So what exactly do you serve your guests?

My grandmother never really got what being vegetarian was all about. She never though let that influence her role as a hostess. She did not want to cause offence with meat, fish and eggs on my plate.

Whenever I went to stay she always produced for me very fine, well-cooked fresh vegetables in the English tradition of lightly boiled (she never obliterated them school-dinners style). Mashed potato with lashings of butter and milk nicely browned off in the Aga, honey glazed carrots with mint flavoured peas she had shelled lovingly with her arthritic hands were followed by stewed apple and junket topped with nutmeg.

She would add for herself a chop or some chipolatas, home-made by the local butcher. Yoghurt and avocados were foreign imports which rarely ventured through the kitchen door, being welcomed on their rare appearances with great scepticism and bemusement.

Her upbringing had been one of healthy, heavy English fare tempered by the sense of restraint: roast on Sundays, cold on Mondays, pie on Tuesdays till fish on Fridays. There was a natural balance. But each meal revolved around meat with vegetables to accompany it. As she said "I'm too old to learn new stuff but that's no excuse for you to offer your guests only vegetables. So how exactly do you feed your guests?" "Well" is the short and simple answer....

A few years ago I stood in shock while waiting to pay at our local superstore: everything in my basket was organic, none of it was grown in the UK, and of the remainder only a small percentage came from Europe. I then looked at the "health supplements" I had just purchased at the health store. There was something very wrong in this equation.

Now each weekend we go to Borough Market, which is our local, to buy fabulous produce and ingredients. The vegetables are grown so lovingly, organically and biodynamically by Jane at Fern Verrow, that they almost sing and dance their way to our kitchen. Last summer the display of lettuces was so radiant and living that we almost wanted to jump into them and feel their embrace. They also survive the whole week as we work our way through the red chard, beetroot tops, spinach, beetroot, raddicchio and the list goes on.

I once very politely asked an elephant's mahoot in the jungle "how much food does an elephant like Bahadur eat?" "Mem'sahib, it depends on how far you want it to go." It's rather the same with us: if you want to be healthy and go the distance, then put in high calibre fuel.

We only buy our food in the market keeping the supermarket for household essentials such as washing up liquid and sponges. The difference in the taste, texture and colour of the milk we get from Neal's Yard Dairy with the supermarket full fat organic milk we had before is remarkable. Butter churned on Thursday by John Bourne makes ghee and biscuits far better than the supermarket organic one. His cream cheese reminds me of the curd we made in India, only richer from the lush English pastures. We have Comte, Gianalberto's artisan-produced Italian cheeses, Greek Connection feta and halloumi, not forgetting the melt-in-the-mouth mozzarella which I'd rather eat than ice-cream. Tomatoes, aubergines and garlic from the Isle of Wight have definitely benefited from the sea air and their composting with seaweed. Olive Oil, corn husks and cornflour to make Tamales are on our weekly list.

Then there's Chegworth's apples, pears and soft fruit. Grannie's stewed fruit is still very much part of our weekly menu. My favourite treat is a little glass pot of sheep's yoghurt which I decadently top with raspberry jam made by Italian monks. We take our Gen Mai Cha (green tea with roasted rice) with the Italian Monks chocolate, which we've affectionately christened spiritual chocolate. Fresh yeast for pizza comes from Flour Power City, and our baskets are topped off with a flower from Chez Michele to go on the table.

We love buying plump Madagascan vanilla pods which we use to make into delicious rice pudding.  This has none of the overtones of school dinners.  That vanilla gives it the most ethereal essence which just uplifts everyone.  Of course, we use full fat organic milk from Neal's Yard Dairy for it.  Today we picked up a bottle of Pratt's Rapeseed Oil. I'm thrilled with its rich skin-glowing nutty flavour, enjoying its cold pressed Hampshire glow.

Our week has also fallen into a routine rather reminiscent of my grandmother's upbringing. If you come over at the weekend you're likely to get grilled halloumi with roast vegetables or home-made pizza. Tuesday's Tamales day and Thursday in the winter is Borsch. For breakfast we have porridge (Macrooms from Neal's Yard Dairy) or I make Bircher muesli with Ben's pears and muesli from Mini Magoo's.

When I was emptying Grannie's bureau I found all the recipes we loved. Her scone recipe still delights all who come round at tea time (as well as the home-made almond and vanilla biscuits :)).

The hustle and bustle of an old-fashioned market is a very pleasurable and social experience, especially early before the tourists descend. We come back from Borough Market invigorated and enthusiastic, no matter what the weather. Each week there is a seasonal variation to our shopping bags (and since you ask we use Turtle bags) which naturally brings with it the advantage of eating according to the seasons.

Most of all what I love about how we live is that our creativity is fed by food. So often, we sit around the kitchen table, replete and energised, and have great ideas.

There are no food supplements in our house.

PS Bahadur got about 20kg of rice per day (and a few packets of biscuits from me while I was there)