Close interaction with farmers and scientists can expose the chef to new flavours that can be used to delight diners.

Learning about issues such as sustainability and locavorism are things that you need to have as part of you as a chef because it will make you cook more delicious food.

All of the people who work in the kitchen with me go out into the forests and on to the beach. It's a part of their job. If you work with me you will often be starting your day in the forest or on the shore because I believe foraging will shape you as a chef.

When you get close to the raw materials and taste them at the moment they let go of the soil, you learn to respect them.

There's no media training. In cooking school, there's not even manager training. You learn the fundamentals of cooking. Everything else is learning by doing.

If you see how a plant grows and you taste it in situ you have a perfect example of how it should taste on the plate.