Extra virgin olive oil

A very good oil can finish a dish off. For example, you can drizzle it over pasta, chicken, potatoes, in fact, over almost anything. I love dipping freshly made bread into it - yum yum! My favourite extra virgin olive oil comes from Tuscany in Italy, near a town called Arezzo.

Cayenne pepper

This is a chilli pepper I use a lot. You can use the dried spice to bring life to a dish that might otherwise be a bit bland. For example, add a pinch of cayenne to food as varied as cheese soufflé or pea puree. But do not to overuse it!

Good home-made stock

Stock is very important in my book and it’s very easy to make. For example, to make a chicken stock, take some chicken bones and brown them off in a saucepan. Add a couple of carrots, cut into chunks, a roughly chopped onion and some herbs. Cover with water and simmer for about an hour.

For a quick vegetable stock, take a fennel bulb, 1 onion (peeled), 2 carrots, 1 leek, a handful of herbs and a teaspoon of whole peppercorns. Chop all the vegetables into large chunks, place them in a pan with the herbs and peppercorns and cover with water. Simmer for about thirty minutes. Always add the seasoning afterwards. If you use stock cubes for a recipe, remember they contain a lot of salt, so you won’t need to use more (if any).

Fresh herbs

I always have an abundance of fresh herbs, they are great for flavour as well as garnish. Take the eye from a rack of lamb, roll in well-seasoned finely chopped herbs. Wrap the meat in cling film tightly, refrigerate for a couple of hours, remove the cling film, seal in a hot pan and finish off in the oven – delicious! For garnishing, my favourite herbs are chervil and chives.

Walnut oil

I use this oil in breads as well as drizzling it over mini walnut, caramelised onion and blue cheese tarts. It’s great in salads and for browning chicken. The oil gives a mild nutty flavour. It’s extremely versatile and useful.

Matzo meal

This is a Jewish unleavened Passover bread which has been ground down into crumbs. You can get fine, medium, or course. I use the medium a lot for goujons, and any form of frying with a coating. Fine Matzo meal is ideal for frying sweetbreads, and foods that are quite delicate. The colour of the matzo is a pale cream so it’s easy to gain an attractive golden colour when cooking.

Polenta

This is a ground maize which you may think is a strange choice, but believe it or not, polenta is quite useful! I douse uncooked bread in water then cover it with the polenta, it’s an added texture. I make pastry out of it for tart cases, when people have a gluten intolerance. I make polenta sheets and use them instead of normal pasta in lasagne. You can also make creamed polenta or polenta cakes. The one thing do you need to do with polenta is add flavour, it’s actually quite tasteless if you don’t.

Tomato puree

This is essential in my kitchen. You can use it in so many different ways. If you are cooking a tomato sauce, add a little puree to give a stronger colour. But be careful! Puree has a strong taste, so don’t overdo it!

Redcurrant jelly

I think it’s the most useful sweetener for savoury cooking. I tend to use it in sauces, by reducing the jelly with wine to achieve a base mixture. I also add the jelly to casseroles and when I finish the sauce off.

Sea salt

I like the Maldon salt from England and also Guerande from Brittany. I use the crystal form in cooking food and the fine sea salt when I’m mixing something cold - this will give more of an instant taste, because the crystals have to dissolve. Lack of seasoning is one of the most common mistakes in cookery. Taste can change from something that is quite nice, with a little more salt, to something delicious.