Next, I badgered my long-suffering parents to let me go to France. I spent a month working as an au pair in the Basque country, which is where my interest in food became serious. Madame von Bochstael, the mistress of the house, gave me two seminal lessons in my first 24 hours. No one guessed anything was wrong. Of course, I was tempted to rat on the Verulams' chef, but then I thought: ‘Hell, how would I feel if my boss didn't consider my cooking good enough for an important dinner?' Heir t...