Khoo has butter ready

Top celebrity chef Rachel Khoo is no Gordon Ramsey. She does not have a potty mouth, and is unlikely to throw a tantrum if the curry she ordered is missing nutmeg.

Speaking exclusively to The Times this week, ahead of her appearance at tomorrow's DStv Delicious Festival, she said she had never stormed out of a restaurant because its food had failed to meet her lofty standards.

"I try and switch off [when visiting a restaurant]. I'm there to enjoy a nice meal with friends - not be a critic. I often end up taking notes, because sometimes when you eat out a flavour inspires you and you want to go home and experiment with those ingredients."

Khoo, born in England to a Malaysian father and an Austrian mother, studied at Central St Martins College of Art and Design in London before moving to Paris and signing up to the famed Le Cordon Bleu, earning a pastry degree. Later, the BBC thought it would be a fresh idea to combine travel and cookery into one show and have a London-born chef living, researching and cooking her own food in Paris .

The Little Paris Kitchenwas born. The two great European cities have long warred over food. Parisians consider London to be nothing more than a city of roast beef, while Paris is derided as a city of bread.

Khoo said: "For me, London [wins], though Paris is great for tradition. It doesn't matter what you fancy [eating], you will be able to find it in London. It's hard to get that elsewhere in Europe."

Khoo never runs out of butter.

"I remember when I was at culinary school and this American girl asked the chef who was demonstrating how to make a croissant whether you can make them with margarine - he didn't answer her, he just gave her this evil look."