Born in West Dunbartonshire, bestselling author and presenter Dawn O’Porter’s happiest memories are rooted in good food and bringing the party to her dinner table

Interview: Cheryl Caira

I love the idea of a family sit-down meal every Sunday afternoon, because I truly believe those are the moments my kids will remember when they grow up. With everyone’s schedules being so busy, it’s important that we make time for one meal a week where we have nowhere else to be. I do mix it up with the food. It’ll be a roast, summer might be a barbecue with salads, or if we have lots of people over I’ll do tacos or a beef brisket.

It was less a dinner table when I came up to Scotland and more a table in a pub, hotel or restaurant. My dad – who lives near Loch Lomond – ran pubs and hotels when I was very young, so when I think of dinner in Scotland it’s ordering from a pub menu. Classic eighties nosh like chicken Kiev and chips, lentil soup, scampi and my absolute fave, haggis, neeps and tatties.

When I moved to Los Angeles and didn’t have any friends, food became the way that I met people. I’d invite people over to my house and cook for them, and I felt that it showed them who I was. Then when I met my husband [actor Chris O’Dowd] I just loved having someone to cook for. Work wasn’t going well at the time, and I didn’t feel like I had that much to offer him other than a delicious meal every night, so I took on the role of cook and loved every second of it.

The best dinner parties are the slightly less formal ones. I like big bowls of food to dig into, a jug of cutlery and a little bit of chaos. It gets conversation started and makes the atmosphere relaxed. The perfect food to serve is a slow-cooked meat with two or three delicious sides – unpretentious, wholesome and bloody delicious.

Author Dawn O’Porter. Credit: Scott Trindle

If I had to choose between LA and London, I’d choose London in a heartbeat. I’m not someone who gets upset about cold weather – maybe that’s the Scot in me. I do miss the outdoor kitchen I had in LA, because cooking al fresco in the sunshine will never not be brilliant, but I love my cosy kitchen here in London. I have an AGA, which I’m obsessed with, but it would be horrendous in California.

Every time I think of a new story, it has to be as thrilling as the last. I want my readers to pick up my work, connect to the characters and have an experience – whether that’s laughing, crying or reading through their fingers because it’s so embarrassing. I’d love to do more radio and cooking, but writing good books really is what’s most important to me.

Hungry Eyes by Dawn O’Porter is out now