Great British Menu: 'I love homely food that reminds me of gran'

Chef Jak O'Donnell and her signature pink apron made it to the finals on Great British Menu last year, and now she's back for more. As she competes to get her Scottish-inspired dishes into this year's banquet, Jak explains just how much food means to her, and her young family.

My kids love seafood. It all started when my daughter was just coming up for two and a half: we went for dinner and ordered her a pot of mussels, and it was one of those moments my husband Ewan and I won't forget. Mesmerised by the amount of bits and bobs the waiter put beside her, she sat still for the first time in two years, glued to the spot, carefully shelling and eating the mussels. Ewan and I thought we were in heaven: a full conversation together and a content wee girl! It took a long time for her to demolish everything, but she was very proud of her sculpture of shell art.

Obviously watching me cooking mussels at home it seemed easy peasy to a now four-year-old, and one day I came into the kitchen to find her with a pot on the stove, throwing in my tub of mussels and popping the lid on. It was a fast snack which made for a happy four-year-old! My son on the other hand is not so keen on cooking as much as consuming food. I think he has hollow legs...

When the two of them come to work with me they’re like kids in a sweet shop. They prefer coming on early mornings to help with the bread, and when the deliveries arrive I love the ‘wow’ on their wee faces. Although by that point half the produce is being plundered by them.

Surprisingly there’s nothing I can think of that they wouldn’t eat. They love a roast beef, carved at the table with all the trimmings and usually with a seafood starter. And anything round the table for sharing ticks my box!

I go on about it all the time, but I think as parents we should let kids cook. They will eat more if they have ownership of their tea, and obviously you decide the menu with them and involve them all the way. Don't just let them make cupcakes! Knife skills, both holding and using (under proper supervision of course) and not wasting food are all very good to learn.

So much of my actual love of food I got from my parents. With gran, the hub of the house was the kitchen, where we all sat round the table so everyone was involved. Even now that's what we love at home in the kitchen: watching; smelling; it's just a busy, great place to be.

From being allowed to grate carrots for grannie’s soup and getting to pluck the chickens that my grampa brought home, I was in my element. All the other grandchildren thought I was mad: they were out playing in the park, and I was in the kitchen!

I love food memories that remind you of when you were wee. Recently I brought a clootie dumpling home, lit the coal fire - just like what grannie had - dried the dumpling out that night and popped it on an old-fashioned china plate the same as my grannie’s. I sat it on an old wooden stool and shared a picture on Twitter. The amount of almost tearful comments I got in reply was amazing: it conjured up memories that meant so much to so many people.

That's what I base my menus on: a dish giving you feeling of how it used to be when you watched your mum or gran cooking at home, and getting a great plate put in front of you. 

Jak O'Donnell is a chef and competitor on Great British Menu.

Great British Menu starts on Monday, 3 August at 7.30pm on BBC Two. Each episode will be available in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.