What was your favourite food as a child? My grandmother’s home-made ravioli served in a chicken broth.At what age did you start cooking? I started at around four, helping my Italian grandmother make the ravioli. My grandparents lived in a small

felt happy and relaxed when I was cooking with her. She taught me that cooking and eating uses all your senses. It was without a doubt because of my mum that I ended up with a career in food. What was the first thing you ever cooked? How did it taste

much that it is child-friendly. It’s Italian. Real, authentic Italian, so really it goes without saying that children are welcome.However, what’s more important for food lovers is that the food is delicious – made from the best quality fresh ingredients

. Still I showed them how to cook an egg and how to do a little omelette – simple food.What inspirited you to start La Petite Ecole?We’ve been doing the cooking school for seven years now. It was the first business to actively encourage children

cheese. But made with love. What foods did you like and dislike as a child? My parents were into home cooking and health food and my memory is of being subjected to brown rice and lentil concoctions, which as a child I really didn't like (although love

were eating, just mashed up. My best tip is to teach them how to smell: it’s a sense we often ignore with our children, but by smelling herbs and other things you eat you can really get them interested in food.  Any golden rules for raising a happy

is definitely one of the hardest, and comes down to self control, which is not always easy. It can, however, be made a little easier if you prepare yourself. How? By filling your cupboards with the right food. A trip to your local market will get you outside

What's your earliest food memory? Probably at around five years old when my mum made Chinese sausage steamed with rice. It smelled so comforting and appetising and I still think of that smell today.What foods did you like as a child, and what did

’s called O Diario De Um Banana, which I think is a word that they almost made up to mean ineffectual.You’ve been on tour to promote the books. How does your young audience relate to it in different countries? What surprises me is how similar the reaction

prospect than me – perhaps something to do with the softly dulling effects of my aperatif G&T. I am already observing the fellow diners in the bar, with a half smile as they look at Joe and gesture how cute he is, but I can’t help feeling at least some