Top 70 Monica Galetti Quotes

The most precious item I have is my wedding dress.

I’m not happy with any waste at all.

I know people who will look at the label on some ham, and if it’s a day over they’ll throw the whole packet out instead of opening it up and tasting and smelling it.

I just love it when the chefs start to gain in confidence and it gets really exciting.

I believe you’ve got to move with the times but that doesn’t mean you have to go crazy stupid and employ every kind of technique under the sky. Learn how to cook in an oven and in a pan first, and then you can play with the toys.

I was very much a tomboy in my younger days, which stood me in good stead for a career in male-dominated kitchens.

I have a huge collection of cookery books, like most chefs. do I regularly revisit Michel Roux Snr’s ‘The Collection,’ particularly for the precise recipes and because the food photography is simply beautiful.

I take jobs when I can take them, sometimes you can’t control it and everything comes in at one time.

Food is about the flavours that work well together, but when you’ve got great ingredients half the job is done for you.

I absolutely adore beetroot in all shapes and sizes – I even grow them when possible.

Work takes me to some very interesting places, mostly around the U.K.; it’s a great thing to be able to do.

Some people find the appearance of cuttlefish off-putting, but I think this lesser eaten fish is really exciting and versatile. It’s similar to squid or octopus and should either be cooked quickly on a high heat or very low and slow until it’s tender.

I hate my smile.

Some people put Marmite on all sorts of dishes – I don’t mind dropping a teaspoon into a pot of stew – but it’s something I like to eat at home, on the sofa. I have to stick the jar right at the back of the cupboard or I’ll eat six slices of toast in one go.

Sharing good food with your children is the purest form of love.

I feel safe in Auckland but it’s best to be careful in any city. There’s the odd pickpocket like anywhere else but if you’re street-smart, you’ll be okay.

There’s always been more men than women in the profession… I think at certain points young women think ‘I want a family’ and they can’t balance the two.

The place I most missed my husband and family was when I stayed at Giraffe Manor, which is a crazy hotel in Kenya where giraffes wander around sticking their necks in through the top-floor windows for snacks.

Not a brussel sprouts fan? Try them shredded and fried in a pan with bacon – no one can say ‘no’ to them then.

I’ll always have fond memories of Guernsey. I lived there for three months in 1999 and loved walking all over the island.

I always go for something like mac and cheese if I’m hungover. Pasta is great for soaking everything up.

You should only do what you do – in my case, cooking – while you still love to do it. But if you lose the passion, that’s when you should stop, get out, and go and do something else with your life.

Extracting the meat from a whole crab is a time-consuming job – picking all the meat out of the legs, claws and body, double-checking for bits of shells, etc. But the flavour makes it worth it, and you get the additional bonus of the crab shells to make a flavourful bisque or stock as a base for other dishes.

Cooking with my daughter is a treasured part of my life, as I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I would like to.

On Sundays I love to get to a morning spin session at the gym. That’s my time – it’s great for stress release and helping me think things through, but I also do it so I can eat everything because I have no willpower.

My mum is the youngest of 14, so I have a huge extended family.

The food culture that has most impressed me is Oman’s. I learned to make an amazing spice mix that they rub into goat and fish meat, and ate the best flatbreads.

I absolutely love sweet potatoes baked in their skins.

Michel Roux Jr is like an older brother to me and he constantly pushed me to learn – even when I was young and I probably didn’t appreciate what he was doing for me.

I do love peanut butter and jam on Ryvita. It’s a tasty snack.

Culturally, you know, I come from a Samoan background where the food is very humble, it’s very simple.

There have been moments when comments have been made and because I’m strong enough to speak up about it, it’s helped me. Having the strength and confidence to speak up about racism is what matters. Some people don’t realise that what they are saying is wrong – they think it’s acceptable.

The world of fine dining can be frightening, if it’s not what you grew up in. I think when the doors are just thrown open, and you’re given the confidence to step into that world without any barriers at all, and you’re made to feel very welcome in it, that you belong, then it’s no longer as frightening.

We always had a lot of pak choi because my dad grew it in his vast vegetable garden in New Zealand – he grows everything, everywhere!

I think people took a while to accept me for who I am, and I’ve learnt to articulate myself better when on camera.

In the kitchen at work I try not eat all day long but sometimes you can’t help it. You’ve just got to taste seven different ice creams and sorbets, or make sure the seasoning is right on a dish.

I like to adapt some of the traditional dishes from my childhood from both NZ and Samoa using British ingredients and European cooking methods.

I coped OK with eating guinea pig, while staying at the stunning Mashpi Lodge, up in the cloud forest of Ecuador – but that’s because mine was all cut up and served nicely.

We had to move to New Zealand when I was eight for a better life.

I’m a big seafood fan.

When I drive through London at night I think: ‘Gosh this is such a beautiful city.’

I always buy organic and love farm shops. Some people think that organic is more expensive, but if you plan wisely, you can make ingredients go further. For example, use the whole chicken – bones for stock, things like that.

When I walked into the kitchen for the first time, I knew I was going to do that for ever. I was studying my diploma in hospitality, and I just fell in love with it. It was like being a magician.

The people of Samoa have a gentle way, and they have the humility that comes with managing to get by on the very basics of life. In London and New Zealand we are spoilt and we forget that.

My first travel experiences were around New Zealand. The scenery is stunning at Milford Sound and Potts Glacier.

My first ambition was to be a brain surgeon.

Television is a funny world.

I loved the Fonz as a kid. He just clicked his fingers and the girls would go wild.

As a child I loved to be in the kitchen with my mum and aunties, eavesdropping on the adults.

There are shows that I would like to be able to watch, but don’t really have time to, like ‘Hannibal.’

I still remember the first time I made a bread roll. For me it was the most amazing thing.

Stay calm and be quick on fixing a problem, stopping a problem head on is vital to running a team.

I grew up in Samoa, where food is an important part of our culture. I remember this sea worm, called the palolo, that would lay its larvae once every full moon. You’d go and scoop it up, serve it on a banana leaf with coconut cream and seaweed. Delicious, a real assault on the senses.

The older you get, the wiser you get, and you realise there’s no need to blow a top over things.

Fresh, ripe cocoa is amazing. It’s so sweet but if you eat too much you get a sore stomach.

I didn’t like Christchurch when I visited a long time ago. I had been camping on the outskirts of some gorgeous little towns throughout the South Island. But when I arrived in Christchurch, I just didn’t like it nor find it to be very friendly.

I never planned to go on television, it was just by chance.

There’s always a problem, every day there’s a problem.

When I was really young, I thought it was really cool to wear red and yellow bike pants with one red sock and one yellow sock.

The funny story was that I actually quite fancied David’s best friend Jerome first, and then Jerome let me down easy that he was gay. He’s now one of my best friends and I married David.

Trussing a chicken is something we consider a very basic skill. From your college years to any kitchen, you should learn it. I mean if you buy a chicken from Tesco it is all tied up, so you should know what it looks like. If you don’t it is a bit of a worry.

I love open water diving and first tried it in Vanuatu.

It takes me a long time to unwind when I’m on holiday – at least three or four days.

It’s all about a beautiful table on Christmas day. I put out lovely napkins and napkin holders, and maybe put a wreath in the centre. I like to dish all the veg up into massive serving platters, for everyone to help themselves – it feels so abundant.

I don’t like to watch myself on ‘Masterchef: The Professionals.’ I cringe; it makes me feel sick, and I have to turn the TV off. I like doing television, and bringing what I do to a wide audience, but I don’t have to watch myself, do I?