My life in France:

I moved to France in 2002, with my partner at the time, Perry Lancaster - a well-known sculptor. We came over for the lifestyle, ingredients, sun and our ancient stone house. We had a jam-packed few years, learning about the culture here, struggling for cash, cooking over the open fire; precious memories. Since Perry and I split up, we moved out of our old house, and each found a medeival cottage in the same area. The space and way of life here has enabled me to grow my own herbs and veg and experiment with making all manner of drinks, recipes and preserves, including beer and cheese. I also have 2 cats, who arrived together and very hungry, chickens who provide me with a steady stream of eggs and chicks, and pigs who are digging over the future veg patch and are the future hams, sausages, bacon etc.

Having moved to my new place, I'm looking forward to getting a long-awaited polytunnel, for growing peppers, chillies, aubergines, early seedlings, more tomatoes...

The distant past:

I was born in Lancaster, England, in 1977, and lived in Lancashire until I was 4. My parents, my little brother and I then moved to West Sussex, where my youngest brother was born. Then we all moved to Switzerland for 3 years, until I was 14, and then returned to Sussex. After A' levels, I went to the University of Warwick, where I got a degree in French with International Studies. Back in Sussex once again, I ended up in brilliant Brighton, working in fashion and then banking. I loved Brighton but not my unfulfilling and poorly paid jobs. I met Perry there, in an appalling club, and we went on our merry way, cooking, eating, drinking and dreaming of different lifestyles. We went on last minute holidays and toured France a couple of times on a motorbike (ZX6R & Revere), whilst living in a flat with our good friend, Maija. On the 2nd bike tour, we panic-bought our 1st lovely-but-rustic home in the Dordogne. We realized that not only could we no longer afford the council tax on 1/2 a flat in southern England, but that house prices in France were soaring out of our grasp.

Above:Chanterelle mushrooms (foraged). Right: Garden produce, pickling; Sprouts in the veg patch.

Food-wise:

I have always had a deep interest in food, encouraged by my mother and well-travelled foodie father, who brought me and my brothers gifts from around the world, like air-dried beef from Kenya, or packets of crisps with rude names. My fascination with how food is produced, and the enjoyment I got from cooking everything from scratch seemed a little odd at university, but was one of the reasons that Perry and I got on so well when we met. His parents used to own a cheese shop/delicatessen, and while we enjoyed learning about food and drink together, he also taught me a lot about the importance of patience and method in cooking. I then started to enjoy growing a window box of herbs that my mum gave me, and, as I LOVE eggs, I dreamed of keeping chickens. At this point, it turned out that my middle brother, Pirran, who I used to fight with, had become interested in food in a similar way to myself. He encouraged me on my quest, by simply getting on with things, like building a smoker and making delicious home-cured ham. All this culminated in me being a Cheese Taster, in France! Now I am a full-time food writer and produce a large proportion of the food that I eat, whilst enjoying lots of other local fayre, and constantly trying new food and drinks. And the eggs from my chickens are (I am told by a well-known chef) "the best eggs in the world!"

Left: Stringing home-grown onions. Miiddle: The handsome Cornelious. Right: Sardines smoking.

Left: Mechoui - a spit-roasting lamb. Above: Homemade cheese.

Left: My wood-burning cooker. Above: Enjoying a snail fête.