Jessie Ware: 'I'm such a bully about food'

The breakthrough British star of 2012 on Marmite, Lidl – and forcing her vegetarian guitarist to eat meat

When I sat in my high chair, my mother says my toes used to twiddle excitedly whenever food was coming. So I became really podgy. Super podgy. I broke a family's paddling pool by stepping on the side of it.

My friends were denied biscuits at home but in our house we were allowed the whole tin. There were midnight feasts during sleepovers and then Mum would lay out little tables of food for us to eat for breakfast while we watched cartoons.

I'm like a dog, if I glimpse food I want it. I was born a greedy cow – so much so that mother's nipples would bleed and my poor grandfather, a proud old Jewish man, had to go into the pharmacy and ask for nipple guards.

My mum has always said that I'd remember the first meal of each holiday more than the holidays themselves. Like the divine feta cheese made with nectar honey at the restaurant in Glossa on Skopelos, and the huge sundae which I asked to have with "more cream, please".

Ice cream is my comfort food. Whenever I was sad I was given an ice cream and I'd ask for cream poured on it. My favourite today is Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, with single or preferably double cream. It's so naughty.

I love Marmite and I'll have it with poached eggs, or anything. It's so versatile. Marmite and marmalade works, in fact everything works with Marmite. It's very reassuring and British and makes me feel I know where I'm at.

I can't eat before I go onstage because I've learnt that burping on stage isn't a good thing. It's all about acid reflux. At night I take Gaviscon Advance which has alginate from seaweed and prevents acid coming back up during a ballad.

I've become one of those annoying people who brings their own food on to planes. You can't go wrong mid-air with crepes. And I'm such a bully about food on tour. I made my vegetarian guitarist eat meat. It's terrible, but he's not going back.

I'm from south London so there aren't many Jews about and I can't get a good bagel. To have a bad bagel – one without the crunch and elasticity of dough, too powdery and without the right colouring – is really upsetting.

I did my dissertation on Kafka. I took a research trip to Prague and ate lots of dumplings.

I'm a Lidl girl. The food they have there is brilliant – really good meat, orange and apple juices and Florentines and excellent olive oil, muesli and Jazz apples.

Jessie Ware's Devotion is out now on Island. She tours the UK from 6 March

Contributor

John Hind

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Jessie and Lennie Ware: ‘We don’t want to turn into the Kardashians’
Mother and daughter on their Table Manners podcast – and the day it all went wrong at Pete Tong’s

Tim Adams

19, May, 2019 @11:00 AM

Article image
Olly Murs: So Simon Cowell cooked me this curry …
The singer and X Factor host on his indifferent cooking and family Sundays

Interview by John Hind

19, Jul, 2015 @11:00 AM

Article image
Katy B: I was banned from the Brit school canteen

John Hind: The singer recalls how singing En Vogue's Don't Let Go while standing on a table got her into trouble

Interview by John Hind

17, May, 2014 @1:30 PM

Article image
Gary Kemp: We never say ‘supper’ in our house. That’s the language of the nursery and nanny
The Spandau Ballet musician and actor on food memories of his London childhood and a meeting with Ronnie Kray. Interview by John Hind

John Hind

18, Oct, 2014 @1:00 PM

Article image
Suggs: 'I love good food – and a proper greasy spoon

The Madness singer on royal canapés, being a butcher's boy and scoffing strawberries as a kid. Interview by John Hind

Interview by John Hind

18, Nov, 2012 @12:05 AM

Article image
Paloma Faith: 'I woo people with food, so I'm always cooking'

The singer tells John Hind about marzipan, boiled chicken and other formative foods

John Hind

16, Feb, 2013 @11:00 PM

Article image
Marianne Faithfull: 'My father belonged to a commune, and the food was always ghastly'

Marianne Faithfull tells John Hind about her formative food experiences

John Hind

13, Mar, 2011 @12:02 AM

Article image
KT Tunstall: 'I spent my first music pay cheque on M&S food'

The Scottish singer on chips, going vegan – and her youthful nickname of 'Katy Custard'. Interview by John Hind

John Hind

15, Jun, 2013 @9:00 PM

Article image
Jessie Ware – review
Jessie Ware could stay ahead of the soul-pop pack if she can retain her cool, writes Kitty Empire

Kitty Empire

18, Aug, 2012 @11:07 PM

Article image
Bryn Terfel: ‘All conductors like Italian food. It’s ingrained’
The opera singer on Plácido Domingo’s cookbooks and what to eat to survive Wagner

John Hind

15, Dec, 2018 @5:59 PM