James Martin says home cooks will never serve carrots the same way again once they try a "fantastic" alternative. While honey-glazing is a popular way to flavour them, the chef says cooking carrots "Vichy style" guarantees an "amazing" result.

This way of cooking refers to culinary styles and recipes associated with Vichy, France, a town in the Auvergne region.

It isn't a formal cooking school or movement, but it's closely linked to regional French cuisine and traditional techniques.

A classic example is Vichy carrots, where sliced carrots are gently cooked in butter and Vichy water with sugar and salt until tender and glazed.

Back on screens for his ITV Saturday Morning show this weekend, the 53-year-old explained that most chefs aim for al dente carrots, however he prefers them to be a bit more cooked.

Cooking from an outdoor space in France, he told viewers: "I thought I'd do a dish in the style of Vichy - and it's using carrots.

"It's a way of cooking veg which, once you learn it, you'll never cook them any other way. It's just fantastic; they taste amazing."

Breaking down the process, James peeled the carrots before setting them aside to prepare the flavour.

He then added in a large bottle of water to a tray, enough to leave the carrots three quarters immersed.

While preparing this part, James stressed that a wide tray is "crucial" so the carrots have enough space to cook properly.

"The key is that as the carrots cook, the water evaporates and you end up with a sauce at the end," he explained.

"You don't want to be cooking them in a small pan - you need to allow the steam and water to evaporate so everything cooks gently, while reducing into a glaze."

After pouring in the water, James added in six tablespoons of sugar, and anise - which he described as "totally optional" but "phenomenal" with the dish.

This was followed by a generous amount of butter, salt, and some chopped carrot tops added at the end.

On his website, the full ingredient list specifies 150g caster sugar, 250g butter, five star anise, and 16 carrots.

James explained that adding the carrot tops at the end provides "lots of flavour".

Once cooked, the mixture forms a saucy, buttery glaze to pour over the vegetables.

"Out of all the dishes I wanted to cook in France on this trip, these carrots were one of them," he said.

"They're so simple and so delicious. It's really unusual - you think, 'Well, it's just carrots', but with a sauce and glaze, they taste superb." During the same episode, James also revealed why he doesn't peel parsnips.

While chopping them in the kitchen, he told fans: "I'm going to roast these off, and I actually don't peel them. I leave the tops on, I leave the skin on. I don't peel them.

"There are tons of flavour in them, and I love the whole thing - the full flavour of them."

James Martin's Saturday Morning airs weekly from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX