MAGGIE BEER on the joy of family and her passion for life
Christmas is a special time for Maggie Beer, when family and friends come together to laugh, love and feast. She tells Bronwyn Phillips about the traditions born at her mother’s table, her passion for food producers, and what the New Year has in store.
Maggie Beer is laughing and twirling, ouncing the skirts of her brand new dress. It’s a deep red, with a oor-length skirt that drapes and rustles, and suits Australia’s most beloved cook to a tee. As a tribute, The Weekly’s Style Director, Mattie Cronan, has commissioned this wonderful surprise – a gown created exclusively for Maggie by prominent Australian designer, Toni Maticevski. As the vermillion dress lined in lilac emerged from its suitcase, Maggie was visibly moved. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever put on – the colour, and the voluminous skirt,” Maggie said, choking back tears. “I love it! I’m so happy.”
It’s not a dress Maggie would normally choose for Christmas Day, given the practicalities of preparing her family feast, and The Weekly asks Maggie where she might have the opportunity to wear the stunning creation again. Without hesitation she answers, “I’ll wear it next January for my 75th birthday, and also to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.”
For designer Toni, it was a pleasure to create the dress. “I love Maggie; she’s gorgeous and endearing and does things with passion and enthusiasm,” Toni told The Weekly. “Who better to make something special for?”
Cook, businesswoman, advocate for the elderly, TV regular, author – Maggie is renowned for her enthusiasm and boundless energy. “I’m an incredibly lucky person in that I love what I do,” she tells The Weekly when we visit Maggie at her home in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.
“I’m surrounded by my family; I live in this beautiful countryside with a fantastic community of wonderful people.”
Family, for Maggie, is everything, especially at Christmas. “I have loved Christmas all my life,” she says. “Those memories of my family, my mum and dad, and Mum doing most of the work on Christmas Day. It was exciting.”
This Christmas, up to 18 guests will congregate at the Barossa for lunch. There will be Maggie and husband Colin, daughters Saskia and Elli and their partners, and six grandchildren. Typically, Maggie prepares all the dishes. “I do all the food,” she says with a laugh. “Although I always get into trouble from my daughters about that.”
After presents have been opened – the littlest Beers can’t contain their excitement for too long – family and friends will sit down to enjoy Maggie’s Christmas feast. Its origins were established when Maggie was a girl, growing up in Lakemba, in Sydney’s south west.
“That’s when our family tradition started,” Maggie recalls. “Things were incredibly tight, but there was always a feast. We didn’t have a fridge; we had several ice boxes. The iceman came even on Christmas morning.”
At the heart of Maggie’s childhood Christmas was a table laden with food, presided over by her parents, Doreen and Ronald. “Mum would cook a ham in the copper, there would be poultry, a goose cooked that morning, and a stuffed sh. And it was the only time we children were allowed a soft drink.” The meal, says Maggie, was always served at room temperature. “It was never a hot lunch.”
Inspired by her childhood Christmas traditions, Maggie’s feast has evolved over the years. Like her mother’s table, Maggie’s features goose, ham, and seafood, with turkey a new addition. “We never had turkey when I was a child,” she admits, “but Saskia started growing this beautiful, corn-fed turkey. They’re free-range, and so good to eat.”
Food and its enjoyment go hand in glove with everything Maggie and her family do. It’s part of the Beer family DNA. Apart from her successful gourmet products, Maggie is passionate about how food is sourced and grown. Living in a rural community, she has seen rsthand the effects of drought
“I do all the food. Although I always get into trouble from my daughters about that.”
and the recent strawberry crisis. The disastrous impact it had on growers caused Maggie much heartache.
“We need to support strawberry growers, and farmers in general,” says Maggie.“So much of the Australian public has rallied behind farmers during the drought, buying hay and donating. It’s so important city people understand the plight of the country, and issues around food security.”
Maggie has had an incredibly busy and, from a business perspective, challenging year, and 2019 is shaping up to be just as hectic. “I always have new business ideas to pursue, and the Foundation is going from strength to strength.” Maggie is talking about the Maggie Beer Foundation, which aims to improve aged care through food and nutrition. “The Royal Commission into aged care shows us we can do it better and we must do it better,” says Maggie. “It is so important to live to the end with good food full of nutrition, avour and pleasure.”
It’s the end of our photoshoot and Maggie is at the table taking a mouthful of semifreddo for the nal shots when Colin arrives. Maggie spies the love of her life walking down the verandah and immediately stands to show him her beautiful new dress. Clearly smitten, Colin can’t take his eyes off Maggie. They hug, and then, in a tender, intimate gesture, gently touch their foreheads together.
As we pack up, the talk returns to Christmas Day. “I can’t imagine not having family,” says Maggie. “When someone says they’re going to be away, I get sulky. Everyone will be here this year … they’ll still be here when the sun goes down.”