The food temptation that even Maggie Beer can’t resist
Australian food icon Maggie Beer believes that food without flavour, without pleasure in both cooking and the eating, is unthinkable. The cook, food author, restaurateur and food manufacturer, has always lived by the philosophy to eat well to live well. And now at 72, with about a dozen recipe books under her belt, she’s just released one of her most important cookbooks yet.
Working with one of the world’s leading Alzheimer’s researchers Dr Ralph Martins, Maggie’s latest cookbook Maggie’s Recipes for Life brings together 200 recipes ranging from starters to mains and dessert that are just as tasty as they are good for you.
Although there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s yet, research has shown that good food, exercise and mental stimulation can have a protective effect against dementia – and Maggie’s on a mission to prove that healthy food can be full of flavour and “lusciousness and deliciousness” as she describes. The recipes in the book have the added benefit of being good for your mind and body, too, with all the recipes using foods that are packed full of the nutrients needed for optimum brain health.
“This is not a diet book but rather a book of beautiful, life-enhancing good – it’s a way of life,” writes Maggie in the introduction to the cookbook.
Over60 sat down with the celebrated food author to find out what’s usually on the Beer dinner table, what eating well means to her and the one food temptation that even Maggie can’t resist.
Missed the first part of our interview with Maggie? Read it here.
On how she manages to keep up with her busy life at 72
I have huge amounts of energy, I have so much I want to do and I love what I do. It gives me energy. I eat well, I don't eat processed foods and the foods that I make for Maggie Beer products are manufactured but they're not processed. Everything we make in our export kitchen is made with really great fresh ingredients and nothing that is not natural. So that's been my own life but it's been absolutely dictated my business life as well. And so I have lived a good food life and that's part of the reason I believe I’m so strong.
On diets, food fads, and why balance is key to eating well
I have just never believed in fads. I've never believed in taking something out of your diet. If you exclude something from your diet, it will be a fad. It will be something you do for a while. You know I don't use a lot of sugar in my cooking but that doesn't mean I take it out entirely at all! It also doesn’t mean you can’t like something sweet.
What you want to do is look for balance. I'm always looking for balance, but it's also about finding ways to make food tasty. If food doesn't taste beautiful, there's no point to me. There's got to be flavour, I'm driven by flavour but I want equal qualities of flavour and health (in terms of the antioxidants and the goodness that that food will give me) and pleasure in cooking it. So you know this is not a diet book or a health book, it's a life-book.
On what is on her dinner table
Of course, I cook every night! We eat very simply during the week and more celebratory on the weekend. Last weekend we had artichokes from my garden in a butter sauce. I also roasted a guinea fowl with some bitter oranges.
During the week it might be something from the larder. I have a big vegetable garden and I have a very good pantry so I can just whip something up. It might be lentils that I've cooked in some chicken stock. The other night I had leek and mushrooms tossed up with some fresh ricotta in the fridge. I had a beautiful meal all within 20 minutes! That's how we eat during the week.
On the one temptation that even she can’t resist
There's only one thing I can think of and that is newly made crunchy peanut butter. I have such a thing about it, it's the only food I don't keep in the house!
Want to try Maggie’s new recipes? Here is a selection from her new cookbook Maggie’s Recipe for Life:
- Chocolate cloud cake with nut cream and rose petals
- Sweet potato fritters with smashed avocado and salmon
- Buckwheat crepes with roasted rhubarb and cinnamon yoghurt
- Turmeric, soy and ginger chicken
- Roasted beetroot salad with thyme, walnut and goat’s cheese
- Spiced sweet potato with black barley and honey turmeric walnuts