She’s our favourite cook and a national treasure, but the path to her idyllic life was hard fought. In her most revealing interview, Maggie Beer tells Michael Sheather about her childhood heartache, the love of her life and how she built her dream.
It was Mother’s Day, 1984. Eighty customers were seated in the Pheasant Farm Restaurant on Maggie Beer’s farm for an à la carte lunch. It’s a day Maggie will always remember.
“As it was Mother’s Day, we had a big crowd and my daughters, Saskia and Elli, wanted to be with me, but I had to be in the kitchen,” recalls Maggie. “They were only eight and 10, and the only way they could be with me was if they were in the restaurant, too. Saskia got in the sink [restaurant parlance for doing the dishes] and Elli went on the floor with her father, Colin, to wait tables.
“Elli has a magic memory and we have a competition in the family to see who can take orders for a table without writing it down. Sass prefers to be out the back. It was such a perfect day, the family working together like that. It was full of adrenalin and everyone moving quickly, but it was the essence of us as a family.”
Maggie Beer would appear to have a perfect life. She is one of the country’s most beloved cooks. She runs a high-profile and successful business. She is widely acclaimed for her warmth and charm, and she lives in idyllic rural beauty among the orchards and vineyards of South Australia’s Barossa Valley.
However, the truth is that Maggie’s life hasn’t always been picture-perfect. In fact, she has been through a lot of personal hardship and heartache. Her childhood dreams were shattered when her family fell into financial ruin, sweeping away her ambitions for a university education and setting her on a divergent path. She spent years pondering what her direction in life should be before finally realising she had known all along.
Denne historien er fra May 2017-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 2017-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
