Alwill - Seasons to Share

Jacqueline Alwill is an Australian nutritionist and cook.Through her nutrition practice and wholefoods catering company, The Brown Paper Bag, she works with individuals seeking to improve their health, wellbeing and happiness.

Jacqueline regularly appears as an advocate for good health and nutrition on Australian radio and television. She is also a regular contributor to several beauty and lifestyle magazines, blogs and newspapers.

Jacqueline lives in Sydney, Australia with her son, Jet.

For Jet, you are my greatest teacher, inspiration and all of my magic. I love you forever and beyond, my darling boy.

Mumma x

introduction

Ive had a passionate interest in eating and learning about food since I was little. My earliest memories are of my familys home in Sydneys Northern Beaches where our kitchen had an incredible view overlooking a nature reserve that stretched out towards the ocean. Meals of good, wholesome food were always eaten at the table over conversation. There was an island bench on our cork floor and I would climb to the edge of that to watch my parents as they prepped and cooked for my two older sisters and me. When the weekend rolled around we would have picnics down at the beach, eat fish and chips or have barbecues on our deck. We didnt rush through meals; they were a time to soak up all the nourishment that was in the food and also within our family. These moments form my early memories.

When I was ten, our family moved to Japan, and I remember experiencing complete culture shock, something I could never have been prepared for at such a young age. I didnt speak the language and arrived knowing no-one outside my own family. But our Japanese community welcomed me and taught me about their culture through food. Id ride my bike to school each day and in the afternoon go to the shops in Hiroo to pick up a snack or some groceries for dinner. As I shopped, the grocer would teach me to count in Japanese using pieces of fruit; the sushi chef would chat to me as he sliced ever so gracefully through his rolls of sushi. When we went to restaurants as a family, the waiter would turn to me, the youngest in the group, and ask for our order with encouraging warmth. These were moments of learning.

As a teenager back in Sydney, I immersed myself in the intricacies of food. I kept scrapbooks of recipes and articles, and I spent weekends baking and packing goodies into brown paper bags to give to friends and neighbours. I had a burning desire to be a part of the world of food, though I hadnt yet figured out what that might look like. It wasnt a time in my life where my relationship with food was always positive; I became obsessive about what I ate and this obsession dictated the way I treated myself for many years. Thankfully I overcame those problems and learned from them. I look back on that period now and feel grateful because once Id come through that dark time, I started to dream, to create and find ways to fall in love with food again, only this time in the right way, and sharing that joy with others became my passion.

My early twenties were spent travelling abroad. I lived in a small apartment in the heart of Italys gastronomic capital, Bologna, with three crazy, beautiful Italian girls. I struggled initially with the language barrier but we found common ground in the kitchen, where we drank 2 bottles of red wine, tore apart balls of soft burrata, peeled the most delicious prosciutto from the wax paper of our market grocer and created our own little family away from home. There was laughter, there was warmth and there was joy in simplicity. I learned about the importance of buying good-quality produce without anything else added, and this became a way of everyday life for me.

By 26, I was working as a personal trainer and was mid-way through my studies in nutritional medicine something Id left a career in the corporate world to do. I knew with nutrition as my foundation I would always be able to share health and happiness with people I loved I was following my passion at last. It was during this time that the most wonderful gift came to me: the divine little human that is my son, Jet. Becoming Jets mum has been the greatest journey of change, growth, learning, patience, fun and love. Motherhood makes me search for the best in myself, helps me appreciate every moment, pushes me to nurture not only others but also myself. It also reminds me to never lose sight of a dream because of the unplanned.

Through my love of food I have met wonderful people, shared their cultures, laughed, made mistakes, travelled and found myself on new and unexpected paths. And now its time to share what Ive learned with you. This book represents the start of new things to come, and I hope the recipes and ideas here give that sense of renewal and optimism to each person who reads it.

What I have tried to do is find a way for you to create beautiful, wholesome memories by celebrating food with the people in your life, all year round. The ingredients, textures and flavours Ive chosen highlight the best each season has to offer, and the occasions are ones Ive dreamt up, then gone on to bring to life and share with the people special to me. I hope what youll discover as you cook and plan your way through some of these events is a warmth inside you as you prepare food for people you love. I hope you can take that warmth to the party, the table, the garden, the backyard fire or the picnic blanket. As you look around at the event youve created and the people youve brought together, I hope theres a proud smile on your face. That sense of I made this. These little moments are what life is all about: building memories that last forever. Make this your season to share.

APPRECIATE EVERY MOMENT NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF A DREAM BECAUSE OF THE UNPLANNED.

in my kitchen

Nutritious, wholesome and simple cooking starts with a well-stocked kitchen. Only then do you have the resources to draw upon as you explore your creativity. With more people becoming interested in healthier eating and cooking from scratch, ingredients once considered niche or hard to come by are becoming more mainstream and widely accessible. If there is something here that you havent heard of or havent tried, I encourage you to buy that new ingredient with the aim of using it in a few ways; note down the hits and misses so you find ways to successfully integrate it into your diet.