Food favourites with George Cromack - Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, a classic Sherlock and turnip

Writer, lecturer and regular film studies and creative writing tutor with the Scarborough Branch of the WEA George Cromack talks about his favourite foods.
George CromackGeorge Cromack
George Cromack

Please tell me about yourself

I am George Cromack, writer, lecturer and regular film studies and creative writing tutor with the Scarborough Branch of the WEA delivering accessible adult education to the heart of the community.

How often do you eat out

Not so often, blame my regular run of evening classes.

READ Scarborough artist Lynne Arnison's food favourites here

Locally, what are your three favourite restaurants

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Sherlocks in Whitby - a Holmesian themed restaurant - need I explain myself further.

Tuscany Too in Scarborough – always a fan of Italian food and I always wonder about the Fiat 500 parked outside – does it ever move?

The Falcon Inn on A171 between Scarborough and Whitby - good pub food never goes a miss.

What is your favourite comfort food and why

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes – quick, tasty and you can catch up on emails while eating.

What is your favourite cooking/food programme and why

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A tough one, will have to say River Cottage as there’s always an element of adventure, experiment and the great outdoors.

You can eat anything, anywhere in the world, cooked by a chef of your choice, no expense spared, who would cook for you, what would they cook and where would it be

Hmm, I am a bit of a petrol head when not being a wordsmith, so, The Hairy Bikers (two for the price of one), cooking up a medium steak and chips with a glass or two of dark ale, followed by sticky-toffee pudding, all served up on the workbench in my garage/shed – no need to get changed out of my overalls. Maybe they could lend a hand with the spanners as well.

Who cooks in your house? What do they cook

Cooking for myself a lot these days, my tuna pasta bake, quick to do and reheats for another day (or three).

You are cooking to impress. What do you cook

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Sausage and mash, but to my own ‘special’ specification, it’s all about getting the mash right.

You can invite five people to dinner. Past or present, famous or not – but please explain who they are and why they are important to you. What would you cook for them

Hmm, could end up like a big film script meeting, the best Sherlock Holmes actors Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett, the great film director Alfred Hitchcock, TV dramatist Dennis Potter and a key influence on my own writing, the Victorian ghost-story writer, MR James. They’d have to have my pasta bake and like it.

You can hire a private chef. Who would that be and why?

Gizzi Erskine - given the previous answers she’d stop things getting too much like a boy’s club, also actually cook something a little less cholesterol inducing.

You are at the chippy. What do you order

I may decide to live dangerously - chips in curry sauce.

Who has been the biggest influence on you – food wise

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Dare I say, my old school cooks – whatever I create it could never be that bad.

Name your favourite song connected with food.

Eat It by Weird Al Yankovic - think it goes back to those school meals again.

What’s the one food you could not live without

I do get touchy if there isn’t a yogurt in the fridge.

The one thing you cannot eat and why

Mashed turnip – I’m deeply suspicious about it.

The condemned man/woman had a last meal. What would your last meal be.

The full English with a large glass of ale.

Quick fire

Full English or continental breakfast: full English

Tea or coffee: tea

Sweet or savoury: sweet

Jamie Oliver or Raymond Blanc: Jamie Oliver

Chips or salad: chips

Fruit or chocolate: fruit

Oysters? Yes or no: No

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