Marieke's Story
Marieke’s Story
Marieke was born in Australia to European parents, is widely-read, an inveterate traveller since the age of 17, and at ease across countries, cultures and age groups.
Academic (Fine Arts) beginnings segued into the culinary world where Marieke is a highly regarded chef, educator, consultant, public speaker and occasional writer. She has been both a pioneer in Food/Wine Tourism and an ambassador for creating a distinctive Australian identity in the evolution of our gastronomic culture.
Marieke co-established and operated Howqua Dale Gourmet Retreat - an exceptional hospitality destination experience in the Howqua Valley near Mt. Buller, and over 30 years, cemented its outstanding reputation for superb cuisine and innovative cooking schools.
In 1990, Marieke also co-founded and conducted an international niche-market Travel Company (Gourmet Tours of Australia) so that her passion for human experiences and cultural connections could open doors to world class journeys, enabling guests to see the world differently, and always in superior comfort.
In the last 15 years, she has researched, designed and escorted tours to India, Portugal, Paris, France, Ireland, Turkey China and Bali, as well as to the Australian wine regions.
Change always comes bearing gifts.
Having relinquished the beloved gourmet retreat, Marieke has now found the time and space to renew her energies, passions and personal interests to inaugurate her new travel company Art of Living , assuring you, the guest of
on-going personalised service, enthusiasm, attention to detail, exotic destinations, gastronomic delights, fun and adventure.
Currently, she is planning research for tours to Morocco, and to the some of the greatest sites of Mahayana Buddhist civilization and architecture outside India: Borobudur in central Java, Angkor Wat in northern Cambodia, Luang Prabang, on the Mekong River in Laos, and Bagan and Yangon in Myanmar. In addition she is also designing new tours to regions in India such as Gujarat and the Rann of Kutch, along roads less travelled.
Marieke still finds time to teach the occasional cooking school, and consults to the hospitality industry as a food adviser.
Marieke's favourite dining experiences this year:
Andrew McConnell's Three One Two in Drummond Street, Melbourne. Such an authentic restaurant serving exceedingly clever, audaciously simple, beautifully crafted food without pretension, using often unusual and always seasonal produce; with a great wine list and lovely and very knowledgeable service that never fails to please. An iconic Melbourne restaurant run by a great chef with whom I had the privilege to work with over several years. Anything with pork will be brilliant, Jerusalem artichoke tort, local mushrooms, nettle, gnocchi baked with taleggio was memorable, as are any of his well-conceived and intelligent desserts.
Oh Calcutta in South Delhi for its modern, lighter and clean interpretation of Bengali cuisine and contemporary aesthetic, rare in a city that does not yet have a strong restaurant culture.
Malabar House in Fort Cochin for its delightful courtyard setting, Mediterranean flourishes, and sparkling fresh fish and seafood in delectable masalas.
Sa.Qua.Na. Only established this last year in the delightfully romantic harbour town of Honfleur in Normandy, Cuisinier, Alexandre Bourdas has already been awarded 1 Michelin star. Influenced by years spent in Japan and able to access superior fish and seafood, this gem of an exquisitely designed little restaurant served one of the most memorable meals I've ever eaten anywhere: a sublime understatement. Un filet de daurade au Curry doux, caviar d'aubergines, moules de bouchot & pralin sec de cacahuètes – Mizuna- recently was a standout.
Le Pré Verre. No visit to Paris is now complete without a meal at this refreshing, affordable, "neo" bistro on Rue Thenard around the corner from the Panthéon and Sorbonne. The brothers Delacourcelle run it vivaciously. Chef, Phillipe, having had years in Asia, brings to his precise cooking of superior produce an original, subtle dosage of oriental spices. Funky art, occasionally great music, and an eclectic wine list including smaller growers in the south of France (also available by the glass), all show remarkable savoir-faire.
