‘MY KIDS ARE BORN TO BE COOKS!’
The renowned chef has a lot on her plate, but family always comes first
For Karen Martini, cooking isn’t just her career, it’s a way of bringing her family together in her jam-packed life.
“Cooking and food are very much part of our family,” the 51-year-old tells Woman’s Day. “The number one question from my daughters is always, ‘What’s for dinner?’ – and that question always comes at breakfast.”
Karen, who first began cooking when she was
15, always associates food with “good times and conversations” and urges people, if they get a chance, to “cook with your kids or at least eat with the family around the table a couple of times a week”. “You’ll really know what’s going on in their lives,” she says.
THE FAMILY RECIPE
So ingrained in cooking is her family, that the Better Homes And Gardens star even called upon her daughters Stella, 16, and Amber, 14, to help her create her newest cook book, the definitive 912-page COOK, “especially for the dessert and baking chapters,” she laughs.
“They were kind of guiding me on the basics, like the basic cheesecake, pancakes and scones, coffee scrolls, cinnamon buns. Everything they love – like they’re obsessed with chia seeds and praline – I tried to perfect the recipe and include it in the book. They make a mean smoothie, too, which made it in,” she adds.
While they may not be following their mum into a commercial kitchen anytime soon – she wants them to have as many options as possible when they leave Year 12 – Karen says she sees a natural talent in both of them. “They’re cooking naturally because they’ve seen me do it. They also have this innate sense of hospitality. There have been times when we’ve visited a restaurant and they’ve seen customers get ignored by a waiter and they’re like, ‘Mum, that family just walked in and weren’t greeted by the staff,’” she giggles.
KEEPING UP WITH THE MARTINIS
While she’s busy juggling her family and her Melbourne restaurant Hero, Karen says she still finds time to entertain for her BH&G co-stars,
particularly best friend Joh Griggs, and the occasional date night with husband Michael. “I’m constantly trying to get out of him what he likes, but he’s a Libran so he’s always saying, ‘Whatever you feel like,’ but I know he loves pasta and a classic chocolate dessert, like a mousse or cake, so he’s an easy customer, really.”
TIME FOR TV
Fans can rest assured that no matter how insane her life gets, she will always make time for Better Homes And Gardens. “That will always be in the schedule, every year,” she promises. “It’s my 17th season on the show, which is a long time. So people have grown up with me, and that’s such a nice feeling.”
She adds that the secret to her enduring career is that she’s never been about creating flashy, unachievable dishes. “We know that viewers are cooking mine and Ed [Halmagyi’s] recipes – which is great. And I think that’s the secret to the show. There’s a little bit of magic in there for everyone.
“I don’t think there’s anything else that’s going to take that show’s place. It’s a constant reminder that everything’s OK in a way. It makes people comfortable in a world that is quite challenging,” she adds.
And with a seemingly endless appetite for reality TV cooking shows, Karen says she will “never say never” to a return to My Kitchen Rules in the future. “I would love the opportunity to judge
– but I’m not about to be a contestant on one of those shows,” she laughs.