My early food memories are mainly linked to my grandparents. On Saturday we'd all have a flaky pasty with mushy peas and a nob of butter, and then add tomato sauce and mix them up.
After my mum and dad got divorced I was entitled to free school dinners but my mum said "under no circumstances" because she was proud.
The first posh meal out I had was on my 10th birthday. With Mum and Dad, at a restaurant in Blackrod called Rapunzel's. They'd divorced the year before and I think Dad was trying to woo her back. I remember the thick yellowy sauce on the steaks, and the bill. At school next day I told everyone "it cost £45 for three!".
When I first went down to Rada, everyone was eating hummus and pesto and I'd never heard of things like that. I thought: "What the bloody hell's pesto?"
At drama school I was told: "Lay off the chips or you'll never play Juliet". Sometimes, in the stock room of the set of Dinnerladies I'd put away three or four Mars bars while waiting for a scene. Then, at 24, I lost five stone.
Food is important in working out a character. How she eats is a window into her temperament. If I think she likes her food I'll put on a few pounds, or lose a few if she lives on her nerves. I played Myra Hindley and I felt she was an economical eater. Veronica in Shameless used to have fish without batter.
The big thing I learnt hanging out with the legal profession for Silk is that when it comes to drink, they're totally excessive. My God, barristers can put it back. I once went on stage after two glasses of red, but I'll never do that again. I was terrible.
My boyfriend is Ukrainian, he's a very good cook. I remember the shock, expressed in pidgin English, when I met his parents and told them "I don't eat meat". This week I've been trying to cook fish and beetroot for him, as he's been getting in at 9.30pm from work. But I've been nearly in tears on the phone, saying: "I don't know how to feed you!"
We've got this really swanky supermarket now called Booths in Salford Media City. It's all locally sourced produce. But I've been thinking: "Am I a snob now? Have I become middle class?" When I was a kid, if someone went in a Booths, people thought she was Hyacinth Bucket.
Maxine Peake is in Miss Julie at the Royal Exchange, Manchester until 12 May. A new series of Silk starts on BBC1 next month
