The Adelaide Hills Foodies Book Club

Madison White

The Adelaide Hill‟s Foodies Bookclub combines a passion for food with a passion for literature and

turns them into something wonderful.

The Foodies Book Club is the brainchild of renowned author of „The Australian Blue Ribbon

Cookbook‟ and Adelaide Hill‟s local Liz Harfull, who got the idea from one of her friends who runs

a similar club in Brisbane.

“Having the idea was one thing but making it happen was another,” Liz said.

“Basically the members of the book club read a book with a strong food theme, then we have a meal

inspired by the book while we talk about it.”

“I have known Beverly for years and I know she trains students at Heathfield High School in

cooking. I went to her asking if this was something the school might me interested in being a part of

and she thought it was a wonderful idea.”

“I wanted to choose books from wildly diverse cultures, but I also didn‟t want price to be an issue

that would prevent people from coming along. This also brings the community into the school and

broadens the experiences of the students. It‟s a match made in heaven!”

The book club is currently in its fifth year and is as popular as ever with both readers and students.

Over the years, members have read everything from Charles Dickens‟ „A Christmas Carol‟ to Julie

Powell‟s modern classic „Julie and Julia – tasting every one.

“The group has sat down to many different meals over the years,” Liz said.

“We have not yet come up with a book, style, meal or menu that they haven‟t been able to tackle,

and we‟ve looked at some pretty adventurous things but the quality is always extraordinary.”

“We have tackled everything from Russian, rural Italian, French, Cajun, Chinese, Japanese -

everything. One of our most successful gatherings was when we recreated a Victorian England

Christmas dinner.”

The students have had to work hard in the book club kitchen. Their teacher Bev Millot is very proud

of how her students have improved over their time in her kitchen.

“It has been a really amazing experience for them and they always rise to the challenge,” Bev

said.

“Every month the students get to experience different food cultures. I don‟t even think you would

get to make that much variety if you were working in a restaurant.”

“What daunts them the most though is the fact that they have to speak about the food they have

prepared in front of the guests, but they know that those people aren‟t challenging their knowledge.

They‟re genuinely interested in their passion for food and they‟re always blown away at the

quality.”

At the end of the year the students in Beverley‟s class receive a TAFE Certificate II in Kitchen

Operations which can lead them into an apprenticeship.

“One of my students from a few years ago just won apprentice of the year,” Beverley said.

“The kids that are a part of it thank me at the end of the day, even though they‟ve done all the hard

work, they thank me for the opportunity.”

One of those students, Year 11 student Magdalena Robinson, comes from a family of chefs and is

hoping to follow in their footsteps. She knows that she will be able to take the skills she has used

into the industry with her.

“It‟s wonderful,” Magdalena said.

“It helped me a lot with my team work and being able to cope with pressure. It‟s really helped me

develop my skills both socially with the kitchen staff and in my cooking. I have learned a lot of new

techniques that will help me get further in the industry.”

“It‟s so nice to just talk about the food you‟ve made with people who share that interest. I mean,

everybody enjoys food but not a lot of people love food.”

Year 12 student Aaron Simpson is an old hand at with the Foodies Book Club, currently in his

second year in the class.

“It‟s pretty cool,” Aaron said.

“It‟s a good experience to make food because we explore such diverse food cultures. The best thing

is probably the end result, hearing all the feedback and being a part of the club. I am hoping to

become an apprentice chef.”

In September, the Foodies Book Club will be having a very special meeting and going back to

where it all began. The first book the group read five years ago was book „Rose Petal Jam‟ by Beata

Zatorska and Simon Target. Now, the group will be reading the much anticipated sequel „Sugared

Orange‟ in preparation for their meeting, where they will be joined by Beata and Simon in person.

“We are flying the authors in from Sydney,” Liz said.

“The first book is about Beata‟s family in Poland and brings together recipes from the summer. We

all had these preconceptions about Polish food being heavy, but these recipes really surprised us. It

was definitely one of our most popular meals.

“So instead of me taking the discussion, the authors will be leading the group which will be very

special. We are almost fully booked, and we also have a lot of people from the polish community in

Adelaide coming, so the response has been fabulous.”

The dinner will be held on September 3 at Heathfield High School. For more information on the

Adelaide Hill's Foodies Book Club, call 0409 674 941.