While growing up, Tilly Ramsay always felt inspired watching her dad, Gordon Ramsay, on his hit shows like “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef.” The 22-year-old knew from a young age that she wanted to cook and try to hone her skills to one day be as successful as her talented father. While promoting the new season of “MasterChef Junior,” on which she’s currently a judge, Tilly told Tasting Table in an exclusive interview that like many contestants on the show who are between the ages of 8 and 13, she was young when she started showing an interest in cooking.
With dad Gordon excited to teach her, Tilly explained that one of the first things she started making was cookies and cupcakes because her family was big into baking. However, the first real dish she mastered was scrambled eggs. “Dad used to just sit me up onto the counter. I used to watch him, and then I started being able to hold the spoon or put a tiny bit of the salt in. I remember that very well,” she recalled.
While scrambled eggs were the first breakfast item she made, Tilly she didn’t feel like a proper cook until she made a huge meal for the whole Ramsay clan. “I truly felt like I was mastering food when I did my first Sunday roast, which are massive in the U.K.,” she revealed. “You sit down, and you’ve got roast chicken or roast pork, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, carrots, and roast potatoes.”
The First Full Meal That She Cooked For Her Entire Family
The Sunday Roast tradition in England started back in 1485 when King Henry VII was in power in medieval England. After going to church, locals would often roast meat in communal ovens which would take many hours to make. However, with the rise of the Industrial Revolution from 1760 to 1840 and the invention of enclosed ovens, families could start cooking their roasts from the comfort of their homes. Today, it’s still celebrated at pubs and restaurants where you can now find everything from root vegetables to delicious desserts.
Impressively, Tilly said she made her first Sunday Roast when she was just a teenager. “I made my first one for my family and homemade everything from scratch,” she divulged. “I wrote it all out: the orders, what time things needed to go in the oven. I spent pretty much all day doing it.” Clearly, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.
