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What's in your kitchen?

We always have a big bowl of fruit and vegetables in the kitchen, but the fridge is usually empty - we tend to buy food and eat it that night. I always have olive oil, parmesan - in the fridge, breakfast cereals like Special K and porridge, Ryvita or oatmeal crackers and tins of sardines and tuna.

Most importantly, we always have dried pasta and tins of tomatoes, so that in the worst-case scenario you can make yourself a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce. I’m quite lucky because I can shop locally, Broadway market is very close to me. We have a few delis near where I live in Spitalfields, one I like is A Gold, it does great English butter and bacon and amazing scotch eggs.

How would you sum up your food philosophy?

Italian without a doubt. I believe that three or four items on a plate is enough, too many flavours confuse the palate. The essence of Italian food is that it’s very seasonal, if you go to Italy in the middle of the summer you’re going to have the most amazing peaches, cherries and nectarines… when they go out of season they go off the shelves.

I walked past a stand in London yesterday and saw that they were still selling strawberries, which is ridiculous - you don’t get that in Italy. I buy locally as much as possible, though I would be a hypocrite if I said that I didn’t import from Italy. At the end of the day, parmesan cheese comes from Parma - we don't have an equivalent in this country.

How has British food and our attitude to it changed in your lifetime?

Everyone wants to be a foodie but no one wants to spend the time needed to really be one. When you go to Italy, people go out every day and shop for food. Whereas here shopping occurs once a week and food is a chore - much as people love the social aspect of it.

People have become much more discerning in their taste, because food has become such a big part of people's lives. I think that we still live through it; there is a sense of voyeurism - people buy the books and watch the TV programmes. Despite this, people don't take the time to sit down with their families the way they used to when I was a child.

What annoys you about food culture in Britain?

We have the best salmon in this country, we have amazing lobsters and wonderful lamb, yet we don’t promote our local suppliers and farmers as much as we should. All these foods should be in our supermarkets in ten different varieties at a reasonable price, so people don't continue to eat bad quality food like watery frozen chicken that tastes of nothing.

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