Television cooking and Mediterranean food
1943–2009 · United Kingdom
Keith Floyd was born in Reading, Berkshire, in 1943 and learned to cook in the Army Catering Corps before running a series of restaurants and bistros, several of which failed. He was in his forties and bankrupt more than once when television finally found him.
Floyd on Fish (1985) and Floyd on France (1987) were shot on location with a small crew and a handheld camera, and they changed how cookery was filmed: Floyd shopped in markets, drank as he cooked, talked straight to the viewer, and refused to pretend that anything was rehearsed.
He wrote dozens of books and traveled constantly, and his influence on a generation of British cooks was as much about appetite and irreverence as about technique. He died in 2009, shortly before a documentary about his life was broadcast.
Floyd's mussels steamed in white wine with shallots, garlic, and parsley, mopped up with plenty of bread.
A Basque chicken braise with sweet peppers, tomatoes, and a little ham, cooked slowly with white wine.
Salt cod pounded with olive oil, garlic, and milk into a warm, creamy Provençal purée.
A cookout in Provence · 1987 · Provence, France
A harvest lunch in Wiltshire · 1982 · Wiltshire, England