Laura Pope is a private chef and cookery teacher based in Dorset. Classically trained at Leith's and in the kitchens of Chez Panisse and Ottolenghi, she joins the Kidney Kitchen with 20 years' experience cooking for private clients around the world, including Jamie Oliver, Guy Ritchie, Claudia Winkleman and Laura Bailey.

What is your favourite Kidney Kitchen recipe?

Chicken tikka with kachumber and roti.

Do you have a go-to ‘10-minute meal’?

Scrambled eggs on toast.

What is your favourite ingredient?

Olive oil, for both savoury dishes and sweet dishes!

What is your favourite way to add flavour that is not salt?

Lemon, fresh herbs and chilli.

What is your best kitchen hack?

Homemade chicken stock that I reduce and then freeze in large silicone ice cube moulds and keep in a bag in the freezer to use whenever I need. If you make your own stock you’ll never need shop-bought (often very salty) stock again.

What is a piece of advice you would give kidney patients about cooking?

Think about balance. Salt is not the only way to add flavour – you also need acidity from citrus or vinegar, sweetness from naturally-derived sources like maple syrup, sour cherry molasses or honey, healthy fats like olive oil and a bit of heat from chilli, horseradish, mustard and pepper.

Which would you choose if you could only have one: oven, air fryer, slow cooker or hob?

I use my hob the most, but also love the ease of my slow-cooker during autumn and winter.

What is your favourite ‘kidney-friendly’ snack?

Homemade popcorn – so easy to do, costs next to nothing and without all the added salt or sugar you find in commercial brands.

What is your favourite memory of cooking in the Kidney Kitchen?

Trying to control our giggles when our photographer Beth and I were being filmed while her newborn baby was sleeping peacefully nearby.