Colin Pressdee facts for kids

Colin Pressdee is a well-known food writer, TV personality, and food expert. He lives in London and shares his passion for delicious food with many people.

Colin Pressdee's Early Life and Food Adventures

Colin Pressdee grew up in a beautiful area called Gower in Wales. From a young age, he was fascinated by all the amazing food he could find in the sea. He loved lobsters, oysters, and sea bass. He enjoyed finding these foods and then cooking them himself. Imagine eating fresh fish and shellfish you caught that very day!

Colin remembers exactly where he caught his first crab and lobster. He also remembers the rock where he fished for his first bass. The smell of fresh food cooking after a day on the seashore was wonderful. He would search the rocks for crabs and lobsters. His father would sometimes go out in a boat to catch bass and mackerel. Others would use nets to find prawns on the beach.

They would also gather mussels and winkles from the rocks. They even collected laverbread, a type of seaweed, and searched the cliffs for wild mushrooms. Local farmers would trade their fresh Gower potatoes and cauliflowers for some mackerel. At night, they might use a drag net to catch sole, plaice, skate, and even squid and cuttlefish.

Colin recalls finding many interesting sea creatures. These included spider crabs, whelks, conger eels, whiting, mullet, pollock, and fiddler crabs. Today, many of these are considered special and delicious foods.

Kitchen Corner, Worm's Head, Rhossili, where Colin's family had their fishing hut.

Colin's family had a special fishing hut at Rhossili. It was called "Kitchen Corner" because they cooked all their fresh catches there. This hut was right before the path to Worms Head, a famous landmark.

They would have amazing feasts in the hut. They cooked everything on a small Primus stove and a simple two-burner gas hob. Even with limited tools, the meals they made were better than what many fancy restaurants could offer.

Sharing Food Stories: Colin's Books

Colin Pressdee has written several books about food. His books often focus on Welsh cuisine, which is the traditional food of Wales. He also writes about the food from Carmarthenshire and, of course, seafood. Through his writing, Colin shares his knowledge and many tasty recipes.

Some of his popular books include London Oyster Guide, Food Wales, and Streetwise Cookery.

Cooking Up Success: Colin's Restaurants

Colin Pressdee once owned two restaurants in Swansea, Wales. These restaurants were among the first to highlight the special food of Gower.

One restaurant was called The Drangway. The word 'Drangway' comes from the local Gower dialect. It was located near Wind Street in Swansea. His other restaurant was The Oyster Perches, found in the Uplands area. This restaurant was named after the special structures used to farm oysters. Oyster farming was a big industry off the coast of Mumbles in Gower until the early 1900s.

A Love for Shellfish

Colin Pressdee has a special interest in shellfish. He has been a member of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain for over 30 years. This shows how dedicated he is to these sea creatures.

He also promoted oysters in his own restaurants. He even presented TV shows about oysters on the program "Great Food Live" on UKTV. Colin has written many articles about oysters for newspapers like The Guardian and other publications.

Books by Colin Pressdee

Here is a list of books written by Colin Pressdee:

• Streetwise Cookery (1992) ISBN: 0951898817
• Welsh Coastal Cookery (1995) ISBN: 0563371366
• Bwyta Allan Yng Nghymru (2004) ISBN: 1904824021
• Food Wales: Where to Find, Taste and Buy the Best Local Foods in Wales (2005) ISBN: 0954433467
• Taste from Carmarthenshire (2006) ISBN: 0906821711
• Food Wales - a second helping (2008) ISBN: 1905582153
• Food Wales Eating Out Guide (2009) ISBN: 1905582110
• Food Wales Eating Out Guide (2011) ISBN: 1905582471
• London Oyster Guide (2011) ISBN: 1905582560

Colin on TV and Radio

Colin Pressdee has appeared on many television and radio shows. He loves to share his food knowledge with a wider audience. Some of his appearances include:

• Streetlife, BBC Radio Wales.
• See You Sunday, BBC Cymru Wales.
• Summer Scene, BBC Cymru Wales.
• The Coastline of Wales, BBC Radio Wales, with famous chefs Keith Floyd and Gary Rhodes.
• Welsh Coastal Cookery, BBC Radio Wales.

Awards and Recognition

In 1989, Colin Pressdee won the prestigious Glenfiddich Award. He received this award for being the Regional Writer of the Year. This was for his excellent food and wine articles published in Wales on Sunday.

Online Articles and Guides

You can read some of Colin Pressdee's articles online:

• The Guardian A Food lover's guide to London, London's best oyster bars
• The Guardian All you need to know about oysters
• The Observer Wales for foodies

Watch Colin in Action!

You can also watch a video featuring Colin Pressdee:

• The Welsh Menu presents Colin Pressdee