Orlando Murrin

Orlando continues to be an oracle of knowledge and a helpful advisor since leaving the team in 2003

Orlando joined Good Food as Editor in 1997 and stayed for six years. He has fond memories of the team and still sees the role as the most exciting job he has had. He was the first journalist - rather than cook - to edit Good Food but his love of food and cooking was no secret. Orlando was a semi-finalist on Masterchef in 1992, but says his time in the test kitchen with Mary Cadogan (then Food director) and Angela Nilsen (then Food editor) taught him vast amounts.

A change of scenery

After leaving Good Food, Orlando, and his partner Peter, left London behind and moved to France to open and run Le Manoir de Raynaudes, a beautiful guesthouse close to Toulouse. Their teaming of genuine hospitality and wonderful food - cooked by Orlando and often grown in their garden - have resulted in a successful business in idyllic surroundings.

Unsurprisingly Orlando doesn't regret the change in lifestyle although he does say that he can't believe what hard work it is to cook for a living, emotionally and physically.

Q&A

What three ingredients do you always have in your fridge?: Fresh yeast (I make fresh bread every day, nothing wrong with French bread obviously but the baker makes it in the morning and I need it in the evening); amazingly fruity homemade jam from a Good Food recipe using just 225g of sugar to 1kg of fruit (which is why you need to keep it in the fridge) and fresh lemongrass (which is the devil to find in rural France).
What was the first thing you remember cooking?: The first thing I ever cooked was Coq au vin from Robert Carrier's cookbook, Great Dishes of the World. My family went out for the day and when they came home found I was still on step 2 (of about 12 steps) so my mother finished it off for me. But it was pretty good.
Who do I most admire?: Gordon Ramsay, for his astonishing dynamism, and the fact he is two different people: terrifying on screen, but a pussycat to work with.