Fancy a nibble? If you do, meet the man who is keen for you to make it a Spanish-style bite. KATHERINE MACALISTER talks to chef Omar Allibhoy about his tapas mission

Hailed as the Jamie Oliver of Spanish cooking and the Antonio Banderas of tapas, Omar Allibhoy has got a lot to live up to, not that this deters him in the slightest.

He’s ready for the fight, and aims to bring tapas into every kitchen in Britain. “I’m not talking about restaurant cooking, I’m talking about people coming home and cooking tapas in their homes as often as they cook pasta,” he says bravely.

But if anyone can do it Omar can. He’s been cooking tapas in Madrid since he was five, making the family supper at 12, and honing his skills at college as soon as he was able. Having mastered everything he could there, he went and bashed on Ferran Adria’s door – the El Bulli chef who secured three Michelin stars, the Spanish equivalent of Heston Blumental – who taught him everything he knows.

From there he came to England and, without being able to speak English, found himself serving breakfasts at a London hotel, so went and knocked on Gordon Ramsay’s door. “I was doing the exact opposite of what I set out to do. But having spent 21 years in Spain learning Spanish cooking, I wanted to try something more international so came to London. But I couldn’t communicate in the kitchens because I couldn’t speak English so ended up banging out breakfasts in a hotel, which after working in a three-star Michelin restaurant was quite a shock. But then I saw Gordon Ramsay on the TV so went and banged on his door. I thought he was a great chef so I started working for him.”

So how was that? “We have a very good relationship but he’s hell to work with,” Omar howls with laughter. “But he knows it and other than that he’s a really good guy. He’s very smart and one of those special people, he’s smarter than the rest of us.”

Once word got round about the hot new chef on the block, Omar was quickly enrolled as executive chef in trendy London restaurant El Pirata de Tapas. Instead of resting on his laurels, his next step was to open a more pedestrian branch of restaurants called Tapas Revolution in Westfield and Bluewater shopping centres. “There are 15,000 people living in Notting Hill but 15 million go to shopping centres and those are the people whom I want to try my food, that’s my philosophy.”

We’re next on the hit list: us Brits and the demise of tapas on our menus. To spur us into action, Omar’s written a cookbook to show us how to do it and is now touring the country encouraging people to put on their pinnies and have a go.

“Oxford will be the first,” he tells me in excitement. And having just had the first copy of Tapas Revolution delivered to his house he’s delighted with it. “On paper you have your doubts, even though you have been over every page and seen it hundreds of times. But it’s like having your first baby, as soon as you hold the real thing in your hands it’s really exciting. Simple and clear. It’s what I wanted.”

And Omar should know, having just returned to the UK from Canada today where his son was born a month ago. “My wife was a bit sceptical about having her baby in London even though we live here, so she went home to Canada to be with her family. I went for a month and now I’m back and ready with my next project, the book and the message,” he smiles.

“And it’s good to have had a break. It means you look at everything with fresh eyes, because we are on a mission,” he says laughing, despite being deadly serious, “because although tapas is very popular now in restaurants, no one is cooking it at home, so while it has a long standing tradition in Spain, there’s no reason why this can’t be the case here.”

Charming, chatty and cheeky, there’s no denying this 29 year-old’s ambitions. “Well there isn’t a Raymond Blanc of Spanish cooking yet,” he grins, “or a Jamie Oliver. Every cuisine needs a name, so hopefully...” he shrugs.

His enthusiasm is infectious but will he win us over? “If you want to cook Indian you need a cupboard full of spices; Chinese – you need all sorts of ingredients and lots of people quit because it’s too complicated and expensive. But the key to good tapas is just what you find in your local supermarket. Tapas is so simple and easy to cook, like Italian, and very healthy, so I just want to show how it’s done and prove what you are all missing.”

So TV next then, after all, Omar would be a natural. “We need a Spanish guy cooking Spanish food, so no disrespect to Rick Stein, but I wouldn’t teach a Thai chef to cook a green curry. I may not be the most entertaining, but I’m very confident of my cooking skills and I’d love the opportunity to show you.”

  • Meet him: Omar Allibhoy comes to Waterstones, Oxford on Saturday, August 17 at 1pm to introduce his new book Tapas Revolution and do a cookery demonstration