Shaun Micallef

The writer, comedian and actor on his first children’s book, his wife’s cooking and a communal teething rusk.

- Maggie Scardifield

What’s the best party you’ve ever been to?

My great-grandmother’s 90th was pretty impressive. She smoked a cigar. I’m not sure she was completely aware of what she was doing, but she got through half of it.

Your go-to dish in the kitchen?

I can do a green chicken or a red beef curry. Sometimes I mix it up and do a red chicken curry or a green beef curry. Once, I tried a green red curry and a chicken beef curry, but that didn’t work. I also once tried a curry curry red green with a side order of chicken beef, but that was a disaster. Matt Preston gave it a two.

What does a typical midweek meal look like in the Micallef household?

My wife is a great cook. She can rustle up some mighty fine vittles when she wants to. She once made a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup to die for. In fact, we almost did.

What similarities do great food and great comedy share?

They both need to go down well with paying customers.

Before moving into comedy, you practised law. What was served at morning tea?

I distinctly remember eating a madeleine cake and dunking it in… oh, hang on, that was Proust.

These days, what snacks are in the writers’ room?

 There’s a communal teething rusk we have on a string in the centre of the room. And sometimes a seed bell.