A Toast To Keith Floyd

I am raising a glass to the late Keith Floyd. I was a teenager in the 80s, and grew up on his wood/alcohol voice and chaotic cookery programmes. He was my hero.
My generation had Delia Smith and Patricks Pantry. Both studio based, quite stuffy programmes, and then in the early 80's along came Keith Floyd. Flamboyant and often well on the way to being drunk his programmes consisted of him going to meet chefs or fishermen, farmers or restauranteurs and cook with them. He did a programme from a trawler, steaming the fish as they caught it. This was new and very different.
I loved his voice, and the way he was in control of the kitchen- wherever he was. The only time I can remember when he wasn't was when he was cooking with an Italian lady who appeared to be about 103 who refused to let him go near her oven. He was bemused, and quite scared and brilliant. Anything he questioned she hushed him, so he rattled on about what he thought she'd done.
He told the cameraman-Clive- to focus on this dish, that ingredient and then "back to me, Clive" with such speed he could hardly keep up, regardless of the camera steaming up or getting hot fat splashed upon it. The programme used to do little segments of local history, or rants about how the British don't eat enough fish, used usually to pass the time while a stew was cooking. Clive would have to get up early and "Do the pretties" as they were called- the artistic bits. The segment was introduced thus "Lets have a fruity, passionate piece to camera about the sorry plight of English fish-eating habits". It felt almost dangerous for him to be introducing pieces with the words "The Director says you should see some local landscapes-I'll finish this bottle while I wait for you to come back" or words to that effect! Due to the amount of takes they used to do during filming, Keith's glass of local red was filled over again for continuity-he would be smashed by the time they had finished filming.
He also ran restaurants- three at once at one time, while doing radio and television. Unfortunately due a lack of business acumen, and the need to feed people and be generous he used to "comp" people and give away far too much, he declared bankruptcy. His food was all about local, fresh and simple. It wasn't the new fad- and there were many in the 1980s, it was history, what real people live on, and it was passionate and cared for. He taught a young Jean- Christophe Novelli in one of his restaurants and his passion for food shone through his programmes.
His director-David Pritchard- said of him, on first discovering him;"When I was in his restaurant I would see him talking to customers after a fairly gruelling few hours in the kitchen before, and helping himself to their wine and brandy, and gently taking the piss out of them. I would watch this floor show and I thought he was brilliant. He would apologise to people who were wearing Gucci shoes and faux-fur jackets for not having any scampi on the menu. I thought, this is what cookery programmes could do with. they're all so po-faced and prissy, we want someone who is actually a bit of an anarchist in the kitchen."
He was an anarchist- a big fan of the Stranglers. Peaches was the theme of his show- if you don't know the song youtube have it, and it now always brings a smile to my face.
He taught me that cooking should be fresh, simple and brilliant. You didn't have to abide to recipes, add a glug of good wine to everything and the restaurant business was hell, but fun and there will be many interesting people on the way.
I shall leave you with my favorite quote from his book Floyd in the Soup (my life and other great escapes) "It's best to know high people in low places"
Here's to you.