Chefs

Zach

Plant-based food, full of conviction

Zach came to plant-based cooking through real conviction, not trend. His relationship with food shifted at twenty and never shifted back. What emerged was not restriction dressed up as choice but something that looked and tasted like abundance: vibrant, deeply seasoned food built with the same rigour as anything else on the table.

“Plant-based food needs no introduction. It is abundant, vibrant, and flavoursome in equal measure.” He means it without qualification. Not a compromise on something else, not a concession to a lifestyle trend. Plant-based cooking done properly is the point, not a pale version of a point. Bare flavour, every time.

His rules

Underseasoned food is unfinished food. Not under-salted, underseasoned, and Zach considers leaving that job to the person eating to be a genuine failure to do the work properly. Every gate builds seasoning. Gate 05 is a finish, not a rescue.

He shops at Lidl first, without apology. The value he finds there makes it the default starting point for most of what he cooks. Markets and higher-end supermarkets come in when the ingredient justifies it, not before.

Two things will never appear in his cooking: raw tomatoes and olives. He does not conceal the aversion and sees no reason to justify it. Everything else is available.

How the 5-Gate Method shows up in his hands

01
Gate 01: Base Building
Coconut or avocado oil, onions, garlic, and whatever aromatics or plant-based paste the dish calls for. Genuinely fragrant and soft before anything else goes in.
02
Gate 02: Flavour Activation
Non-negotiable. Aromatics and spices go into hot oil and get tossed and toasted properly. A spice blend that has not been activated is the clearest sign a cook has not understood what they are doing.
03
Gate 03: Structure & Body
Chickpeas, lentils, mushrooms, tofu, black beans, kidney beans. Portobello mushrooms treated with the same seriousness as a steak. Pulses seasoned properly rather than tipped in from a tin and forgotten.
04
Gate 04: Unifying Liquid
Good vegetable stock as the base, built in layers. Soy sauce for depth and salt, tomato paste for body, passata or tinned tomatoes for sweetness and volume. The liquid carries everything that came before it.
05
Gate 05: Bright Finish
Basil, usually. Lemon or lime depends on the dish. Fresh ginger added right at the end lifts food in a way cooked-in versions cannot match. Nutritional yeast or dark soy for umami rather than anything that requires an animal.

Cook with him

Five dishes, each built and taught gate by gate exactly the way Zach would teach you, with every decision explained.

Portobello Mushroom Steak
The dish that changes how people think about plant-based. Deep, smoky, and rich enough to make the question irrelevant
Plant-based Bolognese with Fennel Seeds
Fennel seed is the detail that makes this one his. Lentils and chestnut mushrooms done properly, not like a side thought
Caribbean Plant-based Curry
Scotch bonnet, coconut milk, chickpeas built properly through every gate. Bare flavour right there
Rasta Pasta with Protein Pasta
Tri-colour peppers, a Jamaican spice blend, and coconut milk sauce that coats every strand. Banging every time
Mango with Sticky Rice
Thai-style, gluten-free, two coconut sauces and ripe mango. The sweet dish that proves the method works everywhere

Cook this way with Zach on Kitchens Matter.

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