Holly Swain has been missing from behind the counter of Beckworth’s recently, because her arm is in a sling. With free time on her hands, she’s been talking to me about her mother’s rather unusual approach to nursery food, and her desire to produce a jam cookery book.

Tell me a bit about your cooking: I like being around food and promoting what I feel passionate about. I’ve worked front-of-house and as a chef in a number of kitchens, including with Marco Pierre White. I came to Lewes to work in the restaurant above the John Harvey Tavern, but it wasn’t really what Lewes needed at the time, so after the flood, we kept the Christmas bookings, then closed.
How would you describe your cookery ethos? I’m experimental. I think about the taste I’m after then work out how to create it.  In the same way some people can hold onto colour; I hold onto taste. I don’t cook anything I don’t like. I used to run a tapas bar, and I was honest with customers about whether I liked dishes. If I’m not enthused, I won’t sell it. I love food stories. I also like pinching ideas from other people and passing them on. Things like serving frozen grapes with cheese or chocolate. You wash them and freeze for about three hours and they come out like little sorbets. Soggy and horrible when thawed though!
What’s your first memory of food? My parents were very glamorous and went out to dinner a lot. They’d come back with petit fours. I remember Cape Gooseberries dipped in fondant. Mum would feed me raw steak she’d scrape off with a silver spoon. She’d also make me what she called a Vampire’s packed lunch, which included a very rare steak sandwich.