I’ve loved fishing ever since I was a little boy and I caught my first salmon on holiday in Scotland. So now, whenever I get the chance to escape the pressures of the kitchen, I grab my rods and head for the country. I’m really lucky because Tana’s sister, Ollie, lives bang next to the River Test in Romsey. And as any fisherman will tell you, that’s one of the best chalk streams in the country for trout.

Which is why, the other week, at the first sign of sunshine, I loaded the car with a simple summer picnic, wrestled the children into their seats and set off for a day’s fly-fishing.

The plan was to catch some trout and cook them on a small camping stove by the river, but I was travelling more in hope than expectation. Jonty, Ollie’s husband, is a dab hand with the fly and he’s convinced this stretch is jinxed. He hasn’t caught a thing in almost a year. Mind you, I was packing a secret weapon – Sarge, my head chef at Claridge’s. He’d never fished in his life before and I was hoping a bit of beginner’s luck would rub off on me.

While Tana got the picnic things ready and the children charged around the garden, the two of us made for the riverbank. I set Sarge up with a spinner, which to be honest is bit of a girlie way to fish, the sort of thing you give to your girlfriend to keep her quiet while you get on with the far more skilful business of fly-fishing.

There was nothing doing for about half an hour when suddenly I heard Sarge whooping with excitement. Christ, I don’t believe it, I thought to myself, he can’t have caught anything. But he had – the branches of an overhanging tree! What a tangle. Mind you, I think he enjoyed the climbing more than the fishing after that. He was certainly up and down that tree plenty more times.

And as it turned out, that was the only excitement of the morning. Not so much as a nibble – and the children were expecting fish for lunch. It was time to save face. "Sarge, down from that bloody tree – we’ve got some shopping to do…"

Recipes

Coronation chicken

Trout rillettes

Greek salad

Chickpea salad

Spicy couscous

Grilled trout stuffed with rosemary, thyme and garlic

Corn bread

Brown baked ice-cream

Chocolate brownies

Fresh tomato puree

Salad of green and white asparagus with San Daniele Ham

Scotch quail eggs

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