Knorr stock cube is secret to Marco's success

But in a claim that will dismay hardline foodies, Marco Pierre White reveals today that the unlikely secret of his success is the stock cube.

The new star of Hell's Kitchen also angrily debunks elaborate restaurant cooking and says most diners would be happier with a corned beef sandwich or a takeaway curry.

In an interview in this week's Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine, White says: "Knorr is the best f***ing ingredient in the world, let's not kid ourselves. Knorr chicken stock cubes? Genius product. Every kitchen should have a packet. The problem is most people don't know how to use it."

White, 45, also praises ketchup ("it's a great sauce"), Coleman's mustard and Worcestershire sauce, which he says he has used to make "the most delicious sauce in the world to serve with beef".

It is all a far cry from the glittering heyday of the so-called "enfant terrible" of British cooking in the Eighties and Nineties.

Then, his string of top restaurants, including Harvey's, Restaurant Marco Pierre White at the Hyde Park Hotel and the Oak Room, set new standards and inspired the likes of protégés Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.

In the past, stock cubes have been seen as an unforgivable cop-out by purists who say cooks should prepare their own home-made bouillon.

Renee Elliott, founder of the Planet Organic chain of food shops, recently described Knorr cubes as "just revolting".

But White, the forerunner of the current crop of TV chefs, makes it clear he has no respect for today's food fads, including the ubiquitous tasting menu.

In a side-swipe at Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant he says: "I don't want a f***ing tasting menu. You have one mouthful and then you are waiting for the next course.

"[I want a] starter, main course... if it's that good I'll come tomorrow and choose some other ones."

He also attacks the "snobbery" of today's top restaurants - many of which are owned by Ramsay, with whom he has had a spectacular falling out.

He says: "How many people walk into a Michelin-starred restaurant and don't feel comfortable? They can't take their tie or jacket off, can't speak too loudly. When I had my three stars I never had a dress code. Who am I to dictate how people should dress?

"And how many think they've got to say the food is delicious because of where they're sitting? If they are honest, they'd prefer to have a corned beef sandwich with some Branston's or get a takeaway curry."

Even organic does not escape White's wrath. He says: "I prefer to eat normal carrots cooked by someone who can cook than organic carrots by some f***er who can't cook. You talk about these baby carrots - well they've got no flavour. Give me a substantial-sized carrot."