I have always seemed to find myself by accident or design, in a kitchen. As the youngest child of a farming family in Cornwall I was always the one helping my mother make butter, bread and of course pasties. As a teenager in school we were allowed to chose between metalwork or domestic science, as the former was taught by a notorious sadist and the later was full of girls it seemed a no brainer, though I was the only boy in the cooking class.

After getting a degree at Bristol University, like many a stary eyed youth I decided that the life of rock and roll was the one for me but even here found myself organising the catering for music festivals like WOMAD and Young CND. After a while it was obvious that the music industry while it makes some very rich indeed it wasn't going to do much for me and so I applied to work on the management team of a small chain of restaurants, Huffs of London. I soon found that when one of the Chefs called in sick, hung over or had a new girl or boy friend I was the one left holding the fort or baking tray. By the time I left I was making and cooking hundreds of croissant and Danish pastries every morning before the rest of the staff arrived.

Life changed when I met Sarah Miatt who used to work occasionally in the kitchens to pay for her studio in Wapping, after being together for a year we decided we wanted to get married and have children but both felt the big city wasn't the best place to raise a family, so the week after our wedding we moved to Italy.

My family is very well known in the horse world having broken and trained a number of Olympic competitors and so my first employment in Italy was as a riding instructor and by chance the club I taught at was based at a lovely farm near Orvieto called La Cacciata that was also the place where Alister Little held his cooking courses, we became friends and I learnt a lot not just about food but also how to run an enjoyable cooking holiday. Alister no longer teaches at the farm but still gets the olive oil shipped over to sell in his west London shop.

Slowly I moved out of the horse business and into cooking holidays, at first the agencies would hire me as a guide and translator but soon found that given I knew as much as the Chef it was cheaper to employ just one of us. This led on to me catering for weddings then for conferences and even Italian political leaders, aristocrats and industrialists. It is a great compliment but I must be one of the very few Englishmen to be paid by Italians to cook for Italians. At times when the host in some splendid Tuscan villa is complimented on the food, I have to be pulled out of the kitchen to prove to the guest that the Chef was truly English.

I am very interested in both the history and science of cooking which has led me to be invited to teach in England, France and the USA both to amateurs and professional Chefs. I also teach the University of Alberta Alumni annually on "Italian cuisine in it's historical and cultural context".

I am also assisted by my 19 year old daughter Lizzy who, born in Italy, is bi-lingual and a great help both in the kitchen and as a guide.