Credo: Sophie Dahl

Food and food writing have always been passions of mine. I like unfussy, undone food – big Sunday roasts, with babies on laps and open fires.

If we all ate how our grandparents ate – three meals a day and not epic portions – life would be quite simple and everyone would be reasonably slim.

Modelling is a bit baffling when you're 18. I just thought, "Brilliant – I get paid lots of money to walk down a runway." I didn't think I was signing up to be a poster girl for anything.

I'm sure there were people who were disappointed that I got slimmer, but as one gets older one does often get a bit thinner. There was no great mystery: I had some puppy fat and I lost it.

I look back very fondly on my modelling days. I got to work with some icons no longer with us, such as Herb Ritts, who was a gentleman, and Richard Avedon.

I would have to be bloody brave to write any children's fiction. I don't feel any pressure to live up to the legacy of my grandfather; if I did, I'd be mad. I'm as much of a fan of his work as anyone.

Central heating is my vice – I have it on a bit too much as I am always cold. I try to make up for it in other green ways.

I like the sensory. I have just become the perfume reviewer for Vogue, and it's my dream job. I love old-fashioned, heavy scents – any of Guerlain's early fragrances.

I don't know why people are so fascinated by the difference in height between my boyfriend [Jamie Cullum] and I. It's very tiresome. One falls in love with whomever one falls in love with.

'Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights: The Art of Eating a Little of What You Fancy', by Sophie Dahl (HarperCollins, £18.99), is out now