Author, chef and broadcaster. Born Mary Di Ciacca in Edinburgh, one of eight children, her parents ran both an ice-cream shop and a fish-and-chip shop in Cockenzie (East Lothian). Her grandparents had emigrated from the Lazio region of Italy at the beginning of the 20th C. She was educated at St. Margaret's Convent School in Edinburgh and went on to study biological sciences at the University of Edinburgh and then to take a postgraduate diploma in business studies at Heriot-Watt University. She began her career as a graduate trainee in retail but in 1979 married Philip Contini, grandson of Alfonso Crolla, co-founder of the notable Edinburgh delicatessen and wine merchant Valvona & Crolla. She became a director of this company in 1983. Her passion for Italian food gave rise to several books including the Italian Sausage Bible (2012), the Easy Peasy cooking for children series, and others dedicated to members of her family; Dear Francesca: An Italian Journey of Recipes Recounted with Love (2003) and Dear Alfonso: An Italian Feast of Love and Laughter (2012). Contini has also written for The Scotsman, the Herald and the East Lothian Courier newspapers, appeared on television and radio, and has co-presented Scotland's Larder for STV.
Her efforts in promoting Italian food and history brought her the award of a knighthood ('Cavaliere') by the Republic of Italy in 2011, a lifetime achievement award at the Scottish Italian Awards (2015) and a British OBE in 2020 for "services to the Scottish food industry and Scottish-Italian relations".
Contini lives in Dunbar in East Lothian with her husband.
