James Martin apologises after leaving colleague’s mouth ‘numb for a week’ with dish | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

James Martin, 50, apologised to a member of his crew on air last weekend, while hosting his show Saturday Morning.

He revealed he had left his sound editor Matt’s mouth “numb for a week” after encouraging him to feast on a very spicy dish.

James was assisting fellow chef Santiago Lastra to make flaming hot quesadillas when the subject of spice arose.

Santiago said: “Some people think spicy is something that burns your mouth, but I think spice is a flavour. 

“The spice can warm everything up,” he added.

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James confessed he had previously underestimated the impact spice can have on the palette, when he gave the Chinese herb Sichuan to his colleague.

He shared: “What I did to Matt our sound guy in America, I got him to try Szechuan for the first time. It numbs your mouth for a week.

‘Sorry Matty,” he added devilishly.

Sichuan is a spice commonly used in Sichuan cuisine in China, and in Thakali cuisine in Nepal. 

Despite its name, the Sichuan pepper is not closely related to black pepper or chilli peppers. 

When eaten, Sichuan pepper produces a tingling, numbing effect due to the presence of hydroxy-alpha sansho.

Sichuan peppercorns creates a phenomenon called paraesthesia, in which the lips and tongue feel as though they are vibrating and go vaguely numb – known as má. 

The tandem combination of burning and numbing from these two ingredients is known in Chinese as málà, a hallmark of Sichuan cuisine that facilitates sweating – creating a cooling effect that makes the sweltering climate more tolerable.

It comes as the Saturday Morning host spurned advice from medical professionals about cooking with less salt. 

The chef, who recently published his latest cookbook, Potato, dedicated to spuds, was left furious by health warnings around salt.

While discussing the crisp sandwich recipe he had added to his new project, James claimed “the whole world’s gone mad” over restricting salt intake.

The cook, who previously advocated for using butter in recipes despite worries about the ingredient’s fat content, suggested he couldn’t keep up with all the new health advice around food.

James was quizzed on his favourite store-bought crisps and was quick to praise Walkers’ Salt and Shake variety.

“Remember the ones with the blue salt pouch?” he recalled to The Scotsman in a recent interview.

He then fumed: “Yeah, you certainly used to be able to get those from the tuck shop, with the sachet of salt, but now everyone’s being told to eat less b****y salt, the whole world’s gone mad”.

James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen airs on ITV every Saturday at 9.30am.