A COOK'S LIFE

by STEPHANIE ALEXANDER

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New hardcover book, published 2012, 362 pages.

With The Cook's Companion front and centre in half a million kitchens, Stephanie Alexander is the very definition of a household name. Each day thousands turn to her 'food bible' for the most reliable recipes and advice. But before Stephanie Alexander penned a word for the emerging food media, let alone for The Cook's Companion, she had spent decades avidly documenting food experiences.

Shaped by her mother's dedication to good food and her father's love of reading, she trained as a librarian and all the while observed, assessed and re-created the dishes she loved. Her monthly university allowance rarely lasted more than a week – all spent on pan-fried flounder and chestnut Mont Blanc.

She was seduced over pain Poîlane while working as an au pair in Paris, and later over ackee and saltfish in London. In 1966, with no formal culinary training and a newborn baby, but brimming with confidence and sheer determination, she opened Jamaica House with her first husband. The personal toll was great and it was many years until she emerged on the restaurant scene again.

Stephanie's Restaurant would become part of Melbourne food folklore, permanently raising the bar for restaurant dining in Australia. At the time of its opening, in 1976, a salad to most people meant iceberg lettuce, no-one had heard of goat's cheese and ginger came in a tin. Over the next twenty-one years, in her quest for the sort of produce she had enjoyed while living and travelling in Europe, Stephanie championed small local suppliers or grew it herself.

Her indefatigable determination and single-minded vision have influenced – and sometimes intimidated – a generation of chefs, cooks and diners. And now her Kitchen Garden Foundation is inspiring tens of thousands of primary school children across Australia to grow and cook their own food.

A Cook's Life is a very personal account of one woman's uncompromising commitment to good food, and of how it shaped her life and changed the eating habits of a nation.

About the author

Stephanie Alexander OAM is a cook, former restauranteur, champion of the quality & diversity of Australian food and one of Australia's most highly regarded food writers. Stephanie has written thirteen books, including Stephanie's Menu for Food Lovers, Stephanie's Seasons and Stephanie Alexander & Maggie Beer's Tuscan Cookbook (co-author). Her signature publication, The Cook's Companion, has established itself as the kitchen bible in nearly 400,000 homes. A second edition of The Cook's Companion was published in 2004.

Stephanie Alexander's philosophy is that there is no such thing as special food for children: if food is good, everyone will enjoy it regardless of age. Her publication Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids, published in 2006, tells the story behind the recipes of the Kitchen Garden at Collingwood College, which Stephanie set up in 2001 in the grounds of a large inner-city school. It includes plans, activities and lists that together make up a blueprint that other schools may wish to follow. The program has given hundreds of primary-school children the opportunity to plant, grow, harvest, cook and eat the very best kind of food - freshly grown, organic, unprocessed and delicious. Her most recent book, the magnificent Kichen Garden Companion, was published October 2009

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A Cook's Life by Stephanie Alexander