Coronavirus: 'I couldn't leave the house so I made my own fast food'

Kenny McGovern was once housebound - but cooking led him to push the boundaries of his anxiety

At a time when friends and family are going "stir crazy" while trapped indoors, Kenny McGovern is quite comfortable staying at home.

"I've been in training for lockdown my whole life," he jokes.

At the age of 19, the author and fast food savant from Glasgow was diagnosed with social anxiety - a long-lasting and overwhelming fear of social situations.

On an average day Kenny grappled with inexplicable feelings of dread - he avoided crowded buses, interactions with strangers and often cancelled plans with friends.

His anxiety intensified in his mid-20s after he lost his job, morphing into what he describes as agoraphobia.

Unable to travel even a few feet from his front door, Kenny began to miss the fast foods that were not available by delivery - and so attempted to recreate them in his own kitchen.

Kenny's Char Siu pork ramen bowl with homemade chilli oil

Without any formal training, much of the process was trial and error. But before long, he had an arsenal of recipes based on some of the most well-known fast foods around the world.

He said: "I remember one day in the kitchen, I was attempting to make a well-known burger sauce.

"My mum and brother tried it and there was a look on their face like: 'You've actually done this'.

"Making it made me realise this was something I could get hooked on."

Kenny's 'mega burger' made with supermarket brand fries

Thinking back to his school years, Kenny describes his past and present relationship with food as "night and day".

With both parents in full-time work, he says mealtimes were based "more on necessity than desire". Pots of bubbling porridge, rolls and ham, and mince and potatoes were common fare.

Kenny describes himself as a "lucky" child, but even then there were signs of anxiety.

"I would come home from school soaked in sweat," he said. "My doctor put in my file I had 'school phobia'. I had no problem with the school work, just the social side of it.

"Little things would trigger me - like being late and having to walk into a class when all eyes were on you. I just wouldn't go and went to the park.

"I knew I had problems but I had no idea social anxiety existed. I just thought I was a bit weird."

Kenny developed recipes for main meals, sauces and appetisers - such as salt and chilli spring rolls

Even after he left school, Kenny had no interest in cooking until his anxiety left him isolated at home.

He had tried several treatments in order to manage his condition, including beta blockers and months of counselling.

But he was unable to discuss his issues widely until he began sharing his recipes on a Scottish football forum.

Members loved Kenny's creativity, and sharing stories about food led to deeper conversations about mental health.

Forum members loved Kenny's take on takeaway favourites including vegetable pakora with pink sauce

"Up until that point I felt I didn't really have anything that I was 'known for'," he said.

"You'd see people going to university and becoming something. I didn't really have anything about myself.

"Cooking gave me something to talk about - rather than saying I've been sitting in my pyjamas, I was able to say I've cracked this recipe.

"Then I got messages on the forum from people who also had social anxiety. My books wouldn't exist without having those people encourage me."

Kenny went on to make lifelong friends through the forum - one member even asked him to be his best man.

He published his first book - The Takeaway Secret - in 2012 and continues to grow the collection. His next volume, The Indian Takeaway Secret, is due to be released early next year.

Kenny has cooked around the world - here is his potato and chick pea curry with chapatis, chilli pickle and poppadoms

Now 15 years on from being housebound, cooking has inspired Kenny to explore new foods and cultures, as well as prompting him to travel to the US.

He still copes with his condition by staying at home, although the coronavirus pandemic has given him cause for further self-reflection.

He said: "People say you'll always have social anxiety as part of your make-up. You can't cure it and you learn to live with it.

"I live in a quiet village with a beautiful walk behind our house but I've used it maybe three times in the last year - I need to push myself to do more.

"I've seen people struggling with isolation. It has made me realise it's still part of my routine and perhaps it shouldn't be."