The chef, 54, talks about getting annoyed by TV cooking shows, enjoying the occasional massive bucket from KFC and being taught to cook by her Italian grandma
I loved food from the moment I could eat. My mum is a great cook. All my family are. Good food was always there. There are other things I’m interested in – I’d love to be a barrister, be able to argue in court. But I’m not brainy enough to do that. It was always going to be food.
My grandma taught me to cook. I’d help her, then get to try the food we made before the rest of the family. I still think about her pasta now. She came from Italy after the First World War, had nothing, didn’t even speak the language. She cooked povera, which basically means nothing is wasted. If you had stale bread, you put that in a pasta.