RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
England stars’ favourite cheat meal and pre-match food revealed ahead of Euro 2024
See what the biggest own goal he served up was and for who
CURRY PIE, sausage roll, come on England score a goal.
Our Three Lions stars will tuck into curry pies and burgers if they can deliver Euro 2024 success, revealed their private chef.
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Michelin star trained Jonny Marsh cooks for a host of football stars - including several members of Gareth Southgate’s squad in Germany.
His clientele includes Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, while his latest one is Manchester United ace Rasmus Hojlund.
England’s own Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw are just some of Southgate’s men who hire him - and now he has lifted the lid on what it’s like cooking for our Euro-chasing heroes.
He told Sun Sport: “Luke Shaw is a big one for me and a big part of my career so far but I’ve cooked for a lot of players in that squad.
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“In the last Euros, it was the game that Bukayo Saka didn’t start, there was a game that I’d cooked for every player on the pitch bar Harry Kane. That’s a pretty cool little fact.
“But for me personally, whether it’s meal preps, daily cooking or a one-off event, I’ve cooked for pretty much everybody.”
Marsh has now teamed up with , with entry now open via participating restaurants, to win him as a private chef, in their very own home, to cook them a three-course menu during an England group game.
And the kitchen whizz, who says a spaghetti bolognese is “a go-to pre-match pasta for sure” for his clients, could you up one of their favourite cheat meals.
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Marsh said: “Everybody is different but I would say the most common is burger - that’s quite a big one.
“And, do you know what, since coming back from Christmas and doing my Proper Pies series, pies have become very, very popular.
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“Hojlund loves a meat pie, Aaron loves the chicken, leek and bacon pie.
“There’s a load of variations on pies, which is great because we can always do something but everyone loves a curry pie.
“They can take a while as you’re cooking the curry down so that the meat is tender and the pastry is like a hot water pastry so it becomes very, very crisp, which is why pies can kind of stand on their own rather than just have a pastry top.
“The water pastry, you’re melting the water, butter and lard together until it’s hot and then pouring it into the flower.
“And you can’t roll the dough out while the pastry is hot - you have to cool it down - so that will take a few hours.
“All in all, it might take them five minutes to eat but eight or nine hours to make fully.”
Jonny's Beef Vindaloo Pie
A winning combination of two of English football's most loved foods, the hot curry and the humble pie…
INGREDIENTS
Dough
• 720g flour • 240g water • 6tbsp butter • 6tbsp lard • Pinch of salt
Filling
• 800g beef (diced)
Curry Paste
• 2 tsp coriander seeds • 6tbsp chilli powder • 3 tsp cumin seed • 4 cloves • 4 cardamom pods (green) • 2 tsp cinnamon powder • 1/2 tsp black peppercorns • 2 tbsp fresh ginger, roughly chopped • 10 garlic cloves (yes, 10!) • 1 tsp brown sugar • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder • 230g cups water
Curry Sauce
• 50g unsalted butter • 1 onion, finely chopped (white) • 2 tsp ginger, finely grated • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced • 2 tbsp tomato paste • 500ml beef stock
METHOD
Dough
1. Add your water, butter and lard to a pan and bring to a boil.
2. Mix your flour and salt.
3. You can either use a wooden spoon and a bowl or a food mixer and slowly bring dough together by adding your water and butter mixture slowly to the flour.
4. Then flour a plate and place the dough on the plate and leave in your fridge to cool down – will take around 2 hours.
FILLING
1. Toss beef in salt.
2. Curry paste: Place the curry paste ingredients in a small food processor with the water. Blitz until smooth.
3. Fry your beef dice until golden brown, once brown transfer to a bowl.
4. Curry sauce: Melt ghee over medium-high. Cook onion, ginger and garlic until they become translucent – about 3 minutes.
5. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add your beef back to the pan and mix thoroughly, then add your curry paste and mix.
7. Add beef stock. Slow cook and place lid on top, then cook for 2 hours or until beef is falling apart tender and the sauce has darkened in colour and thickened.
8. When you have rolled out the dough, place in your non-stick mould and bake for 40 minutes at 175 degrees until golden brown, making sure you brush the pie lid with egg wash before cooking.
ALLERGENS
Pastry - Wheat, Milk
Mash - Milk
Filling - Although extremely rare, anaphylaxis has been reported with some spices. These reactions are consistent with true allergy. Some reactions can occur with oregano, thyme, coriander, caraway seed, cumin and cayenne pepper.
He continued: “Players, in terms of cheat meals, it’s not like they are going to KFC and getting a bargain bucket and stuffing their faces full of chicken wings.
“Their version of a cheat meal is a lot different to a normal person's cheat meal.
“So a cheat meal for them might be going out for a cheat meal but still eating quite healthy, so it’s all in perspective.
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“But they won’t be going down to McDonalds and getting 20 chicken nuggets.”
Marsh will be watching on like the rest of the nation to see whether his England pals can cook up a storm on the pitch.
He said: “I’ve never been asked to do an international tournament as England have their own chef.
“They’ve had two or three chefs but had the one sole chef working for them for the last five or six years.
“There was an opportunity a few years back if I wanted to apply for it but I’m pretty sure they filled it quickly.
“It’s one of them, maybe one day I might be England chef.”
Asked on why he had decided to team up with Deliveroo, Marsh said: “I think it’s because it gives people an idea of exactly what I can do on a day-to-day basis in terms of the players.
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“It also gives a bit of an insight into players’ cheat meals and that’s what the menu is based around.
“So it’s a sort of day in the life and POV of what I get up to but also showing a bit of a fun side to the players and what they like to eat when they are not on strict diets.”
The winner can be certain that he will hit the back of the net with whatever magic he cooks up for them - unlike his self-confessed biggest own goal with Man City legend Ilkay Gundogan.
“When I very first started with Ilkay I made him like a smoked fish cake,” he added.
“I really enjoyed it and made a sweet chilli sauce, it took hours to make and it was really nice. It just didn’t sit with him and he didn’t like it.
“I was gutted but at least then I knew that smoked fish was a no-no for the rest of the five years that I was with him.”
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Private chef to pro footballers, Jonny Marsh, has teamed up with Deliveroo to offer fans the chance to eat like an England player, winning an at-home dining experience on match days on 20th and 25thJune.
Order from participating restaurants from 14th-16th June, to find out more visit .
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