Advertisement

Chef Big Zuu: ‘Why is it that the only black chef on TV is Ainsley Harriott?’

Chef Big Zuu: ‘Food on TV is still Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay – it’s time for a change’ - Nina Manandhar
Chef Big Zuu: ‘Food on TV is still Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay – it’s time for a change’ - Nina Manandhar

The TV Baftas in May were mostly a predictable affair. Jodie Comer won for her Covid drama Help, Sean Bean for his turn as a prison inmate in Time, Matthew Macfadyen for Succession. In this procession of household names, the chef, musician and presenter Big Zuu came out of nowhere.

Wearing a bright-yellow hoodie, flanked by his co-presenters Tubsey and Hyder, Zuu – real name Zuhair Hassan – swaggered up to collect the award in the Features category for his series Big Zuu’s Big Eats, in which he makes simple, tasty dishes and interviews celebrities about their own culinary habits.

His acceptance speech was unforgettable. He thanked the producers and commissioners who had made it possible, but above all his mother, who moved to the UK from war-torn Sierra Leone in 1995, when she was four months pregnant with Zuu, leaving his father, who is Lebanese, behind.

‘Man come from humble beginnings,’ he said. ‘Representation is so important. Growing up there wasn’t many chefs or people that looked like me on telly. Now there’s young people watching us doing our thing and thinking, “You know what? If these wastemen can win a Bafta, surely we can.”’ The room collapsed in laughter and applause.

‘We did this for working-class people. People that come from nothing.’ Later that evening, he won another award, for Entertainment Performance. ‘I wanna thank God, I wanna thank Allah. I’m not the most religious person in the universe but I believe I would not be here without God’s grace.’

‘I didn’t think I would win,’ Zuu says of the Baftas - Getty Images
‘I didn’t think I would win,’ Zuu says of the Baftas - Getty Images

A month later, Zuu, 26, is sitting in a Korean restaurant in Soho, reflecting on a thrilling period in his life in which he has seemingly evolved from ‘popular-among-Gen Z presenter’ to ‘household name-in-waiting’. On a sunny afternoon in June, it took us about half an hour to travel the 200 yards over from the photo shoot.

Zuu moves at the unhurried pace of a man who knows he is hard to ignore. He takes up a lot of space, literally and figuratively; tall and broad, with the kind of ebullient charisma that means it’s hard to imagine him being anything other than famous.

He also seems to know everyone, and they are all glad to see him. He stops to chat with the manager of Aimé Leon Dore, the clothing store where his portrait has been taken. He waves at a friend across the road, who turns out to be the rapper Slowthai. He obliges a fan for a selfie.

Earlier in the day, it turns out, he bumped into Davina McCall, who is a fan of the show. He takes his manager into a shop and buys her a jacket. ‘Interviews are usually really s—t,’ he says, introducing me to the staff, ‘but this is all right – we’re going to eat.’

He plunges into Aesop, the temple-like soapery, to stock up on products ahead of a holiday to Miami and Colombia later in the month. ‘It was really tough for me to learn to say no to work,’ he says, half to me and half to the staff. ‘As someone who’s freelance, get to the place where I’m comfortable taking that much time off.’

The staff congratulate him on his awards as they hand over the serums and cleansers he has requested, along with the free extra bits and bobs that seem to be part of Big Zuu’s retail experience these days.

‘I didn’t think I would win,’ Zuu says of the Baftas when we finally sit down. He has ordered £112 of fried chicken, kimchi, noodles and soup for the table, which now includes a friend of his, Danny, who happened to be round the corner.

The French Taco, from the Big Zuu’s Big Eats cookbook - Ellis Parrinder
The French Taco, from the Big Zuu’s Big Eats cookbook - Ellis Parrinder

‘I wanted to talk about where we were from, but when I said we were from “humble beginnings”, I felt like the whole room just got it.’ He uses ‘we’ a lot: sometimes, as here, referring to the three Big Eats presenters, sometimes a regal first person, and sometimes something larger: black people, or working-class people, or immigrants, or his family, or people from Sierra Leone, or everyone who is not against whichever cause he is supporting.

Zuu is a characteristic star of the social-media era, his performances and personal life on a continuum. You get the same Zuu – smart, brash, quick, with a thick beard and a vast laugh – whether you are watching him on Snapchat or the TV channel Dave, or stopping him for a photo at a zebra crossing. He is also exceedingly busy. There is a new series of Big Eats. There’s also Hungry for It, a kind of MasterChef aimed at younger people, as well as Sneakerhead, a scripted comedy for Dave about the employees of a bargain sportswear shop that definitely bears no relation to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. There’s a Big Eats cookbook out. There’s a radio show. If you are not familiar with Zuu yet, you will be.

