You know her as one of the country’s most respected journalists. She’s the two-time Walkley-winner who kept us connected throughout the pandemic as the voice of ABC Radio’s morning program, and she has just released a book inspired by a conversation she had with a listener during that time.
Brimming with wisdom, seasoned with stories and served with plenty of her own recipes, Virginia Trioli’s food memoir is rich with the “small, chosen joys” that make life delicious when the main course won’t; here’s why she wants you to tuck in.
The inspiration for A Bit on the Side was a conversation with an ABC Radio listener during lockdown; we rhapsodised the little food joys that were being delivered across town to our doorways to keep us happy and connected: the pastries and baked goods; home-made jams and fresh fruit. I realised these smaller joys were a great metaphor for something more profound.
The pitch to the publisher was “Publish my book and I’ll make you steak frites Bearnaise.”
The main thing I learnt writing it was how powerful and connecting food memory is, and how we all share so many common, happy, affecting, or sorrowful memories around food.
The easiest recipe in the book is my cocktail, The Friday Night Fog. Four ingredients – vodka, Cointreau, lime juice, grapefruit juice. It starts a party without you even having to try.
And if you were looking to challenge yourself, you might try making the Christmas turkey stuffing – with the turkey. It will change your mind about every turkey you’ve ever had.
The books I refer to most often when I’m cooking are an odd combination of classic Italian authors such as Marcella Hazan and Giuliano Bugialli; Gordon Ramsay (Sunday Lunch is impeccable); modern Australian authors like Neil Perry, Karen Martini, Kylie Kwong and Julia Busuttil Nishimura; and my collection of recipe clippings of more than five decades.
And my favourite food books that aren’t necessarily cookbooks are Nora Ephron’s Heartburn and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude.
If you take one thing away from A Bit on the Side I’d hope it it would be that connection is everything and the small joys are everywhere. Oh, and that you need to buy multiple copies for your friends.
A Bit on the Side (Macmillan Australia, RRP $36.99) is out now and available from excellent Victorian bookstores, such as Paperback Bookshop, Readings, Books for Cooks and Hill of Content.