There is barely a country in the world where you will be completely safe.

I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.

I always wanted to be an explorer, but - it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.

It's not an easy option. The essence of travel is letting go of habit and prejudice and relishing the unfamiliar. Food you've never eaten before, a language you've never spoken before, religion that mystifies, customs that confuse, politics that perplex, all question everyday assumptions about how you live your life.

I saw novelists as being admirable people and I thought... I thought... maybe, one day, I could be one of them.

All I ask of food is that it doesn't harm me.

I am certainly more interested in interviewing than being interviewed. Sometimes you find yourself attacked from the start.