Born in 1995, Zuu grew up on the Mozart Estate in west London. His mother worked as a cleaner, a job Zuu also did briefly in his teens at Harvester restaurants. Primary school was in Marylebone, before he went to St Augustine’s, Kilburn, where he says he was ‘really smart’ but ‘not academic’. There he met his Big Eats co-stars Tubsey and Hyder, as well as an even more familiar presence on our TV screens: Boris Johnson, who came to induct Zuu into the gifted and talented programme.

‘Boris came to our school when he was running for mayor,’ Zuu says. ‘We booed him, because he was an old white guy. What was he doing in our school? He told me I was in the gifted and talented group. Then he taught us Latin for an hour. He’s a prick, but he’s good at Latin.’

‘Boris came to our school when he was running for mayor,’ Zuu says. ‘We booed him, because he was an old white guy' - Nina Manandhar
‘Boris came to our school when he was running for mayor,’ Zuu says. ‘We booed him, because he was an old white guy' - Nina Manandhar

Zuu wanted to be a musician, and by his late teens was a rising star in the London grime scene, having recorded demos at his local youth centre. He is part of the MTP collective, along with his cousin, the superstar British rapper AJ Tracey, who last weekend played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.

Zuu released his debut album last year, which followed several singles and EPs, and a fundraising track and video in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. His interest in food came partly from his mum’s cooking, with its west African flavours, and what he found around him.

‘We’d be at AJ’s house, because his mum used to let us chill there, and we would always buy Chicken Cottage. One day I was bored and I just said, “Let me cook.” I made them all give me £3 and bought wings, macaroni and cheese. It was trial and error, but I got better. Now when I cook for the mandem [mates], it’s a treat.’

Eventually Zuu realised that cooking might give him a point of difference in the competition among grime artists. ‘When everyone else is as hungry for it as you, you have to stand out,’ he says. ‘My thing was my voice, which was louder and deeper than other people’s. Then I started hosting and presenting on the radio.’ Social-media videos of his cooking led to a producer suggesting he try something food-related on TV.

‘Food on TV is still Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay,’ he says. ‘We love it, but it’s time for a change. I’ve watched every episode of Kitchen Nightmares, but I always look at the food and think, “How the f—k am I going to make that?” I didn’t have the ingredients.

‘[TV chefs] always have a point to prove. They want to say, “I am a chef, because I do this.” Just because you know processes doesn’t make you a chef any more than learning how to write music makes you a musician. Anyone can learn to make a choux bun. What sets you apart is the love and the feeling. We love food. That’s what we want to get across, rather than how to make food. It’s not DIY SOS.’

There is an agreeably democratic quality to Zuu’s cooking, which is as big-hearted and generous as he is. He encourages people to ‘remix’ the cuisines they grew up with, without being too prescriptive about authenticity. The book’s subtitle is Delicious Home Cooking with West African and Middle Eastern Vibes.

Zuu has recipes for jollof rice, saag paneer bhaji buns, Jamaican pepper shrimp, a peanut butter and jelly cheesecake… There is plenty of seasoning but not the 25-ingredient pile-up you sometimes get with broadsheet chefs. There is little in the way of specialist kit required. He is relaxed about shortcuts. In the first episode of the new series of Big Eats, he makes the comedian Johnny Vegas fried potato balls complete with cheese sauce ‘from the jar’.

‘Nobody cooks and says, “This is allowed,”’ Zuu says. ‘Nobody says, “This is from the local corner shop.” It’s always from an artisan bakery, or Waitrose, or the apples are from the greatest orchard of all time. We just go to the shop.

‘I make food like it’s accessible, which I don’t think other chefs have done. Jamie Oliver really tried,’ he adds, but lost some of his sympathy during his crusade against unhealthy school lunches. ‘I don’t blame him, he was trying to do something good, but he’ll always be the chef that took away Turkey Twizzlers.’

Oliver has never been in touch, Zuu says, vaguely affronted. ‘None of these chefs have, which I find bizarre. In music, if you do well, people message you. The only chef who’s reached out to me is Tom Kerridge. John Torode said he loved Big Eats. Gregg [Wallace] doesn’t really get it, but that’s fine. Jay Rayner’s really nice. And so is Grace Dent. I’ve had more luck with the critics than the chefs.’

He adds, ‘No one looks like me on TV. Why is it that the only black chef on TV is Ainsley Harriott? And the only Muslim is Nadiya Hussain because she won Bake Off. You either have to be really good or be there for 100 years. I want to encourage more chefs on TV who look like me. I don’t need to own the lane.’

Big Zuu photographed in London, his home town, last month - Nina Manandhar
Big Zuu photographed in London, his home town, last month - Nina Manandhar

If anything, he says, he feels the pressure of being the only TV cook representing vast swathes of the population. ‘I feel I’m representing everyone from the hood, or black, or mixed-race. I don’t represent all black people. Not everyone is loud and overbearing. Some are quiet and chilled. In TV people still say I look like Big Narstie [a fellow musician-presenter who, it must be said, does not look much like Zuu], because they are racist.’

