The broadcaster and businessman was awarded his MBE for services to food and charity (Picture: PA)
MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has suggested the public use tinned or frozen vegetables to combat food shortages after collecting his MBE at a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old broadcaster, who fronts the popular cooking show and its spin-offs alongside John Torode, has been recognised for services to food and charity.
He said he was ‘ludicrously excitable’ after receiving his award from Princess Anne, confessing: ‘I’m just happy. I’m like a three-year-old who has just had four bags of sweets.
‘My heart rate won’t go down, I can’t get the silly grin off my face.’
Gregg looked sharp in morning dress with a navy jacket and light grey waistcoat, paired with pinstriped trousers.
Born in Peckham in south-east London, the businessman sold vegetables on a council estate before beginning his career in the Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market.
Gregg received his gong from Princess Anne (Picture: PA)
He opted for traditional morning dress (Picture: PA)
He started George Allan’s Greengrocers in 1989 and has gone on to have a successful broadcasting career, presenting shows including Veg Talk on BBC Radio 4, Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Inside The Factory, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets.
Asked about vegetable shortages, he revealed: ‘It’s got me relooking at preserved vegetables – tinned, frozen. They are not an inferior item.
‘I live in a house with a beautiful Italian, I don’t know where we would be without tinned tomatoes, tinned beans. Borlotti I mean, not Heinz.’
Gregg spoke about frozen and tinned veg after his investiture (Picture: PA)
He and John Torode on MasterChef (Picture: BBC)
He also urged the public to ‘get into your veg’.
‘There is nothing healthier and more filling than vegetables,’ he told PA.
‘Learn more and more veg recipes. It is so good for you, it’s got no fat in it and it’s so filling.’
He added that if you can cook pasta, couscous and rice with vegetables then ‘a whole world of calorie possibilities across five continents has just opened up to you’.
Gesturing to a statue of Lord Nelson nearby, he said the British sailors he led were ‘more active’ than their French counterparts because the vice-admiral spent ‘so much time’ securing fresh food.
He also told PA that people would be ‘served’ by picking up more kitchen experience to reduce reliance on processed and expensive foods.
Gregg is a proponent of compulsary cooking lessons in schools (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
‘I’m not a political animal but if I was going to campaign for one thing that would be compulsory cooking in schools,’ the TV star said.
He was also dismissive of tomatoes on the vine when asked about common mistakes with vegetables, calling them ‘the biggest con’.
‘It is a bit like paying more money for potatoes with dirt on them.’
The MasterChef presenter also acknowledged that the popular show played a big part in getting him to the castle on Tuesday.
Gregg’s MBE came just days after his MasterChef co-star John Torode’s (Picture: PA)
John was given his award by the Prince of Wales (Picture: PA)
He said: ‘I think if I was still in the council estate in Peckham selling carrots I may not have got the same attention.’
Gregg was following in his co-judge John Torode’s footsteps, after he also received an MBE for his services to food and charity last Thursday.
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Author and presenter John made the trip to Buckingham Palace to have his gong bestowed by Prince William, while Gregg admitted he was amazed that Princess Anne had heard of his friendship with Zara and Mike Tindall.
Martyn Butler, who helped set up the Terrence Higgins Trust after his friend Terry died from an Aids-related illness in 1982, and three-time Olympic field hockey player Ben Hawes also received honours during Tuesday’s ceremony.
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Gregg was picking up his gong for services to food and charity.
