive, which I’d pre-prepared.
“I made poached salmon, with pea puree, beetroot pickle and crispy salmon skin. I spent days working out how to keep the skin crispy. I even cooked in the boot of my car at the hotel before the interview, doing a pickle!”
The show’s interview process was lengthy and rigorous, involving several rounds and evaluations. Claire was delighted to be chosen but only had a few days to prepare for her first appearance in the second heat.
“I had two goals. One was to get an apron – and I was the first one to do so, so I was thrilled about that.
The second was to make it through as far as the quarter-finals, which I thought would be wonderful.
“When I made it into the semis and then the final, I just couldn’t get my head around what was happening.
“I think what got me there was that I enjoyed it all. I wasn’t looking to change my life. Lots of people who appear want to go into a new career – I was doing it because I had come so far and was celebrating the fact I had got so much of me back.”
New opportunities
During last September’s final, eventually won by fishmonger Harry Maguire, Claire completed a three-course meal challenge and a prestigious Chef’s Table challenge at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London.
She says appearing on the show has opened up other opportunities to her and now her children are older and less dependent on her, she is looking forward to new challenges.
As well as her podcast, Claire will also be appearing at a number of food festivals this year.
“Appearing on the show was so good for me. I felt like that 25-year-old who had gone off to Canada, who had always been quite intrepid. Any depression takes that away from you, makes you feel smaller, and I was capable of big things.
From knockout week onwards I was the only person in my 40s, everyone else was in their 20s and 30s.
“There I was in midlife, keeping up with these younger people, able to do it, able to enjoy it, and recognise what a wonderful experience it was.
“I totally loved it, now I’m able to do all my favourite things relating to food, including helping people feel happier about it, celebrating our hero home cooks and meeting lots of new people, which I love.”
For more information visit www.clairesyrenne.com
Photographs: BBC/ Shine TV Limited/Ziji Productions Limited
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