Profile

ORLANDO MURRIN was editor of BBC Good Food from 1997 to 2004. His journalistic career started at the Radio Times but his interests led him into a variety of home and lifestyle magazines, during which period he won through to the finals of the BBC's Masterchef programme, before being appointed Editor of Woman & Home in 1994. Orlando contributed a daily recipe to The Express, and a compilation of his recipes was published under the title Quick and Easy. The Express has also published two further books of his recipes – Clever Cookbook in 1999 and Can’t Go Wrong Cookbook in 2002. His latest book is No Cook Cookbook from Quadrille published Autumn 2003.

In May 2004 Orlando and his partner opened Le Manoir de Raynaudes a delightful small hotel and gourmet restaurant in the Tarn in South West France. He released A Table in the Tarn in 2008 about Le Manoir though Harper Collins, which has been shortlisted for the best British cookbook award in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2008.

Biography

Two strange gifts drew Orlando Murrin into journalism - the ability to spell the names of obscure composers and musicians, and a spooky knack of remembering opus numbers.  From his job as sub-editor on the Radio 3 desk at Radio Times he graduated to knitting patterns and recipes in the glorious days of Living magazine, to the launch of Country Homes and Interiors.  One day he declared that if he read another piece of copy about how a family had knocked their Fulham kitchen and dining room together to make a fabulous family living room with Aga, he would leave the profession, and when the omen was fulfilled, he went into advertising copywriting for three hilarious years.  His selling line for Mills and Boon, "Escape into a world of heartbreak and romance" has survived to this day, and his barking dog alarm ad outsold the rest of the Scotcade catalogue that season.

In 1995 he was appointed editor of Woman and Home - a massive and successful revamp followed.  In 1997 he was appointed editor of BBC Good Food, and simultaneously started his weekday column in the Daily Express as Clever Cook, for which he recently won the 2000 Pasta Challenge Pasta Feature Award.  He has published a book of these recipes; Quick and Easy for Martin Books. The Express has also published two further books of his recipes – Clever Cookbook in 1999 and Can’t Go Wrong Cookbook in 2002. In 2003 he published the No Cook Cookbook from Quadrille.

He is a popular cookery demonstrator at shows such as the BBC Good Food Show.

In May 2004 Orlando and his partner opened Le Manoir de Raynaudes, a delightful small hotel and gourmet restaurant in the Tarn in South West France

Updated 11/02/2009