My kitchen is … part of my living room. It’s quite big, but feels small because of all the stuff I have in there. I keep my spices in test tubes on a test-tube rack. I’ve got mini shelves on stilts so I can get more in, underneath and on top. I collect jam jars for storing stuff: leftovers, because I always cook more than I need; dry goods that I buy in bulk and decant … The kitchen is where I spend a lot of my time – my favourite weekends are based around my kitchen. I have an island in the middle that lets me prep while looking out of the window into the garden.
My favourite kitchen tool is … my chef’s knife. I got it when I enrolled at chef’s school when I was 17. It’s got my name on it. It’s my dearest possession.
My storecupboard staple is … dried chillies: scotch bonnet, chipotle, guajillo, piquin … I love the different heats and flavours. I use chipotle chillies in my cowboy-style baked beans for the smokiness; habaneros for heat in a slow beef short-rib recipe to go with waffles. Ancho or guajillo give a rich and fruity chocolatey flavour in my beef brisket chilli for nachos.
When I’m starving I … always have, without ever deviating, good cheese, quince jam and pickled onions. I sometimes add things to that, but always those things.
My culinary inspiration is … street food. If you’re cooking street food, you don’t have lots of stuff, or space. So you tend to focus on two or three things and do them extremely well. It’s very specialised, very focused: the best pad thai, the best cheeseburger …
My best-kept kitchen secret is … I use coffee all the time in food. Making stock usually involves roasting meat or veg, then boiling it in water, and straining it – which is exactly how you make coffee. So coffee is actually a stock and it can be used as one. I made a chilli a couple days ago with beef cheeks, soaking the chillies in coffee first.
When I’m invited to dinner I always take … a smile. I love cooking with friends, especially outdoors. I go surfing a fair bit and afterwards I love being round friends, cooking. I detest dinner parties – the idea of one person slaving all day over a showoff meal, then everyone turning up just to eat. I think food is about love, and there is happiness and love to be had when you’re all involved.
Everything tastes better with … fresh air. Food tastes better out in the open. When you drink wine, you suck air in while you drink it, which makes it taste the way it does. So it’s physically, as well as emotionally, true.
When I go shopping I … tend to be led by what’s in front of me. I go to my butcher or fishmonger, then shop around whatever hero ingredient I get.
For dinner tonight … I’m making blue corn tacos with beef cheek and queso fresco. With a glass of malbec.
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John Quilter is a broadcaster, chef and the founder of Food Busker and Cru Kafe. He will be taking over Cook’s Instagram account this weekend. Follow us on @GuardianCook
