Michael Quinn

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 1984

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

Michael Quinn is the Head Chef at the Ritz Hotel; the first British Chef in the history of the hotel. His ambition was always to be a cook, so as soon as he left school he became an apprentice cook in Leeds, winning within five years a competition for the 1966 Top Apprentice Chef of Great Britain.

In conversation with Roy Plomley, he describes how he worked his way to the top via Claridge's and two country hotels, and he chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: North Country Fantasy by Black Dyke Mills Band Book: Le Repertoire de la Cuisine by Louis Saulnier Luxury: Pair of waterwings

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.
0:05.0	For Wright's reasons, we've had to shorten the music.
0:08.0	The program was originally broadcast in 1984 and the presenter was Roy Plumlee. I castaway this week is Michael Quinn, who is Metresheft Cuisine at the Ritz Hotel in London.
0:36.2	That means he's the head cook and not the bottle washer.
0:40.2	Michael, I believe you're the first Englishman to hold such a post in a Premier London Hotel.
0:45.6	Yes, that's very true. The first British chef at the race.
0:48.4	Well, we'll talk about it in detail later. In the meantime, we have this Desert Island disc business could you endure a solitude?
0:56.0	I think that I could for a certain length of time but I think that I really do like company
1:00.9	actually. Is music important in your life? Music has played a role in my life and I often find that music reminds me of certain things that have happened.
1:13.0	Do you play an instrument?
1:14.0	It's one thing that I would daily love to do,
1:17.0	because I think that's with a musical instrument,
1:19.0	one can have freedom of expression
1:21.0	as you do in the kitchen.
1:22.0	Do you sing? I used to be in the church
1:24.3	choir. A soloist ever? Not a soloist, no. I just used to rattle in the background
1:29.1	somewhere, but I did sing, yes. Do you play discs discs I must confess that in our house
1:35.2	Jane clicks the records and she creates the music for
1:40.1	the right atmosphere now you have this eight records to last a long time. Pretty
1:45.7	difficult to choose? Very difficult to choose yes. What's the first one?
1:50.3	So limbo I'm a Yorkshire man. I love cricket and this will remind me of heading the test ground. Oh, Soul Limboo, which is the signature tune for Testmat Special, played by Booker T and the MGs.
2:35.0	You're a Yorkshireman from whereabouts in Yorkshire.
	...

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