A great fig should look like it's just about to burst its skin. When squeezed lightly it should give a little and not spring back. It must be almost unctuously sweet, soft and wet.

I have to admit that I can't take a whole fig and eat it on its own as I would a peach or mango. It's just too much.

I get great pleasure from stuffed foods, from an apple strudel to a vegetable samosa, from a whole roasted bird with a sweet and savoury stuffing to a vine leaf filled with rice and spices.

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

I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple, pear or anything else.

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.