How do you get kids to be confident in the kitchen?

Start them at a young age. This will take a lot of patience, but I used to let my kids sit up on the kitchen bench whilst I cooked.
Just like learning to count, I would introduce them to all types of vegetables - naming them and giving them tastes. Once they are toddlers you can start giving them simple jobs like picking the mint leaves, stirring mixtures, licking bowls, spoons etc. As a result my kids were pretty switched on to food from an early age.

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How has your life changed in the past two years?

I set out to ease up on my work a few years ago, closing my catering business to follow my passions. My love of food has taken me into other projects such as writing cook books and doing more tv cooking shows and to top it off working with food and kids on Junior MasterChef.
My life has never been busier. The great thing is when I’m not filming, my recipe development and office work can be done at home and I get to spend more time with my own kids.

What have you learnt about yourself and about cooking in this time?

I have learnt that I actually thrive under pressure and I like multitasking. I have also learnt that there is a never ending journey with food.

What is your favourite recipe to cook with kids?

Anything out of the CWA cook book. It was the first cook book I had and it has all the old fashioned favorites that granny use to cook.

What is your go-to dish for mid-week meals?

A simple soup with garlic bread. Stracciatella is my favorite soup as it uses 4 - 5 ingredients and stuff I usually have on hand in the cupboard or fridge. It’s an Italian soup made with chicken stock, and then you just whisk together some eggs , parmesan and parsley together. When the stocks boiling vigorously whisk in the egg mixture and it cooks the egg and makes a delicious tasty soup. I often beef it up with some 2 minute noodles and spinach to make more of a meal out of it. It’s a family favorite of mine and is in my family cook book called Homemade.

What ingredient do you dislike?

What ingredient do you most love?

Feta.

What is your favorite restaurant and why?

I love the Bodega tapas bar in Sydney because they make great creative quirky dishes with loads of flavor using fresh ingredients.

Who is your favourite co-host on Masterchef and why?

Love them all for different reasons.

Why did you get into cooking?

Because I was born with food on the brain and it has always been my creative outlet.

What are your three tips to improve people’s cooking?

1)Cooking things that you are afraid to cook 2) Tasting as you go and learning how to balance flavours
3) Eating other peoples food and trying to recreate it

What are you working on now?

Most recently I have jumped onboard the Tip Top campaign to celebrate decades of Tip Top serving up the bread most of us were raised on. The reason Tip Top is still around today is because they have been producing the goods for all these years and are producing healthy nutritious bread options with no artificial additives. I have designed a kitsch singing bread bin with a real retro feel, it sings the famous ‘Good on ya Mum’ jingle and not only will it raise money for ovarian cancer - I think it will make all mums smile! I have also been busy raising four kids, promoting my new cook book called Homemade and releasing some cool kitchen equipment including funky aprons for kids under my own label called “Little Anna Gare”.

What is your happiest food memory?

Learning to make hot chocolate sauce with my grandma.