My mum, she's a really good cook, she was our school cook as well, so in primary school. She was always cooking and in the kitchen so I've always been interested in it through her.
I won't hire someone or date a girl who has not worked in a restaurant, and that's the honest truth. I don't think you know how it is until you've worked in a restaurant.
The reason I started officially learning to cook was because when I first got pregnant, I had to face the sad fact that I didn't even know how to boil an egg.
Because I've done a lot of television, I'm sort of a generalist. I'm not a pastry cook, but I've had to learn a certain amount about it. I'm not a baker, though I've had to learn how to do it. I'm sort of a general cook.
I kept thinking, 'Somebody has to make a food show that is actually educational and entertaining at the same time... a show that got down to the 'why things happen.' Plus, I hated my job - I didn't think it was very worthwhile.
I don't cook. My mother didn't cook. My daughter doesn't cook.
It's a life lesson they need to have, a skill everybody needs - to cook.
I cook a little - I've never taken classes or anything - but enough to get by.
I call my mother every day for things: 'How long do you cook an egg for?' Or, 'Can you remind me of our dentist's phone number at home?'
I was rather hopeless at school, but the one subject I seemed to be good at was domestic science.
I was a journeyman chef of middling abilities. Whatever authority I have as a commenter on this world comes from the sheer weight of 28 years in the business. I kicked around for 28 years and came out the other end alive and able to form a sentence.
Don't ever admit you know a thing about cooking or it'll be used against you.
