Member since: September 2009
Location: Australia

I am currently in the midst of writing and Australian tropical cookbook, Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare's Kitchen, due out mid 2010.

Through 7 years of living in the Tropics I have searched for a book that answered my questions: what grows best here in my herb and veggie garden, and how do I use it once I’ve got it growing? If I buy that fruit or vegetable at the markets, what will I do with it? I could not find a comprehensive contemporary tropical cookbook to guide me. So I came to write the book that I was looking for.

Our small population and vast distances, both from fellow Northern residents and the populated south, present particular challenges for eating local. A big part of my journey in writing this book is being part of the process of strengthening the local market for local produce. It is my hope also that my cookbook will give residents of northern Australia (many of whom have moved up from temperate southern Australia) more confidence to grow, buy and use locally grown produce.