YOUR mother's dinners are often perfect comfort food.

But how many can claim they're mum's main course helped point them on the way to career success?

Julie Macleod is now a head chef in a chic Glasgow restaurant, she's been a Masterchef contestant , has successful blog and is being courted by television companies keen to turn her into the next Nigella.

However, 23 year-old Julie claims that on leaving Hyndland Secondary she was clueless as to what to do with her life.

"My mum is from Malaysia - came to Scotland when she was eighteen - and when I was the same age I had no idea what to do with my life.

"I took a couple of years out and did some less attractive jobs, mum began to teach me to cook, it has always been such a big part of her life, and I really began to appreciate what was involved."

Julie meanwhile worked in retail but began cooking for friends and they suggested she showcase her undoubted talents.

The young lady, who lives in Glasgow's west end, applied for TV's Masterchef, and was astonished to find herself accepted.

"It was an incredible experience," she says. "It was strange at first to have the camera trained on you but I soon came to enjoy it."

Julie left the show at the quarter final stage, and buoyed by the success she looked to develop a career in cooking.

She began hosting supper clubs at home, which proved to be great fun, and great experience.

"I'd go on line and tell people the menu I was preparing for a certain date, and then I'd cook for ten strangers at home.

"But it wasn't just about coming up with great food, it was fascinating trying to create a dynamic whereby people would chat, and by the end of the night everyone would know each other."

She adds, smiling; "The secret was in putting people on a big table, rather than separate them."

Julie was still working in retain, but she'd get home at 7pm 'and work like mad' to prepare the food for that evening.

However, while her work ethic was enviable, she decided she wanted to take her cooking skills to the next level.

She applied for, and landed, a job as a commis chef at Glasgow restaurant, The Scullery.

"It was scary," she says, smiling of her first weeks on the job. "The environment was so intense."

The language was industrial, the atmosphere as hot as the ovens at times.

"It's one of the few environments where it's deemed okay to shout and swear at people," she says with a wry smile of the typical restaurant kitchen."

Julie was also working 12-13 hours a day.

"It was at this time, I had to really think about whether I could survive in this world," she says. "It was really tough. And I had no real social life. I'd bring in a bottle of perfume and a change of clothes so's I could go out after work.

"But I was so tired I rarely lasted more than an hour.

"I guess it was make or break time for me."

Julie decided the experience would make her.

"I decided to go for it. And once I had this mindset I realised I love the pressure of the kitchen, that I can thrive on the adrenalin.

"And once the dinners is served there's a real sense of elation, having managed to make a lot of people happy."

Julie, over the months, was promoted to Second Chef. Then she decided to move onto a restaurant which served the sort of food she was more interested in cooking.

Two months ago, she joined Glasgow restaurant, Babu as Head Chef, which serves curries and Bombay street food.

"It's very similar to Malaysian food, and it all ties in nicely."

But Julie's not content with cooking food. She also writes about cooking food.

"I began my blog after I appeared on Masterchef last year," she rewinds.

"What I realised about Masterchef is that people love to try and copy the menus, but some of it is very advanced. I wanted to let people know how easy cooking great food can be."

The result was Breakfast At Julie's, a weekly blog which offers menus that 'aren't too complex'.

"TV sometimes presents the unachievable," she says. "Very often the recipes you see on television aren't always tried out.

"I'll work on recipes a few times, and make sure they work."

Julie's blog led to her doing cooking demonstrations at In Toto Kitchens in Glasgow, and appearing at festivals in the north of Scotland.

She also writes recipes for companies such as Fine Ales.

"The business seems to keep on growing. And at this moment I'm working on a couple of TV concept that is getting interest from production houses."

Julie, who is single at the moment, will be appearing on STV Glasgow on April 30, showing viewers how to cook Malaysian food and she's developing an internet cooking project.

"One idea I have for a TV series is I'd love to go to Malaysia."

Her parents reaction; "My mum is over the moon. And now that my dad has come to realise I'm not going to be a lawyer he's really happy for me."