Food to me represents feeling good. I can't stand bad food - things like sandwiches, junk food, ice cream, over-creamy stuff, and greasy, fried food. Yuck. Everything that's gross and prepared too fast. About 10 years ago I went to a fast-food restaurant and I had fries and burgers. Honestly, my liver didn't process it properly and I had the same symptoms as a hangover afterwards. For whatever is wrong in my life I will have a good meal and feel better. Some people need drugs and alcohol; I just need a good meal.

I come from Paris, but Dad was born in Vietnam so I was raised on Vietnamese food, which I adore. My childhood food consisted of Vietnamese stir-fry, spring rolls, beef soup, tamarind soup, which is sweet and sour at the same time, shrimps, tomatoes, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, soy, and pineapple. I find traditional French food very rich; it's all pig hooves and heads. I can't eat that stuff. I like healthy stuff like couscous.

I learnt to cook with my dad when I was young, but I think cooking is innate. If I taste a meal somewhere I'm able to recreate it. I know spices really well, what taste is what.

I am a good cook, when I have the time. I do big stews, and a very good curry from Madagascar, which has a very different kind of taste - a mix of Indian and African food.

I live with my boyfriend between LA and Paris, but when I'm home I know that every meal is important in my family. The key one is the Sunday meal, where you get your friends and family over, and drink before the meal. You start eating at one o'clock and you carry on until five, then play poker and go back to eat again at seven. We're experts in never-ending meals. It's very French, to sit down at noon and not move till seven, just eating and talking and fighting. I love to cook for my boyfriend. It's like a ritual, and he loves my cooking, which means it's a very pleasurable feeling. I make him what he calls a gypsy stew which is everything left over, cooked together in a pot. Stuffed vegetables, peppers, zucchini, cabbage, eggplants, tomatoes ... It's really yummy. I do a lot of different risottos and pastas too. I love cooking for someone, it's a very warm and loving thing to do, but I only like to cook for people I like. It's meaningful to me. I love cooking for myself as well because I live to make good food. Making the most organic, healthy food with almost no fat, such as chicken and vegetables - that's a fun exercise.

I didn't start dieting till I started acting. The director, who was very short and skinny, wanted me to weigh the same as him. He decided everyone on the set should be his weight. He made me go down too far, and then I got sick. I hate dieting because I love food. Dieting is the most boring thing in the world. I hate exercising as well. I have gained a little weight recently due to stress and hopefully I will lose it soon. Not through dieting though.

Vietnamese stir-fry

This dish is certainly one way to get a decent amount of plant matter into the body. Also, the rapid cooking helps to preserve some of the nutritional value of the vegetables.

Couscous

Like rice (see risotto), couscous is far from ideal as a food. I'm hoping that Julie uses this as an accompaniment to a meal, rather than the basis of one.

Spring rolls

Like the stir-fry, this food will be another opportunity for Julie to consume some vegetable matter. There's no good nutritional reason why these shouldn't include some shreds of meat too, though.

Shrimps

I am surprised that this food has not been vetoed for its cholesterol content, although studies show that cholesterol levels in women have little or no relationship to heart-disease risk anyway.

Stuffed peppers

Peppers are rich in carotenoid nutrients that are believed to be disease-protective. Julie should use the stuffing to consume something truly nutritious: not rice, perhaps some meat and vegetables.

Tamarind soup

Tamarind is a source of hydroxycitric acid, which inhibits an enzyme responsible for fat synthesis in the body. Julie may find the consumption of this food helps her attain and maintain her ideal weight.

Risotto

A good risotto can be a joy to eat, but its basic ingredient, white rice, will generally destabilise blood sugar and insulin levels. As white rice has very little nutritional value, I'd eat this as a starter, followed by more nutritious fare.

· 2 Days in Paris is out on DVD shortly