With the years of slog finally paying off, Zuu has permitted himself a few trappings of success. His favourite restaurant is Maison Bab, an upmarket kebab place in Covent Garden. He says he may buy a house. He doesn’t drive, so cars have yet to come into it, but his wrist bears a Rolex. He is single, and says he has scaled back the Courvoisier and weed to focus on his career. A musician who found his way to acting through food, he is hungry for it all, for himself and what it allows him to provide for others.

‘My mum enjoys the fruits of my labour,’ he says. ‘And a lot of people rely on us back home in Sierra Leone. I thank God I’m able to help them without feeling like I’m being used, because that’s what a lot of people worry about when they get to my position. It doesn’t matter where you are from. If you make money, people might see that as a reason to take advantage of you. I’m lucky.’

A week later, Zuu is standing at the foot of Grenfell Tower on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 72 lives. He lives in Golders Green at the moment, but his heart is still in west London.

‘It’s all about positivity, it’s about moving forward.’ He is addressing the crowd gathered to pay their respects. ‘Five years, no justice. It’s disgusting that there’s not been one arrest… We have to keep going…

‘This area creates megastars… To all my young people here, whether you’re doing good things in your life, bad things in your life, use this energy that’s around you and turn it into something positive.’

Loud, funny, clever, angry, political: Big Zuu is only getting bigger.


Akara African doughnuts

An African dish that differs from place to place. I’m giving you a version of my mum’s recipe. Please don’t judge me or message me on Twitter banging on about how it’s not the way it’s done – everyone has a different recipe, so this is mine.

Akara African doughnut recipe - Ellis Parrinder
Akara African doughnut recipe - Ellis Parrinder

Timings

Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 medium overripe bananas (about 350g), mashed

  • 130g rice flour

  • 1.5l vegetable oil for frying in a saucepan (if using a deep-fat fryer follow manufacturer’s instructions for oil), plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp grated nutmeg, plus

  • extra for dusting

  • 1 tsp tomato paste

  • pinch of salt

  • 3 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

Method

  1. Combine the bananas with the rice flour, the 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, baking powder, nutmeg, tomato paste, salt, sugar and 80ml water to make a batter. Leave to stand for 1 hour.

  2. Preheat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 160°C or heat the oil in a deep saucepan over a low–medium heat to 160°C.

  3. When ready to fry, use two spoons or an ice-cream scoop to dollop golfball-sized pieces of the batter in the hot oil. Fry the akara for 4–5 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately, dusted in more sugar and nutmeg.


Grandpa Kitchen's vegetable biryani

‘SAL-T’. What a legend, we had to commemorate the boss Grandpa. I’ve been watching him feed young Asian kids for years, which has not only made me appreciate how much food we have access to in the UK, but also inspired me to try and help others as much as he did.

Grandpa Kitchen's vegetable biryani - Ellis Parrinder
Grandpa Kitchen's vegetable biryani - Ellis Parrinder

Timings

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves

eight

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp ghee

  • 1 onion, finely chopped

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 4 green cardamom pods, bashed

  • 2 black cardamom pods, bashed

  • 1 star anise

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds

  • 2 cloves

  • 4 garlic cloves, grated

  • 2.5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

  • 2 green chillies, chopped

  • 1 tsp turmeric

  • 1 tsp chilli powder

  • 2 tsp garam masala

  • 2 tbsp methi

  • 1 baking potato, diced

  • 200g cauliflower florets

  • 150g green beans, cut into thirds

  • 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

  • 1 green pepper, diced

  • 250g tomatoes, diced

  • 150g frozen peas

  • 100g cashews

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 100ml natural yoghurt

  • 500g basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes

  • large handful of mint, roughly chopped

  • large handful of of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Method

  1. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the ghee and fry the onion for 15 minutes over a medium heat until caramelised. Add the bay leaves, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds and cloves and fry for 2–3 minutes until toasty and fragrant, before adding the garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and 1 tablespoon of the methi.

  2. Fry for 5 minutes before adding all the vegetables and cashews. Once all of the vegetables and cashews are in and well combined with the curry base, add the salt and 130ml water, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The stir in the yoghurt and remove from the heat.

  3. Meanwhile in a large pan of well-salted boiling water, cook the soaked rice for 7 minutes. Drain the rice and rinse briefly in cold water. Return to the pan, mix the remaining ghee and methi into the rice and check the seasoning.

  4. Remove two-thirds of the curry from the pan and set aside in a bowl. Start to layer the biryani. Add a third of the rice on top of the curry, sprinkle over some of the herbs, then add half the curry set aside in the bowl. Add another layer of rice and herbs, then the remaining curry and then the remaining rice.

  5. Cover the pot with a clean tea towel and a lid and put back over a low heat for 15 minutes to steam, then remove from the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes untouched before serving.


Big Zuu’s Big Eats returns to Dave on Monday. Hungry for It airs on Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC Three