A TORY peer who slammed the culinary skills of poor people could be left eating her words after a verbal roasting from a top North-East chef.

TV Masterchef finalist Dave Coulson said of Baroness Jenkins: “She’s out of touch.

“They are all out of touch. They don’t know what real life is like - they are born lucky

“The greatest dishes around the world are peasant dishes. Up here in the North-East we have ham and pease pudding . We buy a ham hock for £1.50 and can make it into a meal for ten people and over.”

The chef, who has rejected the peers’ argument that a bowl of porridge costs just 4p, added: “People don’t store 10kg of porridge oats in their house. A box of oats probably costs about £3.

“People don’t have space in their tiny little peasant houses. They don’t have dry stores and larders.

“She might be able to buy 10kg and store it in her mansion. We don’t have that.”

Mr Coulson claimed if people were not much use in the kitchen, that was as much to do with the Conservative Party as anyone.

“People don’t have as much cooking skills as they did – but that’s down to her lot as well," he said. “When I was at school the only thing I was taught to cook was a tuna sandwich.”

Mr Coulson, who opened his restaurant Peace and Loaf in, Jesmond, Newcastle, was speaking as he prepared a three-course meal for 80 homeless people at the People’s Kitchen, in Newcastle, ironically showing them how to cook with cheap ingredients.

The People’s Kitchen has been supporting people since 1985 and is solely run by volunteers. Speaking of his support for the charity, Mr Coulson said: “Growing up in Wingate, in County Durham, I have always been aware of the wonderful services that establishments like this offer and I always vowed that if I ran my own restaurant

one day that I’d help the people less fortunate than myself.

“I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty and get into the thick of it in the kitchen, so this is an ideal opportunity for me.”

Mr Coulson, a finalist from 2010 MasterChef: The Professionals, supplied much of the ingredients from his own restaurant, saving the charity much-needed funds.