I discovered Lorraine’s blog Not Quite Nigella last year. I remember that day, when I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat for a few hours on and off poring through all her posts. It is always exciting when you come across a great blog that has been around for a while, but you only just discovered it. There is so much wonderful content to sift through and delicious photographs to stare at. Intriguing as her blog name is, Lorraine draws you into her world slowly and surely and you can’t help but be affected by what affects her and the things she writes about. Her stories are always vivid and full of color and life. Her pictures of food and places, make you want to take a flight to that place just so you can experience what she did. Her decadent meal atop the Barrenjoey Lighthouse is one such example of fabulous experiences that she shares freely with ther readers on her blog. When I approached her for an interview, she was excited to do it and I am equally excited to present the gorgeous Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella, the darling of Australian food-bloggers!

Meal at Barrenjoey Lighthouse – Not Quite Nigella

Thank You Lorraine for taking the time to do this interview for us. We really appreciate it.

1.  Tell us a bit about yourself, your personal side and the foodie in you.
I was born and bred and currently live in Sydney and have been obsessed with food since a young age. I  have a memory of disliking an uncle until he gave me my first glass of sarsaparilla. I have been easily bribed with food ever since. I am a recovering shoe-aholic and makeup-aholic and current hat-aholic. Obsessive personality? Yes.

2. When and how did you enter the beautiful world of food blogging? What is the story behind the unusual and fascinating name of your blog?
I started about 2 years ago after being urged to do so by my husband. It’s called Not Quite Nigella as I adore Nigella Lawson and aspire to be like her one day but not exactly like her. And I could never be quite as grand anyway!

3. Take us down memory lane to your fondest childhood food memory.
Most of my childhood memories are associated with food. I’m hopeless with people’s names but can remember tiny details of the food I’ve eaten. Apart from the sarsaparilla bribe memory I have a distinct memory of being obsessed with chicken, particularly the skin. I would eat the skin and hide the meat in my napkin where I would dispose of it. I like to think all children do that.

4. Tell us about your most fabulous dining experience. Why was it so memorable?
That’s hard as you can imagine My 30th birthday dinner at Tetsuya’s was amazing but then other meals I’ve had here and overseas are memorable but it’s not only the food, it’s the company too and I’ve had some amazing meals at little places just because the stars were aligned and the mix of people was right. But enough of the politician answers, I’d  have to say the number 1 would be the Iron Chef Dinner at the Observatory Hotel that featured Iron Chef Japanese Hiroyuki Sakai and Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi. It was pure theatre in the form of the food served and the show in front of us.

5. You are quite the Gourmet Traveller, which country/place has impressed you the most in terms of food, service and culture? Do you have a special story
to share from that travel experience?
Finland was quite a surprise to me as we don’t have any Finnish restaurants here I didn’t quite know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. They do have Michelin starred restaurants there and some delicious food. I tried reindeer there  which was quite delicious as well as unusual fruit like Cloudberries. I didn’t get to try bear meat though as that was tinned and I didn’t know whether that would be a good representation of the meat. London has also come so far from their image of boiled meat and tinned peas. There are some truly fantastic restaurants there.

6. What is your absolute favorite ingredient? Why do you love it so much?
That’s also hard. Can I say butter? I love cooking with a great quality butter. I adore seafood and lobster is my favourite item ever. I just love the taste of it and the texture of it when it’s done well. Or Bluff Oysters from New Zealand. They’re worth a flight over.

7. You have come across many celebrities from the culinary world, who do you think is really special for what they do and how they do it?
I really like Adriano Zumbo’s attitude to things. He’s not precocious and he’s giving and for someone that creates such unusual masterpieces, he lacks the paranoia that plagues many with such a unique vision.

8. If you wouldn’t be a food writer, blogger and photographer, what would you be? Share with us some of the things you are passionate about.
A novel writer perhaps or I’d love to be in the media in some way, shape or form. I’m also passionate about fashion although I find the world of fashion can be a scary place indeed.

9. The most delicious thing you have ever eaten?
Pastries from Laduree, Herme or Zumbo. Orgasmic is not too strong a word.

10. The scariest thing you have ever eaten?
The kidneys at an offal restaurant in Paris. I’m just not an offal person. I ate a lot of the dessert at that lunch as it was the only thing offal free lol.

11. Your cookbook of the moment?
I’m liking Bill Granger’s Feed Me Now as I like the fact that his recipes are reliable. One day, when the weather is warmer, I will make the Tiramisu cake that has been tempting me from its pages.

12. What inspires you to cook? What is the weirdest thing you have cooked yourself?
I love feeding people and there’s a part of me that is a bit of a ham and desires praise and applause so I like to make sweets for people secretly hoping that they’ll love me for it. I don’t think that I cook weird things though! Well perhaps my SPAM sushi was odd…Oh yes I did cook a meal on a car once-that was lots of fun. The most unexpected thing I’ve done in the name of my blog was participating in a Dumpster Dive in the name of Freeganism.

13. What culinary experiences do you wish to acquire over the next few years?
I’d love to travel more and experience food from different cultures and meet people that are as passionately crazy about food as I am.

Thanks for the interview Sneh!

And Thank You Lorraine. Keep spinning a delicious web of those food stories on your blog and we’ll be back for more. You can read Lorraine’s fod stories on her blog Not Quite Nigella or follow her on Twitter.
[All personal and culinary photos are property of Not Quite Nigella and have been used here with permission from the author.