When considering life’s great pleasures, it is a universal truth that they most often come in the simplest form – a perfect combination of family, friends, community, music and food. For Maggie Beer, there is no better medley of ingredients. From her beloved home in the Barossa Valley, Maggie shares her love for fresh produce and good food with the world, through her renowned pheasant farm, coveted range of gourmet products, and beloved television show, The Cook and The Chef.
One might assume that a woman who exudes a passion for food as much as Maggie Beer, might find her greatest moments of peace whilst pottering around her garden tending lovingly to her vegetables, or perhaps creating a new dish in her kitchen. In fact, where Maggie finds the most peace is in music, attending a weekly singing group in the Barossa where she lends her pipes to everything from acapella, jazz and even the occasional opera. These regular sojourns into song were born of a desire to satiate her love for music, as she is yet to find enough time to dedicate to practising the baby grand piano given to her by her family for her 50th birthday.
“I have a beautiful piano and I am looking for time to go back to it,” she smiles. “But with my busy lifestyle it’s actually easier to put effort into singing every week than it is to have to practise the piano everyday.”
It’s hard not to be soothed by the calming tones of Maggie’s voice, one Australia has come to know well through her work on the ABC television show The Cook and The Chef, in which Maggie and executive chef Simon Bryant take an amiable journey through Australia’s culinary history, united by their love of fresh produce. Her warm smile, twinkling eyes and caring demeanour have endeared her to the nation (helped also by her divine range of gourmet products, which includes quince paste, irresistible ice creams, and her much beloved cooking essential, Verjuice).
Asked why she cares so much, Maggie responds with her usual innate humility. “It comes from being lucky myself and the fact that I have so much joy through food, family and music,” she muses. “It just comes from within. My greatest achievement has been encouraging others and showing them how simple food can give you such joy. I’ve found a voice that I’ve been able to share with others.“
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until she was 34 that Maggie made her professional foray into food. Leaving school at age 14, she first dabbled in nursing before an injury encouraged her to spread her wings and explore the world beyond Australia, first to New Zealand and then to Scotland and Europe. When she returned to Australia at age 24 to be closer to her parents, she found a job with Ansett General Aviation, which she eventually threw in for a job making sandwiches at a chalet on the ski fields of Mount Buller. It was there that she met her husband Colin, with whom she would eventually move to the Barossa Valley, beginning her great journey into food.
“I actually grew up in a household where food was incredibly important and I had more subliminal knowledge than I had any idea about,” she recalls. “So when we eventually came to the Barossa Valley it came through necessity, because we were farming pheasants and nobody knew what to do with them. But I was also just inspired by everything that surrounded me. As a city girl with a love of food coming to the country, it was like opening Pandora’s Box.“
In the decades since, Maggie has earned a place for herself amongst the most revered foodies in Australia, propelled by her passion for organic seasonal produce and sustainable agriculture. On whether she thinks that there will come a time when seasonal, sustainable and organic produce is seen as the norm rather than a luxury, Maggie says that it all comes down to grassroots action. “There is a lot of produce from sustainable agriculture that’s not organic, so the question to ask is how your food is grown,” she advises. “Will it become the norm? Well, I would love to see a trend back to people growing much more of their own food, and then they will become much more demanding about knowing where their food has come from. Movements are driven by people asking for more. My utopia is that it would become the norm, but we have to change a whole culture here in order to do that, and that can start with our children.“
Maggie credits her own parents with igniting her love for food, and says that it’s a responsibility that all parents should take seriously. “If I hadn’t been brought up with this love of food and, I guess, inherited an instinct about food from my father, as my daughter has from me, I wouldn’t be doing what I do now,” she says passionately. “Parents should let their children cook with them and have fun in doing so. Don’t make it a chore; grow something first and bring it to the table. Cooking with my grandchildren is one of my favourite things to do. It’s a way of bonding.”
One of Maggie’s greatest inspirations in this area is fellow cook, Stephanie Alexander. “What Stephanie is doing with the Kitchen Garden Foundation is key in getting children involved with cooking,” she says emphatically. “If only that could be taken by the federal government and advanced so that every child had the opportunity to have three lessons a week in primary school about growing and cooking. What it does to empower children and give them life lessons and joy is beyond measure.”
Maggie is renowned for her cooking style, which eschews recipes in place of instinct. “All I am is a produce-driven cook,” she clarifies with a laugh. “I’m a country cook and I’m just relating to the produce I have to work with. I’m not saying you have to cook without a recipe. The main thing is that you can find joy in cooking both from using a recipe and from cooking instinctively. You need confidence to be simple and the confidence comes from having fun in the kitchen and learning the things that you like. Don’t try to be tricky, simply relate to the produce at hand. Great produce means you do very little.”
Asked what her dream is now, Maggie again reveals her altruistic side. “My dream is to be one of the people who are helping to change the culture of food for aged care,” she shares. “That’s my search at the moment.”
As she continues her quest to make a positive impact on the world through her passion for food, Maggie reveals that her inspiration continues to lie in her love of the Barossa, her family and being part of a community – and combining those things with the joy of food and music. With this in mind, she imparts a sage but simple piece of wisdom. “Bring people around your table,” she implores. “And share your table not only with your friends and family, but with those in need.”