Celebrity chefs Aldo Zilli, Richard Corrigan and Skye Gyngell cook up recipes for remembering lost loved ones

The famous chefs have told of the dishes which take them back to special timesREAD MORE:  MasterChef semi-final viewers left 'unnerved' by VERY grumpy-looking identical twins serving contestants' dishes at Michel Roux Jr's Le Gavroche

A trio of celebrity chefs has revealed the meals that remind them of their loved ones ahead of Celebration Day, a new project dedicated to celebrating family members and friends who are no longer with us.

Award-winning Aldo Zilli, Richard Corrigan and Skye Gyngell have shared the dishes that take them back to special times spent with loved ones who have died.

Italian Zilli, 68, who is the author of 10 books, including vegetarian cookbook Fresh & Green, told The Times that his mother's duck ragù 'comes with me everywhere in the world'.

For Australian-born Gyngell, 60, who was awarded a Michelin star in 2011 for her work at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, London, it is a baked aubergine dish which brings back memories of her late father Bruce.

And, Michelin-starred Irish chef Corrigan, also 60, shared that it is soda bread that reminds him of 'the Sundays he spent hunting rabbits for his mother's meals' as a child.

Aldo Zilli (pictured) shared that duck ragu reminds him of his mother, Maria, who would work hard to feed nine children

Zilli (centre) with his parents, who gave him his first pasta cutter when he was growing up

Richard Corrigan (pictured) said that soda bread makes him think of his childhood in Ireland where he would hunt wild rabbits for his mother's dishes

Syke Gyngell (pictured) serves a version of her mother's baked aubergine dish in her restaurants

Celebration Day, which launched in 2022 and is supported by Stephen Fry and Prue Leith amongst other celebrities, will take place on Monday 27 May this year and the focus is on food.

The initiative encourages people to 'take time out to remember and celebrate the lives of those no longer here', leading the three chefs to elaborate on why their chosen dishes hold such significance.

For Surrey-based Zilli, slow-cooked duck ragù reminds him of his mother, Maria, who worked hard to feed her nine children and taught him to cook when he was growing up in Abruzzo in southern Italy.

He told The Times: 'I used to help her to feed the family and was making fresh pasta aged six or seven'.

Corrigan, opened his restaurant Corrigan's Mayfair in 2008 and even cooked for the late Queen, explained that he will be honouring his mother Kate on this year's Celebration Day.

He shared that he used to hunt wild rabbits on his family's farm in Ballivor, Ireland, which his mother would then use in her cooking.

Gyngell will be remembering her television executive father Bruce next Monday.

She told how 'it was exciting that Dad was at the table' on the rare occasions that the whole family sat down for dinner together.

Gyngell also shared that she makes an 'elevated version' of the baked aubergine dish that her mother used to make in her own restaurants.

'It’s layered, with tomatoes, crème fraîche and herbs in it. It bubbles away in the oven and you can have it on its own with a green salad or with chicken,' she said.