'He wasn't convinced' - the favourite Glasgow dish Mrs Conetta told famous chef he MUST serve in new city venture

We are all cooks – Marcella studied at the Tante Marie Culinary Academy, Britain’s oldest private cookery school, and Cristina trained at Le Cordon Bleu haute cuisine school in Madrid before working in The Ritz kitchens in London – so food was, of course, a central theme.

I booked a cruise from Bordeaux down the Dordogne and Garonne rivers, and who was on board cooking for the diners but James Martin, TV chef and presenter.

The Bordeaux region is where it all began for James, as a trainee in the Michelin-starred Hostellerie de Plaisance, Saint-Émilion, and he has been coming back to this beautiful part of France ever since.

On board the ship, he did some demonstrations for us, and cooked us some amazing dishes, including crab risotto, which was absolutely fantastic; ceviche, which is a seafood dish; halibut, steaks – it was incredible.

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On the first day, we could not believe our luck when James came and sat with us for lunch.

He told us all about his new venture - he has purchased Spud-U-Like and plans to take it upmarket with an elaborate menu, and he had actually just been in Glasgow the day before the cruise at the opening of his first one in Braehead.

The fillings he is planning are quite something - very different from what you might expect from the way Spud-U-Like used to be.

I told him he’d better have a mac’n’cheese version in Glasgow but he looked at me in horror and said ‘forget it, I’m not doing that.’ I told him at the Buon Appetito, all anyone ever wanted was chips and mac and cheese. I’m not sure he was convinced.

But he was very personable, and his assistant Adam, was lovely too. They worked hard and spoke to everyone on the ship, it was lovely. The whole experience was great – the service was like they had turned the clock back 30 years, every wish was attended to. We also stopped off to visit wineries – the whole thing was a fairytale.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have chosen another path in life, but then I stop and think about how there is nothing I like better than feeding people, wining and dining with family and good friends, and talking to people over good food, and I am convinced I am in the right place.

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I’m proud my family is still feeding Glasgow – and beyond, as Antony and Mario have now taken the restaurant group to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Newcastle. This year, they are introducing Christmas boxes which can be ordered from Anchor Line, to help take the hard work out of the festive season for families.

This week’s recipe is a Christmas starter with a twist. We are all starting to think about what to cook on the big day, and this is a simple but effective dish that’s easy to whip up, which is what we all need at a busy time.

Buon appetito!

TROPICAL PRAWN AND FRUIT SALAD

INGREDIENTS (serves four to six)

20 king sized prawns

1 Romaine lettuce

24 green grapes

1 tin of pineapple

1 tin mandarin oranges (or two fresh if you prefer)

24 cherry tomatoes

Prawn cocktail sauce

1 small jar mayonnaise

Whipped cream - mix with mayonnaise

4 tablespoons tomato sauce

3 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce

Splash of brandy

METHOD

Very simple – mix the whipped cream and mayonnaise together.

Wash, peel and slice the tomatoes and grapes and drain the tinned fruit.

Place all salad ingredients in a serving bowl and pile the prawns on top, with the mayo/cream mix at the side – be as artistic or as messy as you like.