When it comes to preparing a quick meal, if I really want to please myself or someone else, it will be the plate of my life, literally three ingredients — pasta, olive oil and truffles. Simple to put together to impress. The flavours tick all my boxes.

When I first thought to compile this book of recipes, I was concerned by the possibly ambiguous relationship between tradition and contemporary ways of cooking being presented together, all in one place. There was a chance that it was not going to work. Some of my own recipes turn tradition on its head, but now that I see them all together here, I trust that you will find a wonderful balance of nostalgic food stories influenced by my mother and grandmother alongside my recipes of indulgent contemporary cooking that stem from my love for trying new things inspired by years of travel. These, I hope, will allow you to explore different cultures, ingredients and recipes in your own home by switching things around in the kitchen.

What you will find on these pages are recipes that provide a wonderful contrast in both origin and style, you will be invited to experience my family’s rituals of goat slaughtering and pot bread by the fire, the ancestral food from the soil and woven in between is my own epicurean culinary journey.