Sophie Williams

I grew up in Britain in the 60's, which wasn't quite as much the culinary desert as people like to remember. My mother and grandmother were devotees of Elizabeth David and Robert Carrier with their emphasis on French cuisine. Our house held regular dinner parties, large parties and meetings, all of which were catered by my mother with no outside help whatsoever. As always, children rebel against their parents, and I had no interest in cooking at all as a teenager. In the UK in those days, cookery lessons were compulsory for girls. We were taught by the terrifying Mrs W, who through her reign of terror, managed to teach us the rudiments of cookery; from roast chicken and steak pies to profiteroles and apple strudel. I moved to Greece in the 80's, armed with only a duvet and a book of recipes that my grandmother had painstakingly written out for me, which is still one of my most treasured and used possessions. I later met and married a Greek. When motherhood arrived, I fell into the trap of making only food that both adults and children would eat. It turned out that there are only 10 dishes in the entire world that fulfill this brief! More inspiring creations were left to the occasional family gathering. I got my cooking mojo back post-divorce, after meeting Mr. Caruso. Our culinary expertise complement each other perfectly - his interest and talent lies in making main dishes, starters and wonderful amuse-bouche, whereas I have always been more interested in sweets and puddings as well as the table settings. He was, and is, the main course to my dessert...