Our New Cookbook - Meet the Winner

This year, we ran a competition for our annual cookbook, asking our customers to share their favourite, crowd pleasing, go-to dishes that they whip out time and again for family and friends. We received so many delicious recipes and we narrowed it down to what we believe is the perfect mix of starters, mains, drinks and desserts that would work for all occasions. Together with submissions from some of our staff members, these recipes make up the 2022 cookbook, Our Family Table Gatherings.

The lucky winner of our competition was Paul Sortino who submitted a number of recipes, two of which were chosen for the book. From a young age, Paul enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen. Starting off with cooking recipes from his mother’s Margaret Fulton cookbook, to adapting those he found online, to now writing his own recipes. We sat down with Paul to chat about his love of cooking, his favourite products and his favourite dishes.

You've clearly been into cooking from a very young age, can you remember the first thing you learned to cook?

Steak Diane! (Am I showing my age?!)

What is your ‘most loved’ meal that you make for your family?

Probably just the old-fashioned Aussie BBQ. Two out of three of my kids are vegan, so a BBQ makes it easy to cater for the whole family. Apart from our wonderful Australian meats, so many other foods can be made special by the perfect grill, such as zucchini, eggplant, pineapple, radicchio and even tofu.

What top three kitchen items couldn’t you live without and why?

1. Le Creuset casserole : I particularly enjoy cooking casseroles, whether it’s a rich beef Burgundy or a simple lamb hot pot and nothing does a better job than my 30-year-old Le Creuset pots!
2. Wusthof Knife Block Set : a good set of knives is absolutely essential in the kitchen, it’s how every great dish begins!
3. Kitchen Scales: I find consistency requires accuracy and I approach many recipes like a scientific experiment, I could not survive without these.

If you could travel anywhere in the world for food, where would it be?

The south of France. Not only is the cuisine amazing, both traditional and nouveaux at the same time, but the towns and surroundings are spectacular. I’d love to undertake a cooking class there!

What is your favourite dish to share with family and friends?

Beef Burgundy. Casseroles are my favourite winter fare, and a good beef Burgundy is the undisputed king of them all - it’s taken me years to develop my own special recipe!

Try out Paul's winning recipe - Paul's Minestrone

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