For those, like me, who can't rely on being given a home smoker this Christmas, you can build your own approximation with just a roll of tin foil and a big wok or pan for which you have a lid.

Pasta with melted cheese is the one thing I could eat over and over again.

Brunch, for me, is an extended breakfast that should be enjoyed whenever you have time properly to engage in cooking and eating.

A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.

The combination of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice lifts the spirits in winter.

Breakfast is always the best time for something juicy, sweet and fresh - it just feels like the right way to open the day. There's no right way, though, when it comes to choosing the fruit.

Mothers and grandmothers: these are the people that I admire most, not so much chefs.

Just-poached vegetables show off their natural attributes, and taste fresh and light in a way you never get with roasting or frying.

Date syrup is a natural sweetener that has wonderful richness and treacly depth; I drizzle it over semolina porridge.

The way to entice people into cooking is to cook delicious things.

For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade.

The gift of prayer is priceless gift.

We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.

But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.

The great tides and currents which engulf the rest of men do not turn aside in their course and pass the judges by.

Right now, after having had back surgery, I am finally back to running again.

A part of them has grown very attached to a certain way of life.

The writer of good will carries a lamp to illuminate the dark corners.

You have such a huge career ... behind you.

When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

If you put butter and salt on it, it tastes like salty butter.