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James Martin (born 30 June 1972 in Malton, North Yorkshire), is an English cook who first appeared on television in 1996.

Contents 1 Television and writing career 2 Driving controversy 3 Product range 4 Delicatessen 5 Autobiography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Television and writing career

He first started to appear on television in 1996 with various programmes including "James Martin: Yorkshire's Finest" (set in various Yorkshire locations with an emphasis on Yorkshire cuisine) but came to wider public attention on the BBC 2 programme Ready Steady Cook. In 2005 Martin was partnered with Camilla Dallerup in Strictly Come Dancing, coming fourth.

Martin co-presented BBC Food's "Stately Suppers" with Alistair Appleton, and then appeared on the Channel 4 programme Richard & Judy, where he would visit a member of the public in their own home who had been nominated to be cooked a 'comfort food' meal. He is now the presenter of the new version of the BBC 1 show Saturday Kitchen.

In 2007 he starred in a BBC 2 series named Sweet Baby James (named in reference to the James Taylor song) in which he focused on desserts, puddings and cakes while visiting places from his culinary past that have inspired his recipes. Upcoming chef Will Torrent appeared as his assistant.

Martin appeared on Blue Peter in April 2007 on Can You Cook It? being a celebrity judge choosing the new Blue Peter "Junior Chef".^[1]

In June and July 2007, he appeared co-hosting the 12 Yard series The Great British Village Show on BBC 1. He finished off the year with a series on UKTV Food called James Martin's Christmas Feasts.

He filmed a 30 part series for the BBC in 2007 called Eating with the Enemy which was held back for a year before finally being broadcast in July and August 2008.

James Martin holds the world record for carrot chopping in which he peeled and chopped 515g of carrots in one minute, during a Ready Steady Cook Children in Need Special.

Aside from television work, Martin also writes a Saturday column for the Daily Mail.

[edit] Driving controversy

Martin has a passion for performance cars^[2] which led to him entering a vintage Maserati in the 2008 Mille Miglia at a cost of some £800,000.^[3] This was televised on 28 December 2008. He failed to complete the race.

On 12 September 2009, Martin angered cyclists by stating that he "spotted those damned Spider-Man cyclists. Knowing they wouldn't hear me coming, I stepped on the gas (sic), waited until the split second before I overtook them, then gave them an almighty blast on the horn at the exact same time I passed them at speed. The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I've ever seen in my rear-view mirror."^[4] Professional cyclists such as Bradley Wiggins and Robbie McEwen publicly condemned Martin's actions on their respective Twitter pages^[5][6][7] and his remarks provoked outrage on cycling related forums.^[8][9]

The comments were included in a review of the Tesla Roadster, Tesla Motors have since publicly distanced themselves from the comments; Tesla's spokeswoman Rachel Conrad went on to say that she and her husband have also participated in Critical Mass events in San Francisco promoting cycling.^[10]

Having already removed many of the comments left on the article by angered cyclists, the Daily Mail removed the paragraph boasting of dangerous driving on 15 September 2009, although the anti-cyclist remarks at the beginning of the article remain.^[11] On September 15th, his official website posted an apology "Regarding the The Tesla Roadster Article... May I take this opportunity to apologize for any offence I have caused through the article in last weekend’s Mail on Sunday. It was never my intention to offend the many cyclists who share our roads across the country. What was intended to be a humorous piece was clearly misjudged. Further more I do not condone any form of reckless driving.

Once again, I am sincerely sorry for any upset caused in relation to this article."^[12]

Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy manager for the Cyclists' Touring Club [1] has called for the cyclists involved to come forward.

"We urge the group of cyclists who James Martin attempted to run off the road to get in touch with CTC's Accident Helpline. Our legal team would be only too happy to take the matter further." ^[13]

[edit] Product range

In 2003, Martin released a range of cookware^[14] and in 2008, a range of domestic appliances ^[2].

[edit] Delicatessen

On 5th August 2008, the Daily Mail reported that his "delicatessen has been branded unhygienic by health experts". The article went on to say that "The pricey store was named and shamed on Winchester City Council's safe2eat website for failing food safety checks and placed on the 'unsatisfactory' list."^[15] Mr Martin said that action has been taken to rectify the problems, including ordering new fridges with stainless steel surfaces and sending staff on hygiene courses.

[edit] Autobiography

On 28th November 2008, the Daily Telegraph reported that Martin had been forced to pay his former stepmother damages and issue an apology, and that his publishers were forced to "pulp copies of his autobiography after branding her "the ugliest woman I have ever met.""^[16] His stepmother was quoted as saying that she was hurt and disappointed when she read the allegations. The claims appeared during The Mail on Sunday's serialisation of the book in October 2008. Following the settlement, a statement was issued: "Mr Martin accepts it was untrue to say his father's then girlfriend cruelly destroyed childhood mementoes of him and his sister. We are happy to report this."

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• James Martin official website
• James Martin News-Sheet
• 30 Minute James Martin Interview
• James Martin recipes