Andi Oliver

“British multiculturalism is the jewel in our crown. We should be celebrating it in every environment. People of colour should not just be washing dishes.”

“There are some surprising stories behind the dishes that hold a special place in our hearts.”

“When I was younger, my anger and my fury used to work against me quite a lot.”

“Punk taught you to not wait. It gave me the most beautiful gift at the right time: I've found quantifiable, external success later in life, but I've always done exactly what I wanted to do.”

“I have always loved wild women who look like they're on fire!”

“I learned a beautiful way of cooking lamb when I was in Morocco, which is a technique where I poach it first in a whole bunch of really incredible spices. Anything you like - cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, star anise, whatever you fancy.”

“I used to do a supper club and they oversold tickets. I literally didn't have enough food. I had to make a pumpkin soup out of nothing... it was carnage.”

“When people are in trauma they need the love of food.”

“Gemma Austin, Phelim O'Hagan and Chris McKlurg... Northern Ireland produces some amazing chefs.”

“There are not many people who can discern between fenugreek, green cardamom, black cardamom, caraway and turmeric at the drop of a hat.”

“Londoners are really good at dealing with any crap that's thrown at them. We hunker down, we grit our teeth and we get on with it and I think that's a very lovely trait.”

“So much shame goes hand-in-hand with an eating disorder, with addiction of any kind. It's very lonely because you don't know how to talk to anybody.”

“There's a heartiness, an enveloping and velvet nature to Swedish home cooking that I love.”

“The excellence, the beauty, the poetry, the magic is what food is about and that comes from all parts of the world.”

“Every single time I see Neneh on stage I just cry. I just get so proud it makes me sick. When she stands up onstage and sings, it's a moment of real beauty, her own special, individual beauty. And when you see somebody you love displaying their magic, it's a beautiful thing.”

“Cornmeal pudding is a Caribbean staple. What Italians call polenta, we call cornmeal, and you can get it in any supermarket.”

“You know when you're tasting things and there's a sort of empty hole? Molasses will fill that gap.”

“I think of books as like a life raft. They save us from mundanity, they draw us to a poetic, multi-faceted world. We all need that.”

“Every island has its own version of Caribbean food.”

“I have sat on the boards for businesses and I am always the only person that looks like me in those rooms.”