ABOUT THIS SITE:
To pursue a career in the hospitality industry as a chef in Australia, in 1971, was not a popular choice. Then, like now, there were jobs that had better pay, better hours and better working conditions. On the other hand, there was always plenty of work and after training and the necessary experience, it gave you very portable skills. During my career I worked with some really great companies and people from many different nationalities. Self-employment eventually beckoned and would account for nearly half of my working career. More on that later.
By 2015, my wife and I had started the process of winding down with an eye on retirement, but it took another four years and Covid to finally make the break on my culinary life – or so I thought. After nearly a year of downsizing stuff, we moved into an over 55’s village.
In 2021 I started a men’s cooking group within the village. Covid made life difficult for the group but by the following year our little band had taken on the larger task of hosting regular dinners for the residents. In conjunction with the village Social Committee, we started with 30 guests. By the following year the guest list had expanded to 75 residents.
I started thinking about the people I knew (outside my own industry) and their prowess in the kitchen. What was life going to be like in retirement for the many who had limited culinary skills? Preparing and consuming food can take up a substantial part of your waking hours. Were they destined to eat plainly or spend a little more time eating out?
Putting aside the many reasons that could be identified for the general culinary indifference of our baby boomer generation, I felt it’s not too late to appeal to a wider audience. This newsletter will contain, over time, information that you may find useful. It could be a recipe, suggestion on how to cater for a group, culinary training for mature aged people and of course, my own personal thoughts on process’s that worked for me during my career. I’ll endeavour to cover most related topics that people living independently will hopefully find useful.
If you live in a community similar to ours or perhaps you still reside in your own home of many years or you are living in a ‘granny flat’ – regardless of where you live, if you have a kitchen, any of my recipes can be confidently re-created.
