Somehow I never thought I’d have the word porn in one of my websites. So mum, I’m sorry, and Dad there aren’t actually any naked women here.

I’m a bit of a foodie. I think my collection of cookbooks is bigger than the collection in Borders. I was in heaven when one of my girlfriends was in publishing and gave me loads of freebies, she’s now moved into newspapers, so if anyone else out there would like to fill her void just start sending those books.

I don’t really know where the love of food came from, no one in my family is a pro, but my mum cooked every night when we were growing up. Although for my first ten years it was pretty standard meat and three veg stuff. Luckily she discovered the Orient, so after that there was some experimenting, but then there were the food allergies (hers), so no cheese, milk, flour, pasta, bread, chocolate, anything fun ever again!

Actually I do pity her, having just discovered my brother has inherited some of these god awful allergies, I’m considering myself lucky to be still be able to eat whatever I want. Although some of my friends do believe I should stop mixing red wine and lamb, especially if they happen to be standing down-wind of me…anyway, I won’t digress into toilet humour.

I think my other influence would be my mum’s mum, Nanna-Banana (as her frenchman used to say). She lives on the other side of the earth so I don’t get to drop in for dinner - which is probably a good thing as I’m sure I’d be accused of not visiting frequently enough. When I go to visit I usually get the full gourmet. Three courses of french inspired country cooking right in the heart of South East of England. All the lard you could ever need or wish for. Really, there is no holding back for her when the relatives come to visit, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not the type of food you’d like to eat every day, because they’d make you buy an extra seat on your flight home, but it creates a feeling of comfort and satisfaction. It’s the atmosphere of taking your time, savouring each course, savouring your wine that doesn’t make you feel you’ve eaten half a tub of lard.

[Actually, just in case Nanna-Banana ever gets a computer and reads this - I know you don't really use lard, please cook for me when I come and see you next. I promise to include your cooking in here and make you famous. XXX, your favourite granddaughter...]

Having married the Englishmen, we now spend most of our time in Sydney’s northern beaches, with the yearly (kind of) trip to the UK. I’m still amazed at how much the food in England has changed over the last twenty years, and I’m very jealous of your wide range of choices. Except we have mangos and I wouldn’t give them up for anything…

If you’d ever like me to make something special, just ask (except for you geek boy) - I love a challenge.

You can email me louise@recipeporn.com