My base is in Paris but I have an apartment in Monte Carlo and offices in New York and Tokyo. I also have restaurants in Las Vegas, Hong Kong and now London. Some weeks I am travelling so much I end up spending a couple of nights on planes. But travelling is fantastic, and I always discover something new. A new hotel, a new restaurant, a new designer, a new taste, a new ingredient ...

I was visiting Kyoto several months ago and found a stall selling yuba (tofu skin) and went to see how they made it. The tofu milk is boiled in shallow copper pans and the skin forms on the surface. I took a kilo back on the plane.

My favourite fish is red mullet from the Mediterranean. It has a unique flavour. It tastes more of the sea than any other fish. To enjoy it at its best you don't even need a chef, just a fisherman. You can cook it fresh out of the sea, put it straight on the grill and you don't even need oil.

When it comes to caviar I prefer Iranian Osetra because the grains are very light and the texture is unique.

I love clotted cream from Cornwall. There's something wonderfully greedy about it. I like it with caviar on top.

In terms of champagne I like the Noble Cuvée de Lanson. It's not as well known as the Cuvée from other bigger houses but is every bit as good.

Growing up in the south west of France I developed a taste for pastis, a cake which is like vanilla-flavoured brioche. You toast it like a brioche and have it with coffee or hot chocolate. I like my hot chocolate succulent, foamy and really hot, made from dark chocolate with 60-70 per cent cacao solids and a little cocoa powder on top, plus a teaspoon of honey. I'll drink it whenever I feel like it. When you're greedy, you're not reasonable.

Another hot drink I like is vervain tea. I grow vervain in my garden in Paris and at several of my country inns. I like to take it in the afternoon or before I go to bed.

I love just taking a tomato straight from the garden, cutting it and just topping it with a pinch of fleur de sel and a little olive oil. I couldn't be without olive oil and the one I use in all my restaurants and at home is made in Taggia in Tuscany. I've been using it for close to 20 years.

Another healthy thing I have a passion for is mamia, a sheep's-milk yoghurt from the Pyrenees. But it's only made from sheep that are milked in the morning and is very good for the digestion.

I have a passion for Spanish Jabugo ham. Twenty years ago, I started bringing Spanish ham into France when it was still illegal to import it. I had this guy who went to the market in San Sebastian for me, but I was fined 120,000 francs when they caught me. I was very happy when the EU was created so I could stop getting fined. OFM

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Park Lane, London, W1; 020 7629 8866; alainducasse-dorchester.com

Jabugo ham

I am a fan of meat from a nutritional perspective, particularly when, as is the case here, a little goes a long way. It seems like Alain's love of real food has led to a generally nutritious diet too.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, believed to reduce risk of heart disease and prostate cancer. It is absorbed more efficiently in the presence of fat, so raw tomato with olive oil is a winning combination.

Vervain tea

In herbal medicine, vervain (Verbena officinialis) is sometimes used as a soothing tonic - ideal for someone who travels a lot and may be at risk of nervous exhaustion.

Hot chocolate

Like olive oil, cocoa is rich in phenolic compounds that appear to have broad health benefits; dark chocolate will provide Alain with plenty of phenolic-rich cocoa solids, and also help limit his sugar intake.

Champagne

I would never begrudge someone indulging in some of their favourite tipple. Plus the cost and bubbly nature of champagne tend to limit the amount you can drink.

Olive oil

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat. It also contains so-called phenolic compounds that may help ward off heart disease and cancer.

Clotted cream

As I believe that animal fat has little or no part to play in heart disease, I am relaxed about Alain including dollops of this in his diet. And about a third of the fat in clotted cream is monounsaturated.