A force of nature
A force of nature . That ’ s how Nigella Lawson described Alice Zaslavsky , and we have to agree . Dietitian Connection ’ s Kate Agnew caught up with the author , cook , teacher and food literacy advocate recently , and it was a fast-paced hour that could have lasted all day .
Coming to Australia as a child from Georgia in the former USSR , Alice remembers arriving in a country of abundance and embracing everything that Australian food culture had to offer . Growing up to be a teacher ( of humanities – English , history , and geography ), she wove her love of food into all that she did . When teaching history , she organised a whole pig on a spit and dressed as Cleopatra for medieval day , saying that her students will remember the diet of the Ancient Egyptians forever . Trying to get the concept of a ‘ food and culture ’ elective over the line with her superiors , Alice auditioned for MasterChef with the idea that her students would see her and want to learn more about food . Her journey on the television program was successful , and following that , she had more opportunities than she knew what to do with .
Her first book , Alice ’ s Food A to Z , was published soon after , and then came Phenomenom . A digital resource for the classroom , Phenomenom is based around the premise that learning to understand food and the way it makes us feel , as well as its connection with the world around us , is a fundamental life skill .
Above images courtesy of @ aliceinframes Top : A Cooks Tour around Melbourne with Stephanie Alexander . Bottom : ' Alice ' s Food A-Z Family-Friendly Cook-Along '
article continues overleaf ...
© Dietitian Connection 17 Infuse | November 2020