James Martin mocked for 'using too much butter' by celeb chef and co-star Francesco Mazzei

express.co.uk:

James Martin's Saturday Morning show for the past 12 years, and both have a passion for over-using butter and extra virgin olive oil.

However, Mazzei has now designed a menu without relying on his beloved butter and cheese, to pair with a new non-alcoholic beer.

He has now admitted that, while it was challenging to create, the results were "impressive"."[I] always have fun jokes with James about using too much butter, using too much olive oil," Francesco joked to Express.co.uk.The chef, whose London restaurants include Sartoria and Radici, added: "It's fun because we're friends."In fact, having grown up in a poverty-stricken neighbourhood in the Southern Italian region of Calabria, he has a special fondness for so-called unhealthy sweet treats, which formed his childhood appetite."When I was a little kid, I didn't come from a lot of money," he confessed."We just had enough money to go to school, to get dressed and that was it."Our afternoon snack - guess what it was?

Sugar with extra virgin olive oil on top. I'm not joking - that's what it was."If you try that with kids now, they will not talk to you for the rest of the day!"However, Francesco confides that James is "a big fan" of the ingredients, even if some might describe them as unhealthy."I was [also] the first one to bring nduja to this country from Calabria and James Martin gave me the chance to showcase that on the show," he explained of the spicy sausage snack, for which he is now renowned."The fact that I can showcase some of my south Italian ingredients on the show, and make Calabria known as a region where the good food is, has been amazing."Now, to celebrate the launch of a new alcohol-free beer, Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, Francesco has turned his back on.