Race is a man who seems permanently set on simmer.

You can practically feel the steam rising from him as he vents his feelings on the decline of the British farming industry and the lack of home-produced, local food featuring in supermarkets.

There's any number of other dislikes, such as "farmed salmon... yuk, full of disease. Frankly, I'd rather eat a rat."

He rattles off his forthright views at breakneck speed and with considerable force but is unapologetic because he says: "I'm passionate about food. It's a subject you never stop learning about and I just want people to realise that 50% of good food is about the raw ingredients. The rest is down to the recipe and the skill of the person cooking."

He appears close to boiling point as he emphasises: "We are so apathetic about our food in the UK.

"We just seem to accept what we are given, but that's so wrong. It's so important that we source and buy locally and seasonally because that's how we get the great taste and flavours and yet what's happening? Our farming industry is in decline, and there won't be one at all in five years unless it's given support."

Race, 50, is not content to simply sound off but has produced a new cook book, Flavour First – a practical guide to seasonal ingredients, that gives imaginative ways to cook them.

He's chatting about the book as well as the controversial ups and downs of his life in a rare break from his hectic filming schedule for a new ITV series, Britain's Best Dish which is due to start in August.

Television brought him to prominence as a devoted family man and respected chef in the TV series French Leave and the sequel Return Of The Chef, which also featured his wife Kim and six of the eight children they had between them.

But that high profile also ensured him the full glare of the spotlight when last year he controversially left Kim for his lover, Suzi Ward, by whom it was revealed he had a three-year-old son, unbeknown to his wife.

A costly divorce followed. After a battle – his ex-wife shut the restaurant they were running while he was in the Australian jungle competing in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – he's once again running the business he loves, The New Angel restaurant in Dartmouth, Devon.

His temperature cools as he reflects on the past tempestuous year and he says slowly: "I am more or less out of that mess. I have a lot of rebuilding to do – both emotionally and financially.

"The restaurant's opened again and is going well despite the recession and I know I've been lucky to get back into that position. I'm probably working too hard at the moment – which means I can't see my children as much as I'd like – but I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of money to recoup."

Wisely perhaps, he's reluctant to predict the future for himself and his current relationship.

"I'm happy with my partner at the moment and long may that continue.