I’d had this book for a while but hadn’t really used it. I tried making his haddock fish cakes with lime leaves and dipping sauce last night. They were pronounced to be good but as I used some lime juice as a substitute for lime leaves I felt that it dried the fish out somewhat. I’ll be making his French(ish) fish broth tomorrow. Went shopping for the ingredients last night. The book says ‘It is not cheap to make’…it certainly isn’t when you have to buy a bottle of Pernod (the recipe needs a tablespoon). Oh well, one must try new things.

In the book there are innuendos everywhere: ‘The aubergine is the sexiest of vegetables, just as a ripe fig is the sexiest of fruits. Both of them, coincidentally, purple’. He keeps going on about how much he loves goo. Sometimes he’s very Carry On; the Sausages section starts with ‘I love a banger’. It makes me smile.