The world according to… Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I’ve become a passionate cold-water swimmer. We have a large pond in our garden in Devon and I’m in there virtually every day of the year, including those February mornings when I have to break through the ice. People ask me if I wear a wetsuit, but that’s not cold-water swimming. All I wear is my birthday suit! As the counter ticks ever closer towards 60, I try to look after myself and the swimming has really helped me. It gives me a real blast and fills me full of energy. A few lengths with the grass snakes, water rats and kingfishers is my version of a morning cup of coffee.

Chips off the old block 

My wife, Marie, is generally very happy with my cooking, but she is definitely the bread maker of the house – her half-wholemeal sourdough is fantastic. All four of our children have learned to cook via a combination of opportunity and osmosis. There’s no point trying to do it with rules and regulations: ‘You must learn how to make pastry!’ All you’re doing is pushing them away from the kitchen. My youngest daughter, Louisa, is only 12 and she loves baking. Freddy, 19, is into his Asian spices and stir-fries. Oscar, 23, is more of a meat and fish man. And Chloe, 26, is actually a professional chef. Her lasagne is incredible.

Christmas takeover

Although we aren’t that far from Christmas, I’m not one of those super-preppers. Having said that, there is one particularly fine-looking beef steer on the farm that I’ve had my eye on. Christmas dinner used to be my job, but as the kids got older and became more confident with food, they began to take over. It was almost like an intervention; they sat me down and said, ‘Sorry Dad, but we’re getting fed up with you bossing us around in the kitchen’. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t find it easy to let go – they had to gaffer tape me to an armchair in front of the telly – but the results were amazing. This year, it’ll be them bossing me around on Christmas morning.

'We all know that eating less meat is good for us and good for the planet'

Classics with a twist

I love comfort food. You can’t beat a slice of Victoria sponge or a big bacon roll. But there’s no reason we can’t tweak those classics and make them a bit healthier – something we do at our River Cottage restaurant. Writing my new book, I’ve realised that we’re conditioned to expect a ton of sugar, but if you reduce it, nobody notices. The sugar tax and obesity strategy have been hard won, which makes all the talk about cancelling them disappointing, to say the least.

The great leveller

What I love about the hospitality industry is that it’s a level playing field. When you work in a kitchen, no one cares about your class, education, or if you went off the rails. There’s room for everyone, even a toff like me! We work with a charity called Switchback, offering cookery training to young offenders, giving them a chance to get back on their feet.

Towards a healthier planet

When I first left college, I travelled around Africa and fully expected to end up working in the ecology and conservation sector. But, somewhere along the way, I ended up being a chef. Now, of course, those two worlds exist in parallel. Animal welfare, plastic waste in food packaging and the state of the oceans are all part of the job. We have a much more holistic picture of food and how it sits within the environment. Go back ten years and I would have described myself as a carnivore. Today, there’s more of a balance between meat and vegetables because we all know that eating less meat is good for us and good for the planet.

Meat is not going to disappear, but we are going to see a move towards vegetarianism and veganism. Who knows, we might even get Jeremy Clarkson on board.

River Cottage Good Comfort: Best-loved Favourites Made Better for You by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is out now (Bloomsbury, £27)