From skateboarding to the kitchen: Jesse Jenkins on making vegetables the star and his love of a home-cooked meal

Jesse Jenkins, known online as Another Day in Paradise (ADIP), has made a name for himself as a chef, photographer, social media sensation, and now author. His journey from skateboarding in Los Angeles to becoming a sought-after food creator in London is anything but traditional. In this article, we explore three key themes from Jesse’s story: his love for cooking with vegetables, his unique approach to content creation, and why home-cooking means so much to him.

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From skateboarding to the kitchen

Jesse’s path to food was not straightforward. He began his career as a skateboarder in Los Angeles, becoming sponsored by the age of 12. However, when it became clear that a professional skateboarding career might not be sustainable, Jesse turned to what he knew best – food. “The thing I knew most about next was food, from working as a busboy, an expo line, cook, dishwasher, prep chef, everything, by the time I was 20 years old,” he shared.

After moving to London at twenty, Jesse worked in a restaurant in Chiswick, but soon struggled to make ends meet. His background in skateboarding—where filming tricks and obsessing over how things looked was essential—led him to photography. “I was just completely obsessed with the way videos looked and the way images looked,” Jesse explained. He soon found himself assisting a photographer, despite having never worked behind the camera before.

Jesse’s journey through kitchens and creative industries shaped his approach to food. He describes kitchens as places where “they don’t care who your parents are. They don’t care where you came from. They care if you are ready to work.” This sense of belonging and challenge was something he cherished, both in skateboarding and in the kitchen.

Cooking with vegetables: a creative challenge

Jesse’s debut cookbook, Cooking with Vegetables, is a celebration of his passion for plant-based cooking, but it’s not strictly vegetarian. “I eat everything, but I love, love, love, cooking with vegetables,” he said. His approach is about putting vegetables first, not as a side dish or an afterthought, but as the main event. “Rather than kind of looking at a vegetable as the first thing you’re gonna eat, and maybe you have some protein, like animal protein with it, but it’s not completely vegetarian. And there are a lot of vegetarian recipes that are around 70% vegetarian.”

Jesse’s inspiration comes from his upbringing, where his mother, who worked for Nancy Silverton at La Brea Bakery, cooked with whatever was abundant and seasonal. “She was surrounded by gluts of vegetables throughout the season. And that’s like really where that style of cooking comes from. It's like you know, you have a lot of courgettes. You’re gonna make dinner outta courgette. So she cooked in that way.”

He wants people to see vegetables as exciting and indulgent, not just healthy or a way to tick off a dietary box. “There’s a lot of people cooking vegetables for health, diet, lifestyle. And there’s a lot of scrutiny of vegetables having to be complete meals... rather, how do I make a dinner out of carrots where carrots are the main ingredient. What’s the best way of cooking them, preparing them, and once you know that, similar to a steak, if you know how to cook a really good steak, you can just go buy a steak.”

Jesse’s goal is to make vegetables the star, focusing on flavour and experience rather than nutritional quotas. “It’s really about making a really focused, filthy vegetable meal,” he said, wanting to move away from what he calls “the rainbow bowl effect,” where vegetarian meals are expected to be a medley of as many ingredients as possible.

A calm, considered approach to food content

Jesse’s content stands out for its calm, visually appealing style. Unlike many food creators who favour fast-paced, loud videos, Jesse’s are quiet and meditative. “I just want it to be what I’m into. I just love a quiet kitchen, clean and just taking my time - it’s the only time where I can’t hear my thoughts,” he said.

He avoids voiceovers, preferring the natural sounds of cooking to take centre stage. “I’m nervous even doing this. I find it really hard to speak, even if I’m recording it myself. I find it really hard to speak to camera. It’s crazy. I suddenly feel like if I put a camera in my face and start talking, I suddenly feel like I’m in an auditorium.”

Jesse’s videos are designed to offer viewers a sense of calm and order. “I wanted people to feel how good that feels for me. Through watching the video, like you don’t even have to do it. You can just watch the video and kind of feel like you’re in a nice, tidy, clean space.”

His background in fashion photography influences the visual style of his cooking content. “I shot everything on film and I printed it all myself in the dark room and it was all kind of cool and blue and there was an element of even on the sunniest day of sort of melancholy in my pictures and, and when I did my Instagram account, I was like, oh, this is just, I just want it to be what I’m into.”

The joy of home cooking and sharing food

For Jesse, the heart of good food is home cooking and the act of sharing. “My favourite food, favourite meals are always the ones that someone else has cooked for me. No matter what it is. It could be anything. I think the definition of good food is just home cooking, people cooking for you, feeling looked after.”

He’s candid about his own preferences, admitting, “I’m like so fussy about going out to restaurants to the point where I don’t even enjoy it 90% unless I know what I’m getting into. I can’t recall a single time where I didn’t like a meal I was served at someone’s house or I didn’t enjoy it.”

Jesse’s approach to desserts in his book is also about celebrating the people around him. “I basically had this idea to give away that section of the book to the people I most love in my life that make my favourite desserts. And to talk about how I don’t love making them. My favourite dessert is always the one that someone else has made for me.”

source https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/from-skateboarding-to-the-kitchen-jesse-jenkins-on-making-vegetables-the-star-and-his-love-of-a-home-cooked-meal