Ahead of her talk at the Powerhouse Parramatta Opening festival, the 81-year-old cookbook author and presenter says she still has a lot on her plate
It has been 20 years since the first episode of the Cook and the Chef aired in 2006, introducing Australian viewers to culinary odd couple Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant. Each episode the pair gently ribbed each other in Beer’s cottagecore kitchen in the Barossa Valley, then turned out dishes such as bruschetta, grilled kingfish and olive tapenade.
The show served up 154 episodes over four seasons – and who knows how many litres of verjuice. But there was a moment, in pre-production, when it seemed like the series wouldn’t get off the ground.