Rick Stein

“Every time I buy produce from one of my food heroes I never fail to get a thrill. The meat, for example, from Lishmans of Ilkley makes you realise why great roast beef and Yorkshire pudding depends so much on a quality butcher like David Lishman.”

“Its challenging getting people to pay the right money to eat really good food and finding great people to work for you.”

“If you are used to eating well as a child, you will end up probably being quite serious about what you eat as an adult, so I feel very blessed with that.”

“As far as filming for TV goes, I like to go where the food is definitely of interest to British people.”

“I love fish soup. Its a deeply satisfying dish. You can use almost any fish for this apart from the oily ones.”

“Im not the worlds greatest sea food chef, I just like fresh fish.”

“On the whole Im a good companion, I like travelling, I dont mind airports or planes, I quite like it - theres always a sense of excitement.”

“I think, for me, I just keep feeling the need to prove yourself, and thats probably from having a slightly overpowering father.”

“I eat out a lot, so being at home is just great. I usually make a chicken rice recipe that I picked up in Thailand years ago. The chicken has to be boiled before adding in chillies, ginger, soy and white pepper. Then you make a kind of pilaf. Its delicious.”

“Cream is actually tiny globules of fat held inside delicate membranes suspended in water - just like milk, only there are more globules.”

“If a recipe is good, I'm not going to mess with it, but they are recipes I've spent quite a bit of time getting right. You can use the internet. I use it as well, I keep forgetting, for example, how many eggs are in a Yorkshire pudding.”

“My father Eric had a magnetic presence. He was about 6ft 4in, with dark hair and pale blue eyes - and very attractive to women.”

“I like to have fish and salad - mackerel, Dover sole or gurnard, and I usually pan-fry it or use the barbecue. I make salad with avocados, tomato, lettuce and spring onions, with an olive oil and red wine dressing.”

“Writing doesn't come easily to me.”

“I would quite like to do something on Ireland about the culture, James Joyce, Yeats, persuade Seamus Heaney to have a chat and do some cooking.”

“I was brought up on a farm in Oxford but my parents always had a flat in London, and we'd go to pretty smart restaurants, so it's always seemed important to eat well.”

“I particularly like writing on planes. You've got nothing else to do but concentrate.”

“You find if you go into a Cafe de Commerce, in any French town, you always get the same bloody salad: lots of lettuce and some meat and dressing thrown on and thats it.”

“Ive been lucky with my stepkids. They were little when we met so theyve always accepted me. Having a stepfamily is so much more common these days and its nice to report I dont have a lot of problems.”

“The first day in Tokyo was disorientating - all neon, gadgets and extreme politeness - but I was surprised to find that I have a lot in common with the Japanese because they're bonkers about food.”