Shivi Ramoutar is the co host of ITV1’s Jimmy and Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast, a cookbook author with three titles to her name, and one of the more familiar faces in British food television at the moment. If you have caught her cooking a full breakfast loaf on a Suffolk farm, or guesting on Saturday Kitchen, and wondered where she came from, the short answer involves a law degree, a supper club, and a fair bit of songwriting along the way.
Quick Facts
| Born | Trinidad |
| Raised in | Leicestershire, London, and briefly New York |
| Earlier career | Lawyer |
| Best known for | ITV’s Jimmy and Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast |
| Books | Caribbean Modern: Recipes from the Rum Islands (2015), The Ice Kitchen, Recipes from the Rum Islands (2026 reissue) |
| Called by The Guardian | “Caribbean Food Supremo” |
| Lives in | London |
Growing Up Between Trinidad, Leicestershire And London
Ramoutar was born in Trinidad and moved around a fair bit as a child. Her family spent time in Leicestershire, had a short stretch in New York, and eventually settled in London, where she still lives with her husband and children.
The New York years are where a lot of her food memories come from. Her grandmother cooked traditional Caribbean dishes such as callaloo to keep the family connected to home. Ramoutar has said she was not always keen on it at the time and would rather have had pizza, a detail she has mentioned herself in past interviews about her upbringing.
From The Courtroom To The Kitchen
Before food, Ramoutar trained and worked as a lawyer. At the same time, she was also writing songs, which is not the usual route into a television cooking career.
Things changed in 2013, when she reached the quarter final of MasterChef. Not long after, she launched a supper club called Lime, named after the Trinidadian idea of “liming”, roughly translated as spending time together over good food and drink without any particular agenda. That supper club is where most of what followed began, including restaurant collaborations, brand work, and eventually a regular spot on television.
Her Cookbooks, Old And New
Ramoutar has written three cookbooks so far.
- Caribbean Modern: Recipes from the Rum Islands, her debut, first published in 2015
- The Ice Kitchen: Fast Fresh Food to Fill Your Family and Your Freezer, built around quick meals for busy households
- Recipes from the Rum Islands, a black and white tenth anniversary reissue of her debut, published by Headline in March 2026
According to the publisher’s listing for the reissue, chef Thomasina Miers said she wanted to eat everything in the book, a line now used as the cover quote.
Shivi Ramoutar’s Television Work
Even if the name did not immediately ring a bell, there is a good chance the face will. Shivi Ramoutar’s television credits include:
- Co host of Jimmy and Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast on ITV1, alongside Jimmy Doherty
- Resident cook on Garraway’s Good Stuff, with Kate Garraway
- Previously resident cook on Martin and Roman’s Weekend Best, with Martin and Roman Kemp
- Regular guest on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen
- Appearances on This Morning, Celebrity Mastermind, Pointless Celebrities, and The Weakest Link
Jimmy and Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast is filmed at Jimmy Doherty’s own farm and wildlife park in Suffolk. According to production company Rock Oyster Media, the show grew from an eleven episode first run in 2024 to a twenty two episode second series, with Ramoutar spending much of her screen time visiting local producers and craftspeople around the farm.
Where Things Stand In 2026
For Shivi Ramoutar, 2026 has brought a returning TV series and a reissued book within the space of a few months. The third series of Jimmy and Shivi’s Farmhouse Breakfast returned to ITV1 in January, with new episodes continuing into February, following the same format as the previous two runs.
Her reissued debut cookbook has been on shelves since March, giving longtime readers a new edition of the book that first introduced her cooking to a wider audience back in 2015. She has also started her own small food brand, Island Girl, beginning with a hot sauce she originally developed for her supper club guests.
The Takeaway
What stands out about Ramoutar’s career is how ordinary its starting point was. She was a lawyer with an interest in cooking, not someone trained in a professional kitchen with a plan already in place. That interest grew into a supper club over several years. The supper club led to cookbook deals and, eventually, to a Sunday morning ITV series that a fair number of British households now recognise on sight.
Sources: Shivi Ramoutar’s official website | Good Food Shows chef profile | Hachette / Headline publisher page | ITV Press Centre | Rock Oyster Media
