Fish features strongly on our menu. This is because Franco’s formative years were spent near Ancona on the Adriatic coast of Italy, where fish dominates the diet. Every kind of fish one can think of.

When we first came to Wales it was quite hard for us to find good fresh fish. Eventually we used to go and buy it ourselves straight from the boats in Solva (a beautiful natural harbour) in Pembrokeshire, or at Milford Haven and Haverfordwest on the west coast of Wales. On the way back we would stop at Llanstephan on the estuary, where the river Towy meets the sea. Here we would buy grey mullet, very often helping to pull the nets in. It was a long journey but worth it.