Chef-cook Willem Amery trained at the renowned Hotelschool Ter Duinen in Koksijde, Belgium and has worked in private catering in Roeselare for over 15 years. Here he shares his top tips on kitchen hygiene during the summer months.

For me everything starts with your produce. Whether you are cooking meat, or fish or a vegetable dish, you need to ensure that everything is fresh. Of course, this poses more of a challenge in the summer months when everything needs to be kept refrigerated right up until the moment you need it.

As a professional chef, I have several fridges at different temperatures to store different produce. You can achieve the same result in your fridge at home by following a few simple steps: keep fish and meat at the bottom of the fridge as it is always cooler. Hot air rises while cold air falls – so if you are storing prawns or scallops in the fridge be sure to put ice on top of them, not underneath them. Some vegetables and fruit – such as tomatoes – don’t need to be in the fridge at all.

Also, remember that if you are defrosting something in the summer months then you must do that in the fridge, not on the kitchen work surface as the higher temperatures can cause bacteria to form if dishes are not refrigerated.

People should be more careful generally when preparing food during the summer months. We barbecue more during the warmer weather and meat that is left out in the sun or not cooked sufficiently can expose people to ‘barbeque bugs’ such as Salmonella and Campylobacter species. It’s important to guard against this by following good hygiene habits- including washing your hands regularly during food preparation and applying a good dose of common sense.

Good hygiene plays a fundamental role in my kitchen. It underpins everything I do. From regular hand washing and drying with single use towels to ongoing sanitising of surfaces, chopping boards and equipment. My advice is to wipe them down first with kitchen roll and then to wash them thoroughly with washing up liquid. A non-perfumed hygiene spray is a good idea for surfaces too – make sure to use it at least one hour before you start to cook so that it doesn’t affect the taste of the food. If you are cooking outdoors, where perhaps you don’t have running water, be sure to wipe utensils and hands with a tissue soaked in alcohol to sterilise them.

Like all chefs I am very precious about my knives and I like to clean them myself in lukewarm water. And I never allow them to go into the dishwasher as the high temperatures make the blades blunt.

Transporting food from the supermarket back home or to a campsite or barbecue site can be a challenge in the summer months too. People should always use cool boxes and pack the food with ice both below and above it to keep it cool on a long journey. Keep the lid on the box and it will stay cooler for longer.

Summer food is always a pleasure for me as the dishes are different to the traditional winter food. Warming casseroles such as Osso Bucco are replaced by cold dishes such as Vitello with anchovy sauce or carpaccio served with rucola and parmesan. One of our favourites is to cook rack of lamb on the barbecue instead of lamb stew.

Creating great tasting food is one of the great pleasures in life for me. Chef school in Koksijde honed my cooking skills but it also drummed into me the importance of good hygiene. A good chef should always be well prepared, so my advice for safe and healthy eating both indoors and out this summer is to arm yourself with the basics – including a sturdy cool box, alcohol-soaked wipes for washing hands and surfaces and a good supply of kitchen roll. A bottle of wine is optional!

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