My Story
I cannot remember a time when I have not been interested in food. As a young child I delighted in poring over my mother's cookbooks. I was also very interested in eating (perhaps a little too much so as my fondness for food also led me to suffer the ignominy of being a 'fat kid'). By my early teens I was, willingly, cooking our family meals several times a week.
At age 16 I entertained the idea of being a chef. This same year I had to endure home economics classes at school. Watching my class mates create lumpy white sauce and the smell of greasy lamb-chops that permeated the classroom kitchen turned me off wanting to have anything to do with food en masse.
My next career inspiration came more like a revelation: a knowingness came over me that I was going to be a writer. Oh divine planter of such ideas why could you not have made me a doctor, lawyer or accountant? This would have allowed me an assured career path resulting in the acquisition of several properties and a superannuation fund such that at age 35 I could declare that I 'wanted more from life' and settle down to write a book (secure in the knowledge that the bills will still get paid).
Despite my literary themed revelation I had no idea what I wanted to write about nor how to get started as a 'writer'. Instead I completely misspent my youth on wanton travel and various unaligned education. The one consistent factor in my life through all this was that I always made my living working with food: serving it, cooking it and teaching cookery. I also cooked for pleasure and did a lot of entertaining.
On a trip to New York I picked up a copy of Reay Tannahill's Food in History and experienced part two of my earlier career revelation. I had discovered what I was going to write about: food!
And at 35 I wrote my first book (even though I had to worry about bills).
Click to find out more about my writing, cooking classes, travel, recipes and consulting and other projects.