A constant companion

As Australia’s “kitchen bible” turns 30 – and is re-released with all new recipes – we look at the role The Cook's Companion has played in our cuisine.

- SUE SMETHURST

A few years ago, Stephanie Alexander was strolling along a quiet country road in the Barossa, out on a morning walk, when a ute rolled up beside her. “The driver wound down his window and said, ‘how great is that Mrs Atkins’ Fruit Slice!’ then promptly rolled the window up and drove off!” she laughs.

“I was stunned I was even recognised because I was looking quite the dag whilst out walking, but then again, Mrs Atkins’ Fruit Slice is pretty good!”

The beloved Australian cook is the first to admit that she never dreamt that the book she wrote 30 years ago, whilst squirrelling morsels of time in between running her iconic restaurant and raising her daughters, would be such a runaway success.

Dubbed Australia’s kitchen bible, The Cook’s Companion – her compendium of all things cooking – was a labour of love that took four long years to write. It became an instant bestseller. The book has been constantly in print since its release in 1996 and is credited with reshaping Australian kitchens.

To date more than half a million copies, many of them with dog-eared pages, hand-scrawled notes in the margins, and pages lovingly stuck together by splats of chocolate or gravy, can be found in homes around the world.

Now, after two years of meticulous revision, which included recooking every recipe and adding 90 more to the collection, Stephanie is releasing an updated 30th anniversary edition of the book that forever changed our dinner tables.