Next time I make custard (by which I mean the real thing), I'll nick a couple of Himself's stash of ducks' eggs and see what a difference they make.

School cookery class -- what a subject for discussion!

The only really useful thing I learned from cookery class -- that was in Grade 7, when I was 11 years old -- was how to make pancakes and quick-breads raised with baking powder without setting fire to the house. The cookery teacher's method of making cocoa was ridiculous -- it involved a syrup of water, sugar and cocoa powder -- and the unspeakable ado she generated over making soup belonged in a Feydeau farce. I learned more from my Dad, who introduced me to the mysteries of roux and omelette when I was about 12.

Beyond that, it was all cookbooks and taking chances.

Oddly, I have never much liked TV cooking shows or the videos that proliferate on YouTube. I like something I can prop up against the coffee-maker in the kitchen, and the 21st-century version of that is an iPad with the New York Times cooking app.