Rene Redzepi

Learning about issues such as sustainability and locavorism are things that you need to have as part of you as a chef because it will make you cook more delicious food.

There is no conflict between a better meal and a better world.

I had turned down other head chef jobs. I didn't want to take over someone else's cuisine. I wanted to start from scratch.

Fifteen years ago, France was the promised land of cooking. So I looked at a map, found five restaurants and faxed them to ask for a job. Within five minutes, I got a reply from the then three- star Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier.

Chefs have a new opportunity - and perhaps even an obligation - to inform the public about what is good to eat, and why.

When you start at catering college, nobody prepares you for a book tour or public speaking.

I've never had anything but the freedom to do what I wanted just as long as it made me happy.

I think that in our part of the world, Scandinavia, we are one of the pioneers of showing that gastronomy can be something - high gastronomy can be something very, very present and doesn't have to involve, you know, what is perceived as the normal luxury items that belong in a high gastronomy restaurant.

A gastronomical supermeal didn't necessarily have to involve the things I had brought from other top kitchens.

My last meal on Earth, I would love it to be a bowl of blueberries with cold cream.

I would love to eat a really great burger, but it doesn't exist in our part of the world.

I still cook at home. A lot of chefs I think don't cook at home. But I still do, I love cooking at home, I love having friends.