Then his biological mother waded in, saying: "I have a vision of Mark finishing up with a Ferrari going into a brick wall - and I hope it's tomorrow." Finally a "one-time best friend", who allegedly once saved his life, said that he regretted it as "the worst thing I ever did". His solicitor has advised him never to speak to the press again and says that "winning the lottery has led to a lot of upset in his life and made him bloody miserable." But Alison Howard, a press officer for Camelot, maintains that "despite negative publicity, he still says that winning the lottery is the best thing that's ever happened to him."The highest profile spend, spend, spend candidates are Lee Ryan, 32, and his wife Karen Taylor, 35, who were unemployed and living on a council estate in Leicester when they won pounds 6.5 million in March. Ryan has splashed out pounds 500,000 on a fleet of cars (including a Ferrari Testarossa, Jaguar, Bentley, Porsche and BMW convertible), pounds 250,000 on a helicopter and pounds 700,000 on a country mansion. But he finishes the year in prison after receiving an 18-month sentence for handling stolen cars, an offence committed prior to his win.The most popular number combination each week is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, played by approximately 10,000 people. Without a copy of The Food Lover's Guide to Britain, one might never have known.Perhaps its best kept secrets, however, are the shops and different specialist purveyors that turn out to be on your doorstep. But when the ingredients are as special as, say, a piece of cured ham from a man called Richard Woodall in Cumbria, or fine flavoured pork straight from the farm in Kings Nympton, Umberleigh, in Devon, where Anne Petch rears rare-breed pigs, the results are much more likely to be a success.
Helpful information includes how to get to each place and at what time, and if it is a farm or smokery, for instance, where there might not be an actual shop, a contact name is given. Mail order information is given where appropriate.If you are a passionate cook, the buying of ingredients is every bit as exciting as the preparation of the food, and, of course, the eating thereof. I have always believed passionately that a good cook can turn some relatively manky ingredient into something at least palatable. There are more than one thousand entries, for England, Scotland and Wales, listed by county. The first edition was published in 1993, revised and updated in 1995 and now there is this new, fully revised and expanded edition. But there is also - and this is a very clever idea - a list of stockists alongside the entry, in case you can't get to the farm yourself.The book is called The Food Lover's Guide to Britain (BBC Books, pounds 12.99) and a new edition has just been published for 1996-97.
Then there are cheeses, which can be bought direct form the dairy, or the farm (telephone ahead). The book includes good grocers, bakers, fishmongers and butchers, some specialising in just one or two lines, such as cured hams and bacon. It also lists farm shops where you will find fruit, vegetables and good eggs. A bank clerk, the chemist, a policeman even, will all probably know where to buy the best ham, cheese or bottled fruit. But what about here? Well, it's a little more difficult to know where to start, and the best sources may be more sparsely dotted about than in France, but these pockets of good food emporia are there, ready and waiting. And I presume that is why the energetic and canny Henrietta Green decided to compile a book about where to locate them. Even in the smallest of French villages, regional produce is in abundance, flaunted actually, and it is irresistible. Markets are probably the best source, but small, specialist shops are just as accessible and easy to find.
There's an expression for it in France (Michelin France to be exact): vaut le detour. Well, I have been vauting le detour for several years now and always return home with various regional goodies. Wine, of course, but some of the other things I lugged all the way back to Shepherds Bush in August were charcuterie and cheeses from Lyons, fabulous tinned anchovies and white asparagus from a huge hypermarket in a Spanish frontier town, and, from the same source, a magnificent whole Serrano ham. One of the greatest pleasures I know is to plan a journey, or a little detour, around a source of stimulating nourishment. Restaurants are the obvious pit stop, and nothing gets the gustatory juices flowing like knowing that the distance between me and my gastronomic goal is diminishing by the minute. Vibrantly youthful raspberry and plum-like fruitiness with a light veneer of oak.