My Food Memoirs

“Can I fondle your pumpkins?” Lloyd Grossman asked as I was busy preparing the ingredients for my first experience of being filmed for television. Not quite the conversation opener I expected but my butternut squash risotto with toasted pine nuts and melting Taleggio won the day. I was so thrilled to have even made it to the quarter finals, kept calm and went on to complete three heats becoming a Finalist in the original era of Master Chef when Lloyd presided over the red, yellow and blue kitchens. With a sharp sense of humour his amusing comments always had to be cut by the Producer before programmes were aired but gave the contestants a totally different experience of the cult cookery programme.

Turn the clock back over a couple of decades before and visualise a crying six week old hungry baby not content with milk. Ever since my mother discovered that stewed apple was the remedy to stop me wailing, I began a life-long love and fascination of taste. At about the age of ten it became clearly apparent to me that if I ever wanted to eat rice or pasta or anything else my mother didn’t like and consequently didn’t cook, I would need to learn how to cook them myself. And so I did. Since then I have read an endless stream of inspiring books by diverse authors; devoured inspiring magazine articles; enjoyed cooking for family and friends; and been influenced by travel all over the world.

My mother’s good but limited traditional English repertoire was in fact an excellent foundation for me. Then from around the age of twelve, my sister and I would take turns to experiment and prepare whatever we wanted for our family dinner on Saturday evenings, knowing when it was Dad’s turn we’d go out to eat.

I’d choose to watch Graham Kerr entertaining on TV as the Galloping Gourmet, as well as the much loved Duchess of Duke Street when I was only interested in what was being prepared in the kitchens below stairs. Today’s programmes are a constant influence from Rick Stein’s journeys to Jamie’s adventures. Having needed permission from my school Headmistress when I was 16 to enrol on an Adult Education evening course entitled “Cookery for Entertaining” to buying every issue of A La Carte and the original Taste magazines I’ve always had a passion to learn about food, to cook and eat well.

I’ve experienced wonderful gourmet holidays in Italy; cooking classes in the Far East and Australia and made countless personal pilgrimages to experience particular chefs and restaurants I’ve been fortunate to try all over the world from Neil Perry in Sydney to Thomas Keller in California. But I have never wanted to cook professionally.

From trips to the States spanning over two decades where I discovered the Silver Palate cookbook in New York; Lee Bailey’s fabulous style in “Cooking for Friends”; Martha Stewart’s debut with Entertaining; and subsequently Ena Garten the “Barefoot Contessa” (her Brownies are renowned) to name only a few, American inspiration continues to enthuse me, as do the fabulous food experiences there. Going for brunch at Norma’s in New York is a must every time I’m in the city, to indulge in the buttermilk pancakes with Georgia peaches, walnuts and pure maple syrup.

As soon as I started living in Australia in my late twenties I knew I had found a culinary heaven and became a dedicated fan of both Vogue Entertaining & Travel magazine; and Australian Gourmet Traveller. I experimented with ingredients I’d never had before such as succulent fresh water yabbies (pre-historic looking but very delicious large shell fish), tasted eye-wateringly good Laksa, found the hard to resist Hummingbird cake as delicious as it sounds, to making a special trip to the award winning Maggie Bear’s Pheasant Farm in Adelaide, South Australia. I’d never heard of verjuice before (made from grapes), but Maggie made the ingredient her own and having a bottle on hand enhances sauces effortlessly.

So many chefs and authors have evolved my love of cooking and my library reflects that including Claudia Roden for her incredible insight to cuisine and culture; Sri Owen whose encyclopaedia of Asian cookery is brilliant; Nigel Slater for his evocative descriptions; Alex Mackay for transporting me to Provence; Alastair Little for his down to earth and fabulous Italian recipes; MFK Fisher whose food writing is legendary; Margaret Costa championing cooking through the seasons, plus countless dozens more including Skye Gyngell whose menu at Petersham Nurseries near London is always the best of ingredients available that day. I also still have cherished articles by Frances Bissell when she used to write in the Times. Her column was a constant delight and the first I turned to every Saturday to devour her weekly dialogue on produce at its peak and the perfect recipes to show them in their best light. Her enthusiasm also inspired a quest on my first visit to Rome to track down a specific family trattoria and enjoy deep fried courgette flowers stuffed with buffalo mozzarella.

These days I enjoy exploring online blogs and the entertaining website thelovebite.com. The author, Manix, has a wonderfully relaxed and contemporary take on food, to such an extent I feel like inviting him over for dinner (or more truthfully wishing he’d invite me, no problem that he lives in Los Angeles). Who could resist a guy whose intention is to start the evening where he would hope to finish up with his date, at home?

I feel sorry for people who eat to live rather than live to eat. To me there is something deeply fulfilling about that magical combination of food, wine and friends. Life is for living and how better than delighting in delicious dishes, lovingly prepared every day even if just a simple bowl of homemade soup. I have a respect and empathy for ingredients, cooking intuitively from the heart, with a generosity of spirit. Whenever I see the early crop forced English rhubarb in February I can’t resist buying too much and rush home to poach it with the zest and juice of an orange, sweetened with a little honey to be enjoyed with thick set natural yoghurt and crunchy granola for my breakfast.  My local farmers’ market is only held once a month, but those Saturday mornings take priority over other plans in my diary and I try never to miss one. I learn continually and am now far more nutritionally aware, following the trail blazed by Jane Clarke and Michael van Straten.

Although I enjoy cooking whatever I feel like, I do have some key signature dishes which are like old friends to be re-visited. Pumpkin Ravioli with sage butter is a firm favourite of mine, a wonderful reminder of a special date when I was living in Melbourne and treated to Marchetti’s Latin restaurant for dinner. Light pillows of pasta stuffed with a delectable filling combining roast squash with mustard fruits and crushed Amaretti biscuits, served with melted butter, scattered with crispy fried sage leaves and freshly grated Pecorino. Heaven on a plate.

I particularly love preparing desserts. Whether making gooseberry and elderflower fool served with lavender shortbread; or a deep Pavlova full of thickly whipped cream combined with a good dollop of homemade lemon curd, covered with handfuls of luscious Summer strawberries, a light dusting of caster sugar and torn lemon balm leaves reminiscent of childhood Summers; to a more tropical macadamia, pineapple and coconut tart with palm sugar – a recipe I made up to incorporate flavours I adore (and which won me the Good Housekeeping Creative Cook of the Year Award).

I believe cooking should appeal to all five senses. It nurtures the soul and should be savoured.