Italian chef behind ‘best roast chicken ever’ almost became a computer engineer

Tell us about your childhood. “I learned the importance of the quality of food when I was very young. My family has a farm [in Telese Terme, in south­western Italy’s Campania region] and we made salami, jam and marmalade; we ate vegetables from the garden; we raised chickens, rabbits, turkeys, pigeons and lambs. I didn’t drink milk from a carton until I was six years old; up until then I had drunk fresh milk from a cow.”What was the first dish you cooked? “When I was six, I made my first lunch…