UO Book Club: Ben Lebus, Founder of MOB Kitchen
What’s your go-to comfort food? Whether it’s a hearty bowl of delicious pasta or a plate of classic cheesy chips, you’re bound to find a feel-good dish in new cookbook Comfort MOB. Full of 100 restaurant-quality, nourishing recipes you can create in the warmth of your own home, get inspired to indulge friends and family in a renowned MOB Kitchen recipe. To get us in the mood for some tasty food, we spoke with founder Ben Lebus, to find out about the collective, his cooking inspiration and what’s on his kitchen playlist.
Tell us about the MOB Kitchen collective - where did it all begin?
I set up MOB Kitchen about five and a half years ago off the back of realising that none of my mates at university were cooking much. I wanted to create a recipe platform that would show them how to cook really good food with recipes that wouldn't break the bank. When I was graduating from Edinburgh University, I hired a film crew, and we went into my mum and dad's kitchen at the start of summer 2016 and filmed a big batch of recipes. I spent the rest of the summer setting up the Facebook page and the website, getting the initial brand work done and launched the platform in October 2016. That was the start of it!
Comfort MOB is all about food that makes you feel good, what’s your instantly mood-lifting recipe?
The puttanesca! It’s my dad's puttanesca - it's very simple and easy. It's like a school cupboard dish using capers, anchovies, tinned tomatoes, and then some garlic and parsley. It's what my dad cooked for me and my brothers when we were growing up every Sunday. It ties into the idea that comfort foods can take you back to a happy time or moment.
Go-to recipe that’s always a winner with friends and family?
It will seem like I'm just too obsessed with pasta here, but the vodka rigatoni in Comfort MOB definitely feels like you're eating a restaurant quality dish. It's just delicious, really cheap and easy to do. If you don't drink you can sub out the vodka for a bit of lemon juice. Beautiful.
What’s your earliest cooking memory?
I used to be obsessed with Jamie Oliver. One of his first TV shows was called Jamie At Home, and he was all about making very simple things look and feel more luxe just through the addition of a couple of ingredients. For one of them, he got a pot of hummus from a store, put it on a plate and levelled it out with a spoon and added olive oil, pepper and chilli flakes. He made it look like it was a dish that you would get served in a restaurant, so I did the same thing, but my mum told me off because I wasn’t going to eat it all and it would go to waste. I found cooking from a young age to be a nice creative outlet and experimenting with things in the kitchen.
What 3 foods would you take to a desert island?
I'm obsessed with apples. Loads of apples. I also love eating almonds. And then maybe I'd bring some pasta to see if I could rustle something up.
Top 5 ingredients everyone needs in their cupboard… tinned tomatoes, chilli flakes, beans, za'atar and soy sauce.
Most indulgent treat you can’t go a week without?
I love peanut butter. I'll normally have some yoghurt with two tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter and honey. I get through a tub of peanut butter a week.
Cooking is a great way to relax, how else do you chill out?
The main way is just through watching TV. I'm obsessed with watching television series and at the moment I'm watching The Sopranos. I've never seen it before - it's classic and it really allows me to properly switch off.
What or who inspires your recipes?
A lot of food trips! When I go away, visit restaurants, go on holiday; any food that you eat or see being served are constantly an inspiration for different ideas.
What’s the theme of your kitchen playlist?
I really like jazz. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue is the album that I love putting on the most and as it’s very relaxing and good energy.
Cooking creatives we should check out?
Yinka A.K.A @foodfireandsoul I think she's amazing, she cooks a lot with flame.
Val Moore A.K.A @appetite.life He does very soothing content.
Will Hughes A.K.A @whatwillycook We started talking when he had about 400 followers and I said that I wanted to start sharing some of his content. He's now got 200K followers, and he's doing it full time. And I love him, he's great.
I set up MOB Kitchen about five and a half years ago off the back of realising that none of my mates at university were cooking much. I wanted to create a recipe platform that would show them how to cook really good food with recipes that wouldn't break the bank. When I was graduating from Edinburgh University, I hired a film crew, and we went into my mum and dad's kitchen at the start of summer 2016 and filmed a big batch of recipes. I spent the rest of the summer setting up the Facebook page and the website, getting the initial brand work done and launched the platform in October 2016. That was the start of it!
Comfort MOB is all about food that makes you feel good, what’s your instantly mood-lifting recipe?
The puttanesca! It’s my dad's puttanesca - it's very simple and easy. It's like a school cupboard dish using capers, anchovies, tinned tomatoes, and then some garlic and parsley. It's what my dad cooked for me and my brothers when we were growing up every Sunday. It ties into the idea that comfort foods can take you back to a happy time or moment.
Go-to recipe that’s always a winner with friends and family?
It will seem like I'm just too obsessed with pasta here, but the vodka rigatoni in Comfort MOB definitely feels like you're eating a restaurant quality dish. It's just delicious, really cheap and easy to do. If you don't drink you can sub out the vodka for a bit of lemon juice. Beautiful.
What’s your earliest cooking memory?
I used to be obsessed with Jamie Oliver. One of his first TV shows was called Jamie At Home, and he was all about making very simple things look and feel more luxe just through the addition of a couple of ingredients. For one of them, he got a pot of hummus from a store, put it on a plate and levelled it out with a spoon and added olive oil, pepper and chilli flakes. He made it look like it was a dish that you would get served in a restaurant, so I did the same thing, but my mum told me off because I wasn’t going to eat it all and it would go to waste. I found cooking from a young age to be a nice creative outlet and experimenting with things in the kitchen.
What 3 foods would you take to a desert island?
I'm obsessed with apples. Loads of apples. I also love eating almonds. And then maybe I'd bring some pasta to see if I could rustle something up.
Top 5 ingredients everyone needs in their cupboard… tinned tomatoes, chilli flakes, beans, za'atar and soy sauce.
Most indulgent treat you can’t go a week without?
I love peanut butter. I'll normally have some yoghurt with two tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter and honey. I get through a tub of peanut butter a week.
Cooking is a great way to relax, how else do you chill out?
The main way is just through watching TV. I'm obsessed with watching television series and at the moment I'm watching The Sopranos. I've never seen it before - it's classic and it really allows me to properly switch off.
What or who inspires your recipes?
A lot of food trips! When I go away, visit restaurants, go on holiday; any food that you eat or see being served are constantly an inspiration for different ideas.
What’s the theme of your kitchen playlist?
I really like jazz. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue is the album that I love putting on the most and as it’s very relaxing and good energy.
Cooking creatives we should check out?
Yinka A.K.A @foodfireandsoul I think she's amazing, she cooks a lot with flame.
Val Moore A.K.A @appetite.life He does very soothing content.
Will Hughes A.K.A @whatwillycook We started talking when he had about 400 followers and I said that I wanted to start sharing some of his content. He's now got 200K followers, and he's doing it full time. And I love him, he's great.