Food and cooking articles and information:

Chef Tiffany Goodall of Celebrity Chefs UK

As a student studying hard at university Tiffany was very concerned with the quality of food surrounding her - the students were all interested in food and how to cook it but found it difficult in halls of residence with restricted budgets; she felt she could bring everyone together to cook and enjoy food and 'Tiff's Tuesdays' became a regular event . . . . . more info

Q: Whom do you most admire for their achievements?
A: In the food industry: Jamie Oliver's school dinner campaign was amazing. I also thought his progression from just a kid in The River Café to his superb series 'The Naked Chef' to him having his own restaurant, etc is fantastic. Gordon Ramsay as well - he had an immensely tough childhood and overcame all to run one of the most successful catering empires.

Q: Who is your favourite chef?
A: Gordon Ramsay, I love his passion as a chef - his creativity and control. I am in awe of him and his ambitious drive.

Q: With whom would you most like to have dinner?
A: Gordon Ramsay, I would love to learn more about food from him.

Q: What would be your desert island disk?
A: A whole lotta cheesy music, I love Disney, pop, I'm utterly "uncool".

Q: What is your favourite British food?
A: A super Sunday Roast- what better?

Q: What is your favourite Italian food?
A: Any kind of home-made pasta, I think it makes SUCH a difference.

Q: What is your favourite French food?
A: Escargots without a doubt.

Q: What is your favourite World food?
A: Thai food. From my learning experiences in Thailand, I love the fragrances and all the superb flavours.

Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I'm still a student studying Business Management but what I most love about my course is tackling case studies of businesses that have succeeded or failed and applying all my modules to the catering industry.

Q: Do you think food in the UK has changed for the better since the days of Duck with Orange and huge helpings of Black Forest Gateau?
A: Hugely, I think we are rapidly expanding and growing our food culture and establishing ourselves as a country that produces some superb chefs and fantastic ingredients. I am a hugely patriotic person and I fully support genuinely British cooking.

Q: What's the best thing about eating in the UK?
A: There is such a wide variety of choice.

Q: And the worst?
A: The gradual disappearance of local food markets.

Q: At what sort of place do you regularly go to eat?
A: As a student due to budget it is usually Italian for a pizza or pasta so therefore I choose most often to cook and get everyone to chip in. It's fun, cheap and hugely social.

Q: Would you like to live and work somewhere other than the UK and if so where and why?
A: I would always want the UK to be home but to travel and learn about other cultures and taste foreign foods is something I really want to do more of. I think it is hugely important and shapes your personal style as a chef.

Q: What's your favourite food?
A: I have so so many - I don't dislike ANYTHING. I love oysters and most fish and also LOVE beef, venison and the other day I ate sweetbreads with girolles on hot buttered toast at Le Caprice in London - food heaven . . .

Q: When did you first get involved in cooking?
A: At Ballymaloe Cookery School, in 2004. I also compiled my own cookery scrap book when I was 10. My love of food and cooking started very, very early on. I still have that book.

Q: What sort of people have you cooked for during your career. Most memorable or most forgettable?
A: I have cooked for bankers, head mistresses of top London schools, lawyers and a whole lot of students!

Best Moments - cooking for 250 people for a Thai themed canapé party and watching the success of my own operation - I was only 19 at the time.

Cooking for my friends on "Tiff Tuesdays" at university - despite them being my mates, they are my harshest critics and allow me to experiment in the kitchen - I know they will always be brutally honest and I thoroughly respect them for that.

Q: Do you ever have regrets that you chose to become a chef?
A: Never, I love it. Doing a job and earning money whilst you're doing something you love is a gift.

Q: What do you think you would have been if you had not become a chef?
A: I love, love, love singing . . . maybe a singer!

Q: What would be your advice to someone who is thinking of training to be a chef?
A: It's hard and when it goes wrong, it leaves you feeling horrid - BUT if you love food and are genuinely passionate about it DO IT. It's fantastic and fully rewarding. To create a dish with just a few ingredients is so self-satisfying.

Q: The career of one famous chef only came about because his professional football career came to an early close through injury, and one chef's plans to open a restaurant never happened when he became football manager of Aberdeen and later Manchester United. Has fate ever played a part in your career?
A: Very recently. Whilst working with Ross Burden who was asked to leave I got to work with the wonderful Martin Blunos for Marks and Spencer's and then met Rosemary Melbourne, my agent. That is fate and I'm a huge believer.

Q: What are your hobbies, spare time interests, what do you do to relax?
A: I'm a real girly girl and I love shopping, singing, long walks with my black Labrador, spending time with my friends. I have amazing friends and I really treasure them.

To find out more about Tiffany Goodall visit www.celebritychefsuk.com