※ Interview A Foodie (Melissa F)

1. What's your worst food memory

A toss up between my mum's overcooked steak or her lamb stew with kidney. *shudder*

2. Best food memory

Lunch at Eleven Maddison Park in New York City. Definitely the most amazing meal of my life.

3. My signature dish is.

Oh that's hard... might need to ponder that for a bit. I'll ask the taller half and get back to you... although my recent rabbit ragout was a winner. I also make a mean snapper pie.

4. One of my favourite food photographs. (please see below)

5. Ingredient I'm currently obsessed with is
Congo potatoes. The flavour and texture is so beefy in a potatoey kind of way.

6. Worst kitchen injury
I stuck my hand through a fridge fan working after school in a kitchen in my teens. Mangled a few fingers. Not seriously thank goodness.

7. Cake I ask for on my birthday

Bourke Street Bakery's flour-less sour cherry chocolate cake. Heaven/

8. Favourite Chef

A toss up between Heston and Maggie Beer. Both self taught and both have such an invigorating approach to food.

9. Share with us one of your favourite recipes

Throw some capers, anchovies, olives, garlic and parsley in a mortar and pestle and mash. Add some lemon juice and olive oil then coat your favourite cut of lamb, pop in the oven on about 180oC for the required time to cook as-you-like-it. Result = eatable gold

10. Favourite kitchen appliance and what I make with it most often

My good knife. I'm not a kitchen gadget person. I leave that to my taller half. Give me a knife, some fresh produce and a vessel to cook in and I'm happy.

11. If you were on death row, what would your final meal request be.

Seafood. Of every kind. It's kind of cheating but worth asking. Must include oysters and mud crab... and some great sashimi, some fried whiting fillets, whitebait, ocean trout, vongole... yep, definitely cheating!

12. What did you learn from you mother/grandmother that you use often in the kitchen.

My mum's chicken stuffing recipe. I find it hard to make a roast chook without it. And to measure properly when you bake. I should bake more.

13. What the name and address of your blog

My blog's name is crispy and citrus and the address is www.idevour.wordpress.com

14. What are five things you can’t live without? (don't have to be food related)

• My ever able taller half
• My stoic parents
• My amazing friends
• Sunshine
• Rain

15. What are your favorite cookbooks that you would recommend every home cook own and why?

Stephanie Alexander's cooking bible. It just covers everything. Plain and simple.

Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Because it covers all things home made and has introduced the incredible goodness of home made bacon and duck prosciutto to our household. If you want to have a go at curing meat or making cheese, amongst other things, this really gives you the lowdown.

Crazy Water Pickled Lemons by Claudia Roden. Because it covers some of the most amazing cuisines that I adore. Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and North African. And it shows you how to use all those exotic ingredients you always wanted to find a use for. It's expanded my knowledge of cooking and food enormously.

Testsuya by Tetsuya Wakuda. Because it's a stunning piece of print material. No expense spared on extra plates and fancy metallic spot colours. It has the added ability to challenge you. His dishes are complex. It's no easy ride recreating his food so ultimately you learn.

Ethnodelicious by Dorinda Hafner and William and Dorothy Hall. It's a delightful book that spans the globe and feeds your brain as well as your tummy by helping you to recognise some of the traditions in different cultures as well as their food.

I also rely heavily on the wondrous resource of the internet for inspiration all the time. Sneaking bits and pieces from here and there helps you learn and makes it exciting and fun.