Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall reveals the UK’s best chippy

What’s your favourite brand of olive oil?

My go-to is Riverford Organic (from £12.50, riverford.co.uk). It comes in a tin, which I like. But I also top up occasionally with Honest Toil (from £25 for 1 litre, honest-toil.co.uk).

Food/drink item you always pack when you go abroad?

I’m very happy to put myself in the hands of the locals, with one exception: I need to be sure I can make a decent cup of tea. So I take a little tin with some Clipper Organic English Breakfast tea bags (£3.79, clipper-teas.com).

Restaurant you want to return to?

My old favourites in London would include St John and Quo Vadis, two of the best treats in town. The Bull Inn in Totnes, a fantastic gastropub run by Geeti Singh-Watson, is also a brilliant place to get excellent local organic food.

Top corner-shop chocolate?

I occasionally treat myself to a Toffee Crisp and a Crunchie, which have been favourites since I was a kid. I still sentimentally enjoy one or two of each every year.

Toast topping of choice?

There’s a great Cornish range of nut butters called Carley’s. I like an almond nut butter (£4.65, carleys.co.uk) as well as a classic crunchy peanut (£3.25).

Best fish and chips in the UK?

A brilliant place in Weymouth called The Marlboro that’s been there since the 1970s. They’ve got a keen policy of sourcing sustainably and they make great batter.

Coffee brand you rate?

Dirtea does a really interesting mushroom coffee, which I have a couple of times a week. My friends at the Soulshine restaurant in Bridport also do their own coffee roasting – their brand is called Goose & Badger, and it’s lovely (from £9.50, gooseandbadger.com).

Secret ingredient?

To add a bit of backbone to your gravy, a pinch of instant coffee adds a nice umami flavour. I’m also a big fan of Hodmedod’s UK-grown pulses and beans. Adding some beans to a curry or stew gives a brilliant nutritional boost.

You can only eat one kind of potato for the rest of your life – what is it?

Homegrown Ratte potatoes (£2.75, waitrose.com), just buttered with a sprinkling of chopped mint. They’re beautiful potatoes with an almost yellowy coloured flesh and a delicious nutty flavour.

Best bread for toasting?

My wife makes amazing seeded sourdough, but Co-op’s own seeded sourdough (£2.65, coop.co.uk) does make very good toast.

Preferred butter?

Brue Valley’s organic salted butter (£3.50, riverford.co.uk). It’s super creamy and a lovely buttercup yellow.

Most useful kitchen utensil or gadget?

A potato ricer and my hand-forged santoku chopping knife made by a blacksmith friend called Alex Pole. He makes beautiful knives at a place called The Forge in Dorset. I use mine every single day.

Condiment that improves every meal?

I do like a good English mustard, and Colman’s is hard to beat.

Favourite cheese?

A really nice blue sheep’s-milk cheese called Beenleigh Blue (£13.90, lafromagerie.co.uk), which is really delicious. It’s got that slight sweetness that you get with sheep’s milk, but with the extra tang of the blue.

Three items you always have in your fridge?

A selection of sauerkrauts and kimchis, some of our River Cottage kombuchas, and a bottle of Black Cow vodka.

Dream foodie holiday destination?

Île de Ré in France, where my mother-in-law lives. There’s great organic produce grown on the island, locally landed fish, brilliant cheeses – everything you’d expect from top-drawer French markets.

High Fibre Heroes by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is published by Bloomsbury, £26. To order a copy for £22.10 until 14 June, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25. 

alamy, emma lee