MELANIE McGRICE, LEADING MELBOURNE DIETICIAN AND NUTRITIONIST
FB: How would you rate your cooking skills?
MM: Four out of five. I love food that tastes good and love to experiment, which means that sometimes I end up with fabulous creations and other days I end up with disasters!
FB: What is your signature dish?
MM: That’s a hard one as I rarely make the same thing twice! But I do have a bit of a love for bolognese in the winter. It’s great for getting kids in the kitchen.
FB: If you could only have one more meal, what would it be?
MM: Al burro pasta and a green salad with a glass of rose from Café Di Stastio.
FB: What is your favourite TV food show and who is your favourite TV food
person?
MM: I really don’t watch much TV so really can’t say that I’ve ever seen any TV food shows! I love foodie movies, though – The Hundred-Foot Journey with Helen Mirren is a classic!
FB: What is your favourite food?
MM: Cheese … goat’s fetta, blue, camembert – I love them all!
FB: What is your favourite drink?
MM: Bollinger.
FB: Which five people would you most like to invite to dinner?
MM: Elvis Presley, John Maxwell (leadership guru), King David (of Israel), Angelina Jolie and my nan (who died when I was in my teens).
FB: Do you have a kitchen tip for us?
MM: Use your best crockery regularly – even a glass of water can feel decadent if it’s served in a crystal champagne flute.
PRESSED FOR TIME
I think my hubby has developed an addiction – scouting the internet for kitchen gadgets. Several times, I’ve sprung him gleefully hunched over the Dreamfarm website, his latest purchases being the Supoon (a non-drip kitchen spoon he raves about) and the Garjet.
Garlic presses can be fiddly at the best of times and really difficult to clean. The beauty of the Garjet is that it scrapes itself clean and then ejects the peel. It practically cleans itself, meaning the garlic ends up in your meal, instead of all over your fingers.
Better still, it can crush several cloves of garlic at once and there’s no need to peel away the skin first.
Check out the Garjet and other time-saving gadgets including the Smood (potato masher), Clongs (click lock sit-up tongs) and the Chopula (a sit-up spatula that also chops) at dreamfarm.com.
I hope everyone survived the festive season and all the festive food and beverages that go along with it. As we launch into another year, I hope your 2018 will be filled with great food and great times with friends and family. Cheers to you all.
Quote of the week
“I like food. I like eating. And I don’t want to deprive myself of good food”
– Sarah Michelle Gellar.
