Sabrina Ghayour on why she hasn’t got time for choux pasty and loves snacking on turkey slices and Haribo

Sabrina Ghayour is known for her bestselling cookbooks focusing on Middle Eastern cuisine. But when it comes to the author’s own noshing habits, her taste is a lot more international – with French wine, Italian pasta and Indian chutneys listed among her food and drink faves.

Here’s what happened when the British-Iranian chef answered our culinary quickfire questions…

Your death row meal is… Barbecued seafood on the beach and Dom Perignon on the side.

The one dish you can’t get right in the kitchen… Choux pastry. Maybe because I stop caring after a while!

Your signature dish is… Well, it depends on who you ask. My signature dish at home, non-Middle Eastern would be spaghetti and clams for sure, it’s up there there with my death row dishes. It’s what people who know me ask for the most. If it’s for people who are like, ‘Wow, Sabrina, Middle Eastern food’, it’s got to be Persian crunchy rice.

Your takeout of choice is… I think I’d probably go Indian, even though actually they’re Pakistani at my London local.

Your favourite late-night snack is… It depends on my mood. It’s usually things you shouldn’t eat late at night, like cheese and Indian chutney. Or really nasty stuff like salami and chocolate, or Haribo and turkey slices. Cheese is one of the ones I know I shouldn’t, but it’s midnight and I’m like, ‘Ooh I’m hungry, let’s go and eat some cheese and some mango chili pickle’.

The ultimate childhood dinner you always remember is… Birds Eye crispy beef pancakes, and I made some a couple of months ago from scratch.

How do you like your eggs? I actually like them quite jammy – a seven-minute boil.

To cure a hangover your go-to is… Repeat ‘Don’t ever drink again’ to yourself a hundred times! Hangover cure? It’s protein, salt, and sugar, so ideally it really is something like a bacon sandwich or a sausage sandwich. That’s what you need, electrolytes, or like a full English breakfast type thing, but nothing too big. I actually like noodles for breakfast when I’m hungover.

You just can’t stomach… Oysters. They’re probably the worst one. I’m not a big fan of things like grouse, even though I’ve had it, but oysters is the one thing I really can’t stomach.

Simply: Easy Everyday Dishes by Sabrina Ghayour, photography by Kris Kirkham, is published by Mitchell Beazley, priced £26 (octopusbooks.co.uk).