jane

a new path

although food and cooking have always been something that has Brought me joy, I did not start out in a career in food. an opportunity for my husband to take a position Seoul, South Korea opened a door to a brand new path for me. leaving my career in industrial law, human resource management and training and development, I was flung into life as an expat wife and mother of two young children, navigating life in Seoul. what I didn’t realise at the time was that this experience was the start of a new journey that was inspired by new ingredients, flavours and cooking techniques. at a fundamental level, the culture and history around food and the importance of food creating togetherness and community was starting to resonate with me.

after what was supposed to be only a two year posting in seoul, we moved to Kuala lumpur, Malaysia. for someone who loves food, Malaysia is a playground. with influences from the indigenous peoples of the many areas that make up Malaysia, china, the Middle East, India, its asian neighbours, and the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonists.

whilst being introduced to a whole new feed culture, I was also doing what I have always loved doing - feeding people. it was our new friends who planted the seed that has led me to where I am now. a suggestion that I should write a cookbook to share my approach to everyday cooking and entertaining, was all it took! the cookbook led to a request to run a cooking class (then classes led to a blog and catering). after ten years in kl, we moved across the causeway to Singapore. there I had the opportunity to work with a brand new cooking school, study nutrition and develop a cooking program for school-leavers.

after almost 20 years, we finally returned to Melbourne. I knew I wanted to continue to teach cooking so joined Essential ingredient with the hope to restart their cooking classes. when the essential ingredients journey ended (after 30 years in business!) I knew it was time. it was time to find a space and create a cooing class business.

timing can be everything in life and the timing was right. my daughter annalise was also ready to dive into a new opportunity and sharing my passion for food, cooking and events, we decided to take the plunge. and now here we are…