The Cook's Companion

Stephanie Alexander is regarded as one of Australia’s great food educators. She is the best-selling author of seventeen books, including The Cook’s Companion, which is regarded as an Australian classic and has sold more than 500,000 copies. It has also been developed as a user-friendly app for mobile devices.

Stephanie was a columnist in the food pages of Australian newspapers and magazines for more than twenty years, has travelled widely in both Europe and Asia, and is passionate about the need to pass on a love of good food to others to maximise the chances of leading a healthy and happy life.

She has also established her reputation as a restaurateur. For 21 years her restaurant Stephanie’s was regarded as an essential Melbourne culinary experience. It set new standards of service, pioneered techniques and new ways of looking at ingredients, as well as championing small producers.

In 2004 Stephanie established the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation of which she is now a director and board member. She was named Victorian of the Year in 2010; and in 2014 became an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her work with her Kitchen Garden Foundation. Her strong belief is that the earlier children learn about food through example and pleasurable hands-on experience, the better their food choices will be throughout life.