Biography: Kay Deakin, Chef & Food Stylist for British Leeks

My interest in, and passion for food was inspired by my fantastic Home Economics teacher at school. She was a chemist by profession and took great care to explain the science behind cooking, which I found fascinating. Even now when I make a white sauce I can visualise all those starch grains swelling and bursting as they get hot and absorb the liquid, which is why you have to stir it to stop lumps forming!

I was lucky enough to study Home Economics with Marketing and Nutrition at a leading university and have been involved in the food profession ever since. I started off my career developing recipes for canned products and was involved in presenting new recipes to leading supermarkets and their buying teams. I then got a job with a leading supermarket, heading up their Home Economics department. We were responsible for assessing all own label products and so a lot of time was spent on the road visiting a diverse variety of food manufacturers, writing recipes for packaging and marketing literature and getting involved with the photography for the packaging. I still have an example of my first food styling job which featured in the Daily Mirror — although it looks very dated now!

I have worked as a food consultant for many years now and have continued my involvement with a wide range of clients. I work with a client based in Dubai specialising in calorie laden recipes for Ramadan to be eaten once the sun goes down, food magazines and specialist clients involved with various food intolerances. I have worked with most of the leading supermarkets and have also appeared on Woman’s Hour talking about food issues, been involved with producing cookery videos, and writing specialist cookery books related to specific dietary needs.

I am married with 5 children/step children aged from 17 to 8. My step daughter is diabetic and as I have worked on diabetic publications with the diabetic society, we have fun together developing suitable recipes for her.

When it comes to food you never stop learning, which is why it is so fascinating. When I run cookery demonstrations I always tell my audience I learn just as much from them as they do from me, as it is a sharing of knowledge and tradition. I have enjoyed working on the British Leeks campaign for a number of years and hope you try out some of my new season recipes!