One would think after being married for 25 years and having three kids, I would have learned how to cook. And I have. But it’s mundane, boring, pedestrian food with about five basic recipes rotated throughout the week - chops and cabbage, roast chicken, roast lamb, fish and chips and the ubiquitous spag bol. Recently I have discovered the Food channel on Foxtel and my taste buds and the taste buds (and stomachs) of the rest of my family have thanked me for it. As someone who has struggled with food issues all her life, to actually embrace and get down and dirty when preparing and cooking food is a whole new experience. I now love the feel and texture of food through my fingers as I chop, mash, stir, crush and peel. I have also fallen in love with certain cooks (Gordon Ramsay is not one of them) and Jamie Oliver is high on my list, but not as high as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Also in the top three would be Nigella Lawson, the chef who has been described by the British media as “Seduction on Toast.”

Cooking with passion starts with a fabulous kitchen. Eleven years ago we wanted to buy an electric can-opener and it grew and grew and took on a life of its own till we ended up with a whole new kitchen twice the size of the old one. But cooking for three teenagers can knock the creative juices out of you. I’ve often thought I should just cook the food and throw it in the bin, thereby cutting out the middle man and putting Maccas, Subway and Pizza Hut on speed-dial.

Till I discovered self-sustaining farmer, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame and fell in love with his big black pudding. Not only did I start growing herbs and vegetables in my little back garden and developed a taste for watercress and spinach soup; I also developed a wistful yearning to move back to England and live in a little river cottage near Dorset replete with horses, cows, lambs and hens. Someplace where I didn’t have to wear sunscreen just to collect the mail or hang the washing on the line. Somewhere I could wear an anorak, jeans and Wellington boots 364 days of the year and not sweat like a free-range, organically-fed pig.

Hugh makes the south of England sound more romantic and soulful than a weekend in Paris with George Clooney. Not only does he have an adorable self-deprecating sense of humour along with a most endearing nerdy personality, but he is also very clever with a broom and mop when sweeping out a neglected and very mucky cowshed. Something he managed to turn into a cosy restaurant in just under a week. He is truly my local hero and inspiration for putting something other than spag bol on the dinner table three times a week.

So it is, to Hugh, I raise my glass of wine in a toast to good food and good eating. He might not be the proverbial oil painting and is at risk of getting sand kicked in his face at the beach but he can hang his pork belly in my hallway any day of the week.