Ken Hom

On the island

I would love to be stranded on a tropical island. I would swim, lounge about and, hopefully, read. I absolutely love swimming, I love lying about doing nothing and I love the sun and the heat. My perfect island would have lots of sandy beaches with not a single rock on it, and the water would be very warm, azure blue, and you could clearly see to the bottom. If I went swimming, I'd love the water to be filled with thousands of different coloured fish.

I've been to some beautiful islands in my time for research purposes and on holiday. The most perfect ones I've been to - and the ones I can imagine being stranded on - are Bora Bora in the Pacific, and Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. They were stunningly beautiful. Heron Island is especially wonderful, it's full of wildlife, and that's what I would like.

How long would it take for me to get bored? Oh, about 30 years. I love peace and quiet, I'm a very meditative person. I think that's a reflection of my Chinese heritage and upbringing. I'm not afraid of my own company. My parents were from China, from the south. My father's family traces its ancestry there back 900 years.

I was born in 1949 in Tucson, Arizona and I grew up with my mother who didn't, and still doesn't, speak any English. My father died when I was very young. So, really, I grew up within an entirely Chinese community. I was an only child so I had to keep myself company. My mother had to go out to work and I was often left alone at home. My uncle turned me on to cooking. He runs a restaurant in Chicago, and he absolutely loves food. He's been cooking for 41 years - impressive, eh? He left me with a powerful work ethic and a lasting love of Chinese cooking.

If it were possible for me to take a book, it would have to be an old Chinese cookbook which dates from the 1600s which a dear friend of mine from Shanghai bought me. There is no real translation for its title. It's all in Chinese, and includes wonderful recipes for duck and seafood. I would probably hope to take that with me, to give me some inspiration.

I would take advantage of the peace; the lives we lead today are so hectic, and particularly life here in London. I am always maniacally busy and that's why it's so nice to get away, escape. I divide my time equally between England, France and working in other countries. I have a house near Bordeaux in south-west France. It's in a village of less than 300 people, and so isolated. People think I'm mad to live there, but I adore it.

Drink: Champagne

I'd love Roederer champagne, it's my absolute favourite - and I'd have to have lots of it. Maybe I could have taps that would run with champagne. If so, I'd be happy to be on the island. If I couldn't have champagne, then I'd have an endless supply of claret. Wine is one of my great passions, and I'm a great lover of good claret. At my house in France I have a cellar containing 6,000 bottles of wine. You know how some people love fancy cars? Well, I love great wines.

Luxury item

More champagne. Or garlic. I could not live without garlic, there is something about its smell and it reminds me of my childhood, it's a smell that I grew up with.

My desert island dish

The five ingredients: mango, apples, oranges, cantaloupe melon, tinned lychees

I have been on many islands, and it's usually bloody hot, but I love the heat - and I just thought, what, therefore, would I like to eat? Fresh fruit: it's cooling, it's sweet, and it's just what you want when you're on an island. Hopefully there would be lots of fish available, and I absolutely love fish. The Chinese will eat anything. There's a Chinese saying that we'll eat everything that flies except an aeroplane, eat anything that swims except a boat, and eat anything on four legs except a table. I've had crickets before, but I'd probably draw the line at rats!

Fruit compôte

Serves 4-6 1 large ripe mango 2 apples 2 oranges 175g cantaloupe melon 400g tinned lychees, drained fresh basil leaves, shredded

Peel and cut the mango into long slices. Using a sharp knife, peel, core and slice the apples into thin wedges. Peel and slice the oranges into segments. Cut the melon in half, scoop out and discard the pulp and seeds. Cut the melon flesh into 2.5cm cubes. Combine all the fruits in a large bowl and add the basil leaves. Mix together.

Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery is published by BBC Worldwide (£19.99). He recently published Foolproof Chinese Cookery and in the same series is Madhur Jaffrey's Foolproof Indian Cookery (both BBC Worldwide, £14.99).