My holidays

TV3 chef ANDREW RUDD

What was your best holiday?In Zimbabwe in 1999. One of my friends was getting married and six of us went there on a stag for two weeks. My friend's family had a farm there which we stayed on. We drove around the fields of cotton and tobacco, we went to the village where workers live and saw the hospital, shops, school and the mud huts all around and the children sang us songs. It was so surreal. We went to Victoria Falls and canoed in the river where there were hippos and elephants. Then we drove to Lake Kariba where his family owned a houseboat and stayed for a few days. We'd wake up early and go fishing on a speedboat and cook the fish for breakfast. It was an amazing holiday.

What was your worst holiday?A mini-break in London which was a car-crash from start to finish. I went with someone who became an ex two days later. We wanted different things. It closed a chapter.

If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?To take off around the world for a year. I'd probably plan the first leg but after that I wouldn't have an itinerary. In work I have to plan everything with military precision, so I'd like to just head off and see where it takes me.

Sometimes when you plan, you have expectations and maybe anti-climax. Whereas when you go with the flow you have no preconceived agenda and you won’t be let down. I’d also try to make food as much part of the adventure as I could.

If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?I'd bring President Obama as I wouldn't have to queue and could travel on Air Force One.

What's your favourite place in Ireland?I took a cruise on the Shannon with a group of friends. The weather was awful but it didn't matter as we loved the serenity and calm of it all. We had no mobiles and it was peaceful sitting on a boat in the middle of Lough Derg having the craic. I would do again it in a heartbeat. It was magical.

Your recommended holiday reading?I find John Connolly's books gripping and loved Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. It tells of him growing up and his drug-fuelled days in dingy restaurants and how he came to be doing what he does.

Where will you go to next?We are going to have a big family reunion in Cornwall, where my dad was during the war. All nine siblings will meet up with all their cousins, aunts and uncles – all the people my father grew up with.

Andrew Rudd is the face of Domino's Gourmet Range in Ireland, andrewrudd.ie