Andi Oliver

“We all need to listen to our empathy and step towards kindness and I think books help you to remember that you're an empathic, human animal and that we need to come together.”

“Cooking should be fun.”

“I dream about recipes and cooking.”

“When my partner Garfield turned 40, I spent a year organising his surprise birthday party in Norfolk at a stately home called Gunthorpe Hall - that was pretty spectacular!”

“Food and music have always been the pillars of my life.”

“My own mother drilled into me the importance of looking after your skin.”

“Punk gave us an engine and it taught us to be self-fulfilling.”

“People have travelled through the Caribbean islands for all sorts of reasons and left their imprint in the DNA and the food.”

“If I was rating my life in gratitude, eight or nine. But I'm very rarely satisfied, I'm always looking to the next thing.”

“I've been told by people in England my whole life to 'go home,' even though I was born here.”

“Racism made me resilient. It taught me to be empathic. There is no upside to it, but I gained a sense of my own humanity.”

“The world we live in is a multicultural one, but food is a great leveller, a universal symbol for friendship, a simple way of coming together as people.”

“I love so many of the Turkish and Kurdish shops all over which all sell brilliant fresh produce, my favourite is Palms2 at Clapton pond.”

“My GP sent me for an ultrasound and a gynaecologist found 10 fibroids in my womb. They were so large it was like I was five months pregnant.”

“I had a hysterectomy because I had really bad fibroids.”

“I grew up in Suffolk and was constantly yearning to find a place where I felt at home. Somewhere I could live with people of all races, colours and classes.”

“I call people darling, because I can't remember anybody's name.”

“Lamb is one of my favourite cuts of meat.”

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world.”

“My dad always cooked with molasses, he would put it in cakes and curries, mutton stew or beef casserole.”