Whether it’s a casual Sunday lunch, or a full on Christmas dinner, there’s one thing that’s certain – golden roast potatoes are the star of the show.

But getting them perfectly crispy on the outside and lovely and fluffy on the inside can be a bit of a challenge.

Thankfully, an expert has shared his top cooking tip ahead of December 25 to ensure your festive feast is as tasty as possible.

Marcus Wareing, a top chef who is perhaps best known as being a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals shared his trick with Tura Turu News for making delicious roast potatoes every time.

The key, according to the pro, isn’t the type of potato you use – he says you can pick whichever potato you like best.

‘I get asked all the time which is the best potato, but you know what you could give me any kind of potato and I could turn it into a good roast potato.’

Instead, it’s all about how you cook them, and you don’t want to overboil.

‘You’ve got to peel the potatoes, cut them all the same size and boil them slowly, so that when you’re boiling them they cook gently without the outside being overcooked and the inside being overcooked,’ he explains.

‘Then you want to put some lard in a hot tray and pop it in a very, very hot oven – generally 220C to 230C – and just absolutely cook the hell out of them, turning regularly and you’ll find them becoming so crispy and crunchy, but they’ll stay light and fluffy in the middle. It works every time for me.’

And if you’re wanting to add any herbs to your potatoes to jazz them up, Marcus has some suggestions, depending on the meat you’re pairing them with.

If it’s lamb, you’ll want to go for some cracked black pepper, Maldon salt, rosemary and garlic, for beef just keep it simple with garlic and thyme, and if you’re having chicken you’re serving he claims you can add ‘a bit of everything’.

But there’s one thing you won’t ever catch the chef putting on his roast potatoes, and that’s Marmite.

A recipe previously went viral on social media, which said that drizzling Marmite over your potatoes would help them get extra crispy when cooking, but according to Marcus it’s ‘absolute rubbish’.

This comes after the chef previously shared with Tura Turu News some of the ‘weirdest’ things he’s seen people do in restaurants.

The 54-year-old chef has worked in restaurants for 35 years, and until December last year owned and ran his own one Michelin Star eatery in Seven Dials, Marcus, and it turns out there are two things he wishes customers would stop doing.

The first is all to do with being on your phone, something many of us are guilty of doing.

‘Stop taking photographs and enjoy your dinner,’ Marcus tells Tura Turu News.co.uk. ‘You don’t need to film yourself eating your dish. Just eat dinner and enjoy the company that you’re with.’

The chef went on to say that he finds it ‘weird’ how obsessed we are with scrolling on our phones when we go out.

‘One of the things I see a lot in restaurants is people just glued to their phones. It could be a romantic dinner or just people going out with their mates, but you see them and they’ve just got their heads down looking at their phones. I find it quite weird. You’re supposed to be out for a reason.’

And the other thing Marcus really wishes people would stop doing is complaining after they’ve eaten their dinner.

‘People never complain or bring up any issues when they’re actually in the restaurant, the majority of people just seem to accept their food even if they’re not happy with it,’ he says. ‘They’ll suck it up and eat it and then send an email or go on Tripadvisor and complain.

‘Good restaurants love to make the customer feel happy, so if you say something during the meal, they’ll put the problem or mistake right, or give you something like a glass of champagne to cheer you up.’

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