Eight questions for the interested and interesting: Claire Dinhut

Condiment queen and TikTok star Claire Dinhut is in South Africa this week to promote her fab new book, which gives you the history and recipes of everything from mayo to jam. Here we find out what else makes her tick.
2 mins read

A truly global citizen (she splits her time between London, France and the US, where she was raised), Claire Dinhut studied culinary history at Harvard University. She has us hooked with her fantastic TikTok posts, Substack articles and factoids about the stuff that we put on our food every day – from tomato sauce to mustard. Case in point: we’re converts to her suggestion that you should put a little bit of salt on your sweet breakfast cereal to bring out the flavours.

As part of her PR tour for The Condiment Book, she’ll be doing a signing at Cape Town’s glorious Oranjezicht City Farm Market on November 24 from 10am-noon. Here she answers our eight questions …

What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year? And why?

I recently reread The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson, which I simply adore. I think seeds are these tiny things that people dismiss, toss in the trash, complain about, but they’re the key to keeping our crops diverse. They explain so much about our planet. For example, did you know that 32 of the world’s 56 heaviest-seeded grasses occur in the Fertile Crescent, which helps explain why civilizations first flourished there!?

Whether you’re a fan of gardening or not, you’ll learn so much about your everyday plate, the environment, previous human movement and much more in this book, and you won’t be able to put it down.

How do you keep fit?

London is a huge city and when I’m there I really try to walk everywhere. I get to make calls, listen to nerdy food history podcasts, blast some French oldies. Also, I will always be an LA girl at heart, so I love going to my pilates studio because that also keeps me mentally sane.

Weekday, lowkey restaurant go-to anywhere in the world? What do you order?

This is a tough one! I’d say either the French bistro in my village or any great, hole-in-the-wall, relaxed sushi restaurant.

I love Japanese flavours so much, I find them so addictive, tangy, umami, just delicious. My favourite piece of sushi is most likely ikura – salmon roe – but I’m happy with any raw fish really!

Though I try to limit my consumption of red meat, my all-time favourite dish at my local bistro is a great knife-cut steak tartare with lots of cornichons and Dijon mustard with some green beans on the side.

What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why? You needn’t own it!

My favourite painting is Le Jardin de Monet à Giverny, painted by Claude Monet in 1895. Looking at it transports me back to my family’s garden in the countryside and just makes me feel happy, calm, but also just excited to return and reunite with my plants. I honestly just really love most works by Chagall, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Degas.

What do you regret most?

Nothing! I know this sounds clichéd, but I really believe that we learn from our mistakes and shift our mindset and trajectories based on our actions.

What one unusual item you can’t live without?

Can I say a mini pot of Dijon mustard or flaky salt that I carry in my purse?

Who was your high school celeb crush?

Probably young Marlon Brando or the entire French rugby team, if I’m being honest.

Three songs that you’d take to a desert island?

Emmenez-Moi by Charles Aznavour. I am consistently in his 0.5% listeners on Spotify. I am truly a 90-year-old Frenchman.

I’ve Just Seen A Face by the Beatles. If you come over to my apartment, expect to be listening to Beatles records I got from my grandparents’ collection, on repeat.

Stole My Heart by One Direction. Nostalgia is such a key factor in most of my daily choices. I guess that’s very Scorpio of me – and this was always my favourite song of theirs. Fifteen-year-old me would listen to this on repeat and sob because of how much I loved them.

Top image: Claire Dinhut. Image supplied

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Sarah Buitendach

With a sharp eye for design, Sarah has an unparalleled sense of shifting cultural, artistic and lifestyle sensibilities. As the former editor of Wanted magazine, founding editor of the Sunday Times Home Weekly, and many years in magazines, she is the heartbeat of Currency’s pleasure arm.

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