Jordan Bourke: ‘I want to reclaim the word healthy’

“We need to stop victimising ingredients and find a healthy balance.” Bravo, Jordan Bourke, for that common-sense approach to eating – an all-too-rare concept in a genre littered with far too many “diet” books that demonise one food or another.

In his new book, Healthy Baking (Orion, £20), the Irish chef and food writer says he wants to "reclaim the word healthy", and get people into baking and fermenting. "People are so scared of these two areas, particularly ferments, but they really are the most gratifying and enjoyable – and healthy – kitchen pursuits."

Bourke has always had an interest in cooking with "alternative" ingredients, as his earlier books, The Guilt-free Gourmet and The Natural Kitchen, demonstrated. So while you will find sugar used in his latest book, it will be maple syrup, honey or coconut palm sugar in preference to refined white cane sugar. A variety of non-dairy milks, such as rice, almond and coconut, and gluten-free grains feature too.

But that doesn’t mean it is a collection of worthy and righteous recipes. There are luscious cakes and pies and indulgent savoury quiches and tarts too. Baking is taken literally – so baked vegetable recipes make the cut, and a whole chapter is devoted to turning bread – fresh and also stale – into a complete meal.

Bourke lives in London with his South Korean wife, fashion designer Rejina Pyo, with whom he co-authored My Korean Kitchen, which won the Fortnum & Mason and Observer Food Monthly cookbook awards.

His interest in sourdough came from the research he did into kimchi for that book. “They’re both ferments in their own right,” he says, and his is one of the most straightforward guides I’ve come across on making and nurturing a sourdough starter, and baking a basic spelt sourdough loaf.

"It takes about two to four loaves to get into the swing of things, but after that it is second nature."

Bourke is a food stylist as well as a consultant chef and writer, so this book is as beautifully arranged and artfully photographed as you’d expect, while retaining a relaxed, natural feel.

“This has been one of my favourite books to write. I hope it pushes people a little bit out of their comfort zone – in a good way,” he says. A similar challenge faces the author and his wife in the coming weeks as they prepare for the arrival of their first child. “There’s lots of batch cooking for the freezer going on at the moment,” he says.