John Torode

“I think that most things, if you want to use them properly, take quite a lot of time and I don't necessarily have the patience to sit down and read the instructions and follow the first bits to actually get the starting point.”

“I'm not someone who jumps in a car to make for the country, I'm an urbanite. I love living in London and there's always something going on.”

“As I'd travelled, I'd seen more and more people drinking rose. Given the amount of grapes we grow in Australia, I just said, 'Why wouldn't we be making rose?'”

“I do think about how different my life might have been had my mother not died so young, but I try not to delve into it too deeply, as it's like 'Sliding Doors,' isn't it? You just don't know.”

“My second marriage to Jessica just fell apart. It was nothing to do with restaurants.”

“Sydney has the world's best swimming pool. Walk through the Botanical Gardens and you come to the Andrew 'Boy' Charlton Pool on Mrs Macquaries Road, with incredible views of Finger Wharf and the Harbour.”

“The inspiration to cook came from my grandmother and my father who were both wonderful home cooks. But I would say I taught myself. You travel, you discover the world, you explore books - it is these things that make a great cook.”

“The culinary world is a fascinating place that has been influenced over the centuries by culture, religion, fashion, war, art, science and, more recently, globalisation.”

“My food hero would be someone like Elizabeth David, because I think what she did for Britain was amazing. Also David Thompson, an Australian chef who does Thai food and really understands the basis of it, has always been very inspiring.”

“I have to admit to not being a great turkey fan unless they come from Paul Kelly at Kelly Turkeys.”

“Cutting out meat or fish I could maybe just about manage - living without either? I can't see myself doing that ever, ever, ever.”

“I like all my jackets to be on wooden coat hangers, all facing the same direction.”

“I never use organic vegetables. Why would you want to? The idea of taking a courgette grown in a third-world country in an organic field, packed into a polystyrene box, flown across the oceans, washed in chlorinated water, packed into a foam box, driven halfway across the country, wrapped in plastic and stamped 'organic,' what's the point?”

“You can't blame another person for your world being different - or things like divorce. It gets right on my goat when people don't take responsibility.”

“Those who know me well will tell you that I love a market, and when I say market, I mean food market. No matter where in the world, they allow me to soak up the culture, to hear the rhythmic chattering of the local people and traders, and take in the all-important smells, pungent and intoxicating.”

“My worst flight was with the Indonesian carrier Garuda from Australia to Bali, which was just awful.”

“For the children it will always be a lemonade float at the Christmas table as a special treat.”

“My earliest memory of cooking is my grandmother showing me how to make chicken gravy on the big combustion stove in her kitchen. I still use Nana's gravy recipe.”

“You have to control your own destiny and make your own choices.”

“Pumpkin and nutmeg tarts are a small, sweet version of the classic tart, a combination that is a particular favourite of mine.”