What’s your favourite ingredient?
Chocolate. No question.
Do you have a guilty food pleasure?
I adore salt and vinegar crisps. But I don’t always feel guilty enjoying them.
Tell us about your first food memory?
Picking pineapples in Samoa, where I was born.
What’s your favourite Scottish restaurant, deli or café?
I’ve visited lots of amazing places in Scotland, but I have warm memories of a fabulous lunch earlier this year at Michelin-starred Cail Bruich restaurant in Glasgow’s West End. Chef Lorna McNee and her team are delivering amazing food, sourcing so many ingredients locally. They even have their own vegetable garden out the back. I was blown away.
What would be your last supper?
My family and dearest friends mean the world to me so this special meal would see us all gathered together. We would have lots of different type of seafood, fresh bread and aioli, great wine and music. A perfect evening.
Starter or pudding?
Starters for me as I prefer savoury to sweet. But it’s also true that I get sweet cravings now and again. It’s all about balance.
Do you have any food hates?
There’s nothing I would say I hate. But I don’t like to see badly cooked steak. And soggy chips are a definite no-no.
What starters, main and dessert would be served at your dream dinner party and who would you invite?
Many of my family members live in New Zealand so it would be amazing for us all to be together in one place. The starter would definitely involve scallops. We’d continue the fish theme with lobster for the main course and apple tarte tatin as a dessert. Delicious.
What's your favourite geographical foodie destination?
I love Italy, Greece and Spain. The warm weather combined with amazing food just gets me every time.
Seafood from Scotland has created a new information hub for its Sea the People campaign which includes clips from Monica’s experiences in Scotland, a video interview on why she got involved with the campaign, and specially created seafood recipes for chefs to try out in their own premises, www.monicagaletti.seafoodfromscotland.org
