Quotes from Rachel Khoo

I love to draw and paint. I did all the illustrations in my books, so I always have my watercolours with me. I was creative as a child and studied art at Central Saint Martins before getting into food.

I had a baptism of fire when I cooked in the Little Paris Kitchen.

When I first moved to Paris, I worked as an au pair for two girls aged eight and 11.

I remember a trip to Malaysia to visit my dad's family when I was eight. It was Christmas and they roasted a whole suckling pig on the fire and it made me nauseous.

A visit to the Rennes market, one of the finest I have seen in France, alone will convince you of the virtues of Breton gastronomy. It's a testament to the fact that Brittany is Frances' most agriculturally active region, with the producers themselves peddling their products, a vocal bunch, full of recipe ideas and passion.

Nothing could be more French than pastry.

Those Frenchies may know their pastry, but you can't beat a bit of British cheese.

I love a waffle but adding the sweet nutty flavour of the butternut squash makes the waffles so much more flavoursome.

My dad is Chinese/Malaysian and my mum is Austrian, so food was always a big deal in our house.

Eating wantan mee in Malaysia is my earliest memory. The street sellers there have a whole cooking set-up on the front of their bikes.

Whatever I do, whether it's cooking shows, books or events, the details count and that's what sets me apart from other food TV personalities. If you take out the details what's left?

I am a big fan of spice. It's not only the intense heat of chilli flakes or a sprinkling of cayenne that gets my taste buds going, but also the deep warmth of cumin and ginger.

I'm less Soho House these days, more Airbnb. It's just so useful to have a washing machine, or to rock up somewhere with a baby bed and all the other kit provided.

Many a Gallic treat is based on a hearty dose of butter.

I couldn't be a supermodel, hats off. I'll stick to the kitchen!

I don't like wasting food.

Failing ownership of a wood-fired oven, whacking pizza dough straight on to the hot grill is the next best way to achieve that beautiful scorched crust.

Whether it evokes pleasant memories of holidays in the Caribbean, or best-forgotten outings to Notting Hill, most of us have experienced jerk chicken in one form or another.

Forget sushi, yakitori and tempura, ramen is what really gets the Japanese excited.

Sweden endured a potato famine like in Ireland and loads of people emigrated to the US.

The geographical location of Sweden and, therefore, short growing season meant that the range of produce is not as abundant like say France, Italy or Spain. This influenced the cooking culture and forced cooks to be creative with a handful of ingredients. It's a very modern way of cooking.

There are a lot of potatoes in Swedish food. They love their potatoes in all forms, they even put potato puree on their hotdogs. You can order a hot dog that has the frankfurter in it, then you have mustard or ketchup, then potato puree and deep fried crunchy onions.

Crab meat is surprisingly sweet in its purest form, which is why it is often pepped up with zippy chilli and lifted with citrus.

I admit it, I do like pickled red onion. I made some the other day. You just slice up the onion, pull it apart and you get these petals and you make a pickling liquid, I make mine sweet and sour.