Dalila Amdouni

‘I laugh a lot - it’s the only way, even when my husband and children get on my nerves!’

Dalila - an earthy turbo-ball of energy and laughter - is the mainstay of the holiday riad of her Parisian employers in the heart of the Tunis medina. This is where she produces dish after aromatic dish that leave every parting guest salivating to return. More often than not she is seconded in the kitchen by Ahmed, her serene husband who doubles as the caretaker. Their setting is a stunning 16th-century courtyard house of lofty ceilings, alcoves and roof terraces that, over the last decade, has evolved into an oasis of refinement. Renovated along purist lines, it acts as a frame to eclectic design elements and rare finds from all over the world - as well as a prolific orange tree (source of the house marmalade), a couple of tortoises, Carthago the cat and a cheerful canary. One of Dalila’s greatest talents is to remain sublimely unimpressed by this design obsession - and to merely roll her eyes at a new gadget from Japan or a bowl from Brazil.