I still love all the old fashioned favourites at Christmas. I adore sprout tops – they are forgotten heroes. Root vegetables, too. Looking at my Christmas menu we will be having beetroots and carrots. And plenty of cranberry sauce.

At work we just made some wonderful game raised pies. I put some some dried figs, prunes and apricots . It was nice to have freshly shot partridge and venison.

All the freshly caught game from the UK. At Christmas my boss at Dell ‘Ugo does a meal for certain clients and I am tasked with making home made presents. Here’s a picture of a cake me and my wife made for this.

A friend of mine gave me some wonderful wild board and apple sausages. Also the apples came from the same county – how cool is that?

The great thing about my job is it is varied and it does change from year to year. There is never a dull moment in cookery – especially in development. You are doing something for supermarkets, then airlines, then restaurants and food service. Or demonstrating at events up and down the country. It certainly keeps me busy and there is never a boring moment.

Here at work it’s gone a bit full circle. Whereas previously we’ve been exploring new ideas we’ve now decided it’s best to go back to basics of Italian cuisine and focus on simple flavours – it’s more authentic.

On a personal note, it’s been quite a year learning about my food allergies.  I’ve lost 16.5 kilos – I’ve done quite well. I have more energy, feel more lively and am a lot more focussed. The main thing is realising there are wonderful things you can still eat and that you can be smart about eating without  being on a diet – it is all about moderation. I’m fitter now at 41 than I was at 21.