Following in a long family tradition, my natural and unquestioned career path was to become a chef.
"You'll never go hungry if you work in the kitchen" seemed to be my family's battle cry.
When you had a grandfather who worked for famous chef Escoffier, as I did, food was important to me, in a way that was uncommon in most English families.
In those days the catering industry was seen in a very different light than it is now.
The celebrity chef had not been discovered and there was no chance of a fast-track career within the industry documented by a TV crew.
Like all chefs I began as a commis, learning the ropes.
Which really meant peeling and chopping vegetables.
Knife-throwing and fist fights were common place and the daily battles between the waiters and the chefs were something to behold.
Add to that the constant vigilance needed over suppliers.
After all that the cooking was easy. .
Even now I think that the day to day job can be simple.
The challenge often comes from all the other things that we need to do in order to get to the heart of the task at hand.
Pumpkin risotto anyone?
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