I must admit, even when I was based in the countryside, I never really embraced the foraging fad. The thought of searching for edible freebies in hedgerows, damp woods and the blustery seashore just doesn’t float my boat. It's a bit like those old-style publicity shots of the chef with the big hat visiting the fish markets on their bicycle at 4am, allegedly before, or after, a 14-hour stint in the kitchen. Call me sceptical, lazy or half-hearted, but I think I’d rather trust the judgment of my local fishmonger than a shopping list purchased by an overworked, sleep-deprived chef. I phone my order, my trusted supplier delivers it, that’s how it works in my kitchen.

However, since moving to the bright lights of Norwich city centre, and the grand Assembly House becoming my playground, I’ve suddenly woken up to the foraging fashion, having discovered every ingredient you’ll ever need quite literally a few yards from my kitchen door.

Last week we ran our very first Discover Norwich Market cooks tour with cookery school students enjoying an hour's stroll around the stalls chatting to the traders, before picking the freshest of fresh local fruit and veg from Mike and Debs, crabs, skate nobs (no sniggering), grey mullet, squid and razor clams from City Fish, as well as bread, cheese, spices and a host of other ingredients piled into our shopping bags, before heading back to the school to cook them all up. We were lucky, the sun was shining so the jaunt was even more pleasurable and I was genuinely surprised and excited by the freshness and variety of produce available.

I'm sure many of our city dwellers fail to realise this great al fresco shopping experience on their own doorstep. We all rave about the continental market experience when we go on our holidays, forgetting that for many abroad, a daily trip to the market is a way of life. You don’t go shopping with a list - you see what’s on offer and then decide what to cook.

Norwich boasts one of the oldest market squares in the land, mentioned in the Doomsday book (it doesn't mention the vacuum cleaner stall in the Doomsday Book, but I'm pretty sure that was an oversight). The least we can do is partake in some regular inner-city foraging sessions and ensure it's there for many years to come.