Cake baking has to be, however innocently, one of the great culinary scams: it implies effort, it implies domestic prowess; but believe me, it's easy.

Cooking is actually quite aggressive and controlling and sometimes, yes, there is an element of force-feeding going on.

I am not a chef. I am not even a trained or professional cook. My qualification is as an eater.

I think maybe when you live with someone who is really very ill for a long time, it somehow gives you more of a greedy appetite for life and maybe, yes, you are less measured in your behaviour than you would otherwise be.

Good olive oil, good butter, milk - they give food taste and depth and a richness that you cant reproduce with low-fat ingredients.

Sometimes it's good just to be seduced by the particular cheeses spread out in front of you on a cheese counter.

There is something wrong about being photographed that has nothing to do with vanity.