Gill Meller is a chef, award-winning food writer, teacher and advocate for real cooking. Based in the English county of Dorset, Meller’s cooking reflects his surroundings. He takes inspiration from the landscape, the seasons and the community of farmers, growers and fishers living and working around him.
Meller’s approach to cooking encourages people to think more about how their food is produced, where it comes from and how it impacts the world. His passion for cooking also extends beyond the kitchen. Meller has written extensively about the joys of outdoor cookery and how making a simple fire and ‘cooking something good to eat over it’ can help us connect to a more natural, mindful way of life. He appears frequently on Channel 4’s River Cottage in the United Kingdom and has worked closely with the River Cottage for over 15 years, regularly teaching at its Park Farm headquarters and inspiring students to grow, source and cook food in ways that enhance their lives.
Published by Quadrille, Meller’s first book, Gather, won the Fortnum & Mason award for Best Debut Food Book in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Award and Guild of Food Writers Award the same year. Time: a year and a day in the kitchen was published in September 2018 and nominated for both Guild of Food Writers’ General Cookbook Award and Food & Travel magazine’s Cookbook of the Year Award. Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower – how to cook with vegetables and other plants followed in 2020, with his latest release – Outside: Recipes for a wilder way of eating – out now.