Vulcans at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. I would make a pilgrimage across mountain ranges and deserts to eat at Phillip Searle's table. 20 years after first eating with him, I still find him the most exciting, innovative, brilliant -albeit always humble - chef that Australia has ever produced. In the unassuming but cosy space, the large wood-fired oven dictates how many dishes are cooked. Often simple ingredients are transformed into harmonious masterpieces that are a party on the palate. His desserts are without parallel anywhere in the world. Worth the detour, if only for the chequerboard ice cream that he continues to make 15 years after first inventing it!
Marieke's favourite reads:
Favourite book this year: Inhaling the Mahatma by Christopher Kremmer. From the famed author who also wrote "Behind the Bamboo Palace" and "Carpet Wars", and was an ABC Correspondent for years in the Middle East and the Sub Continent, this truly marvellous MUST READ book is an account of the Birth of Modern India, experienced first-hand. In the searing summer of 2004, Christopher Kremmer returns to India, a country in the grip of enormous and sometimes violent change. Embarking on a yatra, or pilgrimage, he travels the dangerous frontier where religion and politics face off. Tracking down the players in a decisive decade, he takes us inside the enigmatic Gandhi dynasty, and introduces an operatic cast of political Brahmins, 'cyber coolies', low-caste messiahs and wrestling priests. A sprawling portrait of India at the crossroads, 'Inhaling the Mahatma' is also an intensely personal story about coming to terms with a dazzlingly different culture, as the author's fate is entwined with a cosmopolitan Hindu family of Old Delhi, and a guru who might just change his life.
Never able to satisfy an inquisitiveness for all things Indian, The Last Mughal is engrossing and compelling, as with everything written by William Dalrymple, and
Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns is also a great sequel to the author's remarkable, deeply moving debut novel, The Kite Runner, the movie of which will be released later this year.
Marieke's Favourite Mags are those you cannot board a long-haul flight without:
Harper's Monthly Magazine (published out of the US since 1850) brilliantly scrutinises current affairs and events;
The New Yorker (published since 1925) is densely intelligent and wise;
Vanity Fair for its irresistible chronicling of contemporary culture;
The Monthly (published out of Melbourne by Morry Schwartz since 2005) is Australia's only national magazine with an independent voice on politics, society and the arts that is intelligent, inquisitive and witty. It doesn't dumb down or suck up.
Marieke's favourite Web sites:
www.wordswithoutborders.com: a dangerously spellbinding site (you may get lost there) that gives access to a vast scope of stories, poems and essays translated into English from truly international literature, rarely found on booksellers shelves.
www.parisnotes.com: an authoritative, informed independent site on all things Parisienne; with brilliant links to museums, dining, maps, latest events, accommodation and rentals that will considerably enhance any visit to the "City of Lights". Found a great apartment to rent in the Marais quarter in June via this site.
Favourite cities: Paris and Istanbul
Favourite Shops: latest Paris discovery is the NoireM boutique on rue Saint-Honore near rue Cambon. A salon of contemporary Japanese aesthetic, it showcases some 10 young Japanese designers who combine craft, tradition and high-tech culture in their clothes designs, which are cut to size for the Western woman; as well as a dazzling array of homewares, objets and garden accoutrements.
Favourite Designer: Martin Grant, Marieke’s friend from childhood days when his grandmother Nancy taught her to sew and inspired Martin’s creativity, is now feted as one of Paris’ leading couturiers. Recently honoured with a retrospective of his work at the National Gallery in Melbourne, Martin creates exquisitely crafted, understated, timeless, elemental clothes that are superbly constructed, eminently wearable and desirable the world over. You visit his charming atelier in a lovely hôtel particulier in the Marais quarter.
Marieke does not leave home or board a plane without:
A 1 litre water bottle that is filled immediately on boarding
Aesop's Ginger Flight Therapy roll-on
Traveller's Friend Citrus Extract
Portable Altec Lansing speakers for ipod
Natural Indian incense
A large pashmina shawl bought in the bazaars of Jodhpur
When at home, Marieke
starts her day with a warm citron pressé
does at least an hour of yoga practice
takes an afternoon walk along wild windswept sand dunes
cooks simple delectable meals from organic vegetables and has just planted a bank of her favourite heritage tomatoes, Black Russians with sweet basil for summer.
· To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live, and love. Leo Buscaglia