BOSH!: Boys Of Sheffield dubbed the new Jamie Olivers have the YouTube recipe for vegan success

Not a bit of it. A clue is in their name BOSH, which stands for Boys Of Sheffield. They are also as down to earth as you would expect two local lads to be. They apologise for having rearranged the time of our interview and thank The Star for showing an interest.

Not necessarily what you’d expect after the success they’ve achieved. Their first collection of vegan recipes - BOSH! - was the bestselling debut cookbook in 2018, having held on to the number one spot in the Sunday Times hardback non-fiction chart for a month.

Four more cookbooks have followed, plus How to Live Vegan - a guidebook, rather than a cookery tome - and they starred in Living On The Veg, an ITV cookery series that ran for 10-weeks, leading the pair to be dubbed the vegan Jamie Olivers.

“LOL,” says Henry, with a big grin on his face. “I love that guy, he’s an icon. I guess the reference to us was kind of tongue in cheek, but we take it as a compliment. I learned to cook reading his books so it is an honour.”

Add to that the hugely popular YouTube videos demonstrating how to prepare sundry vegan meals and it is clear these boys can get an audience.

“Lots of eyeballs,” says Henry. “That’s all we wanted to do. We’re not here to convert everyone, we wanted to showcase vegan food, show that it wasn’t tasteless and boring.”

The pair met at High Storrs school on the first day of term aged 11. Henry occasionally walked from Nether Edge, Ian had it easier making the short journey from Banner Cross.

They were both converted to the vegan way after watching Kip Andersen's documentary Cowspiracy, which argues that animal agriculture is destroying the environment.

Sheffield got the message early and now has a thriving vegan culture in its restaurants.

Blue Moon cafe, Pina and the Old House

Ian and Henry single out the trailblazing Blue Moon cafe on St James Street in the city centre.

They like the vegan tacos at Pina in Kelham Island and the vegan offerings at the Old House on Devonshire Street.

Then there’s Ambulo in the Millennium Gallery, Sorting Office on Ecclesall Road and Make No Bones on Hick Street in Neepsend.

Ian says: “I think culturally Sheffield is a well tuned city, you can tell that from the music and the nightclubs, the attitude to cool things.

“When the vegan thing started to get popular a lot of Sheffielders jumped on it quickly.”

Which makes you wonder why the pair, both now 37, headed for London. Answer, it was practical. Henry had a flat there and when Ian moved, he stayed with him.

“We got used to working together, living together,” says Henry.

“London is no Sheffield, it hasn’t got the Peak District on the doorstep, it hasn’t got our mates, it’s big, noisy and expensive. But there’s lots of vegan food, lots of media and our work life is down here. We go back to Sheffield to climb and visit friends.”

Ian does get nostalgic. “I went to a pub recently in Notting Hill on Sheffield Terrace and thought that’s where I should live.” Henry too. “We go back every few months and still love it.”

They both realise the city is changing. “I used to work on Devonshire Street in the city centre and it was a busy, wonderful hub,” says Ian. “Now local areas like Hunters Bar, Banner Cross are really good, but the city centre is a shadow of itself.”

Happily, their fortunes continue to thrive, but they aren’t the types to preach. Henry says: “Don’t listen to us, listen to what David Attenborough said, which was one of the top things you can do as a human is think about what you eat. It’s not about being vegan, maybe having one vegan day would appeal.

“It is great for your body and great for the planet. The days of rabbit food have gone, you can have anything you want to and it is kind to the planet and to you.”

BOSH! On A Budget

BOSH! On A Budget is their latest cookbook and they wanted to “show people the grassroots of vegan cooking”.

“It’s grains, it’s fruits, it’s nuts and seeds, it’s inherently cheap and it’s inherently healthy,” says Henry. “People don’t understand that.”

Their new collection of cheap vegan recipes doesn’t avoid meat and diary alternatives altogether, they’ve just gone very light on them.

“We’re not absolutists”, adds Henry. There’s a “little sprinkling of vegan cheese, the odd splash of plant-based milk”. But the dishes come in at £1 or £2 a portion – and many cost far less. And it was easy, says Ian, “because vegan food is actually very, very cheap”.

Well, it can be. There are two recipes simply using tinned tomatoes, for example. “The cheapest thing you can buy!” says Henry. “If you treat them with a little bit of respect, for instance, sieving off the sauce and then roasting the tomatoes, you get some fantastic, deep, rich flavours.”

The pair are big fans of the humble chickpea – even cheaper when bought in bulk – and their recipes for chana masala and samosas make use of this nutrition heavyweight.

What puts many off is it all sounds like a lot of effort. Ian says: “If you approach the lifestyle with some forward planning and positivity, like the right things on Facebook and Instagram, it is really easy.

“Supermarkets are making it infinitely easier because of the wonderful options on their shelves and if you go in a restaurant most have plant based options. It is only going to get easier.”

This includes BOSH! branded food such as Crackin’ Chickpea Burger Mix and Smokin’ Spag Bol. And the work never stops. The reason they were late for our call was they had been scouring for venues to cook in for the next BOSH! Videos.

Ian, creative director and co-founder of BOSH!, says: “We want a new pool of people cooking with BOSH!, new blood to come alongside us.”

Henry, founder and chief executive officer, adds: “We still cook because we’ve got to eat! We still spend time cooking and will always do that because we want to be across the recipe development for our books.

“We are looking for fresh talent and there will be more faces than us.”

That includes Sheffield chefs, if they are prepared to travel to London. Contact the boys via their website bosh.tv and fill in the contact form. Who knows, you could be on the next show?

Do they get any spare time. Henry says: “I try to find time to exercise, try to build a social life, make music and walk the dog.”

Ian adds: “I like to go running, go the gym and see musicals, my girlfriend is a big fan.”

And there will be more of that, now that lockdown has eased. “Bring on the holidays, bring on the shows,” says Ian.

Because they are a tight team in the same space, lockdown didn’t stop them, but they like being out and about again.

This no doubt will include more trips home to go rock climbing, and include promotional work for their next book which will be launched in Sheffield.

“We’re always keen to support our home city,” says Henry.