British chef and TV personality Valentine Warner visited our shores for the recent Good Food and Wine Show in Cape Town. He is known for using honest ingredients, championing top producers, and emphasising the link between cooking and nature. We asked him some burning questions about eggs, the perfect roast chicken and his new recipe book, The Good Table.

What’s your favourite winter vegetable – and what do you like to do with it?
Celeriac is brilliant in stews, fantastic in fresh crunchy rémoulades (a mayonnaise-based condiment), incorporated into dauphinoise, and puréed and eaten with fried eggs or truffles. An all-round belter.

What’s the secret to a great stew?
The secret to a great stew is also using vinegar as a seasoning; it can really bring out what could be otherwise a flat taste. Be cautious, however, as you can add more but not take out.

What’s your favourite thing to do with an egg? Fry it and then cover it in white truffle.

What’s the trick to a perfect roast chicken?
Plenty of salt on the skin and don’t do weird things like put tin foil over it; it makes for a poor, pale and uncrispy event. It needs lots of thyme, lots of garlic in and around the carcass, and whole shallots in the tray. I like it with the skin left on, and lemons aren’t a bad thing, but remember to take them out and wash the carcass if you’re going to make stock.

If we had to make just one recipe from the book, which should we make?
Pork neck with clams and Jerusalem artichokes.

Who is the ideal reader/cook for your book?
Anyone who likes a good story, who is not squeamish and who really wants to get involved with their food. Curiosity helps!

Try Valentine’s recipe for decadent coq au vin. Find out more about him on his website, http://www.valentinewarner.com/.