LYN FUNNELL, THE CLUMSY CHEF.

Lyn never had much of an interest in food. It was just something that had to be eaten before dashing out to meet her friends! And let’s be honest, our family food was pretty basic then.

Aged 15, she was dragged, kicking and screaming, to live in Malta where her Father had a posting with the Civil Service. That’s when her interest in food began – eating it, not cooking it!

Slowly her interest grew, starting with a perfect fried egg sandwich (something that a lot of chefs just can’t get right.)

She became an Air Hostess and was often put in the galley – not because of her appearance! She was always able to have the food ready on time.

After marriage and the birth of her lovely daughter Rana, she needed to add to the family budget, and worked in the evenings as a Silver Service Waitress.

Her reputation spread – not for her balancing skills, but for her cheek. The customers loved it! One man asked if he could smoke, and she told him he could burst into flames for all she cared!

As usual, staff left, fell ill, or didn’t bother turning up, and Lyn was often asked to work as a chef. And she realised that she was better at it than most of the trained chefs.

Working freelance, she was in great demand, doing anything and everything.

Sometimes she cooked the meal, then dashed out and helped to serve it!

In between all this, Lyn wrote short stories and poetry which were regularly published.

Then a local pub became available to lease. Lyn took it over and suffered one of the most terrible periods of her life. Her Father had a heart attack and then died, she was cruelly robbed, and finally she locked up one night, and then fell down the steep stairs (sober!) She had broken her back in three places.

She sold the pub back to the brewery and began an intensive routine at the gym, fighting her way back to health. While recovering, Lyn started writing again, then she met her friend and mentor, writer Patricia Cleveland-Peck, who told her about Travel Writing.

Now Lyn goes abroad on Press Trips every few weeks and writes about the country and its food.

Her original recipes have won many prizes, including the Good Housekeeping Millenium Menu, semi-finalist in Masterspud, cooking with Jean-Christophe Novelli, and one of three finalists appearing on BBC’s The One Show with Jay Rayner, which makes Lyn Britain’s Spag Bol Queen!

She gives cookery demonstrations, talking about countries that she’s visited recently, and showing her own adaptations of some of their dishes.

Untrained, Lyn fumbles around and drops things. She is also very funny. But her food is excellent, and very simple to copy. The audience gets involved in her demonstrations and they take a great interest in what she does. In fact, it’s hard to get them to leave!

Lyn is the author of seven books and is working on a cookbook, which she describes as the hardest thing she’s ever written.

‘How do I know when I’ve finished it?’ she asks, ‘There’s always an interesting new recipe round the corner!’