No sushi please, we’re Japanese

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Fans of BBC’s MasterChef will recognise the voice of Andrew Kojima, who made it to the final of the 2012 series. Half Japanese, half British, Andrew – known as ‘Koj’ – has made the transition from a finance career to opening his own Japanese restaurant in Cheltenham.

But despite Koj’s love of traditional Japanese cuisine, you won’t find any sushi on the menu – Sue and Ollie are dying to know why!

Our other guest this week is also treading his own path by taking things right back to nature. Fred Thorneycroft has been foraging ever since he started making nettle beer at university, which led to an enduring interest in herbs, wild fruits and other overlooked ingredients.

Based in Macclesfield, Fruits of the Forage makes incredible chutneys, cordials, beers and wines with foraged treasures and just about anything they can find. Of course, Fred has brought some samples into the studio for the team to taste. Sue can’t get enough of the Sloe Seville Marmalade, while Ollie is intrigued by the Pickled Wild Garlic Buds.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though, as Fred reveals with an interesting story about his Hogweed Curry Chutney! Oh, and there’s some exciting news about the company’s future plans too.