OMeara: I became part of food gang

I KICKED a nun on my first day at school. I don't think the nuns were spending a lot on electricity in those days, because she emerged from the shadows. She was tall, terrifying and held onto my arm with a vice-like grip.

I KICKED a nun on my first day at school.

I don't think the nuns were spending a lot on electricity in those days, because she emerged from the shadows. She was tall, terrifying and held onto my arm with a vice-like grip.

In about Year 3, I decided I wanted to be a stuntwoman.
I grew up on Sydney's lower North Shore and did various dangerous things around the neighbourhood with my younger brother, Matt. The family across the road had a really high wall that we'd use for high-wire stunts.

It was a happy day when soy sauce came into the O'Meara household.
My parents both had Irish backgrounds and cooked Anglo-Irish food. Mum's bread-and-butter custard was fantastic, but it wasn't inspired cuisine. When she discovered soy, she made an early prototype of a stir-fry - cubed chicken marinated in soy, sherry and ginger. It was a quantum leap from Irish stew.

I'm a child of newspapers.
Mum was a reporter and Dad was a compositor, so I had a sense of what journalism was. I did an arts degree at university but, when I graduated at 20, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next, so I took year off to travel.

A goat was killed in my honour in the Sahara.
My uni friends and I were lucky enough to spend time with a Bedouin family, and we were presented with the heart as the honoured guests. It was tasty, spicy and so far from the food I grew up eating. On that trip, I decided I never wanted two days to be the same, so journalism seemed a good option.

It was a thrill to be in different places at exciting times.
I was Richard Carleton's producer on The Carleton-Walsh Report and we were in South Africa during the State of Emergency. It was a terrifying time.

I'd work on current affairs stories and then go on food adventures.
I'd wander the backstreets, trying delicious things. In 1990, I moved to Dateline on SBS. I fell in love with the station's food culture.

Doors opened as I became part of the SBS food gang.
There was a lovely Greek woman who'd take us on excursions to little Greek tavernas around Sydney, places where they'd light whisky on the dance floor. I was intrigued by all that and started gathering everyone's knowledge.

In 1993, I did a job and life-swap with an Irish journalist.
My cousin lived in a big house in the country and threw an all-night dinner party. One of her guests was Ben [Stack, O'Meara's ex-husband and the father of her children, Conor, 16, Kitty, 14, and Scarlett, 12]. He was part of my great Irish year.
I see myself in my daughter Kitty the most.
She's vulnerable and thinks she knows it all. She needs big hugs and guidance, but I have to do it cleverly. Parenting through the teenage years takes great skill.

My partner Toufic [Charabati] is the smartest man in the room.
He's Lebanese, so there's a huge food-loving family that comes with him. We were friends and colleagues for a long time, then we became more.

My tops are famous.
But my look is so thrown together. Nobody seemed to notice it when I was on Better Homes and Gardens, but they have on Food Safari. It's unusual, but good. I recently caught up with some friends from university and apparently I used to wear fabulous vintage clothes. I don't remember that at all, but I guess my clothes just reflect my desire to be different.

Maeve O'Meara's next gourmet safari is to Sardinia and Corsica in September. For details, visit www.gourmetsafaris.com.au.

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