What’ssomethingmemorableyouate
whilegrowingup?Therewasoneexciting
tunacasserolemymumwouldmakeand
it hadpotatochipsontop.I lovedthat,
because chips for dinner – what a score!Didyourmealsresemblefoodfromthe
’70sDinnerPartysegmentonJonesy&
AmandaintheMorning, whereyouserve
recipesfromdecades-oldcookbooks?
A littlebit,becausetherewasa lot
ofgelatineused.Peoplelovedtheir
jelly.Theylovedputtingweirdflavour
combinationstogether:Coca-Colasalad,
whichwasCoca-Colafrozenina mould
withcreamcheese.CarnivalCream
Cups:whippedcream,somuchsugar,
maraschinocherriesontop.Butthe
ingredientthatyoustirredthrough
it? Tomato sauce. It was weird stuff.You’vemadeeverythingfrombeef
browniestotomatoandorangesoupfor
’70sDinnerParty.Whatwasthemostfun
tocook– andthemoststomach-churning
toproduce?Perversely,theCoca-Cola
saladlookedsodisgusting,butwasso
delicious.I cannotbelievehowdelicious
it was.Buttheworstonetoputtogether
wasthesardinebananaboat:banana
slitdownthemiddleandyouputa
whole sardine in it. Just foul!Canyoutellusaboutthetwoworld-record
attemptsyoumadewithyourco-host
BrendanJones?Wedecidedthatwe’d
break the world record for broadcastingunderwater,sowewereunderwaterat
SydneyAquariumforthree-and-a-half
hours.Wehadfull-facedmasksthat
allowedustospeaktoeachother.We
wrotethingsdownona whiteboardand
chaineda chairanda table,soit looked
likewewereat theoffice.Intheend,
we made theGuinness World Records.Whataboutthedumpling-eatingrecord?
WedidthisaspartofSydney’sChinese
NewYearfestivalandtherewerevery
strictGuinnessWorldRecordsrules:you
hadtoeatat leasttwodumplings,you
couldn’tleavethetableuntilyou’dall
beenverified.Thenumberofpeople
whoweredisqualifiedbecausetheytook
onebiteandwanderedoff,orleftthe
tabletooearly– weonlyjustscraped
in! How hard is it to eat dumplings?I hearyou’vegotinterestingsouvenirs
athome,suchasCamillaParkerBowles
shotglassesandHughJackman’sDNA?
I’mnota royalist,butI dolovecollecting
royalkitsch.Myfavouriteoneis a coffee
mugwithPrincessAnne’sfaceonit.My
friendgotthatina car-bootsaleinWales.
I dida storywithHughJackmanforThe
Living Room and he was wearing someAmanda
Keller
Theradiohostonstrangerecipes,
broadcastingunderwaterand
dancing with Chris Hemsworth.
EATING WITH
lollyteethaspartofa joke.Whenwe
finishedfilming,I grabbedthem,brought
themhomeandputthemina frame.
Incaseofemergency,breakglassand
you’ve got Hugh Jackman DNA.You’vehadtowakeupat4amfor 13 years
forJonesy& Amanda. Doescaffeinehelp
youcopewiththeseearlystarts?I’venever
beena coffeedrinker.I have 1000 cups
ofteathroughouttheday.I’vejuststarted
drinkingteawithoutmilkandit’staken
meaboutfourmonthstoget used to it
and look forward to it.Youco-hosttherebootofDancingwith
theStars, butyouwerea contestanton
theshowin 2006 – andoneofyourrivals
wasChrisHemsworth.Howwouldyou
rateyourdancingskillsagainstThor?
I certainlywasnotwatchinghisfeetwhen
hewasdancing!Tobehonest,wewere
bothprettycrap,buthelasteda week
longerthanme,I think.His spunk value
gothimovertheline.●AmandaKellerco-hostsWSFM’sJonesy&
AmandaintheMorning, 6am-9amweekdays
inSydney,andTheLivingRoomonTen,7.30pm
onFridays.Sheis theauthorofNatural Born
Keller (Allen & Unwin, $22.99, pbk).GOURMET TRAVELLER 35INTERVIEW LEE TRAN LAM.
How I eat