Meet Australian Cookbook Author, Ruth Bardis

I was born in Australia to Greek parents. My father comes from the beautiful Island of Kefalonia and my mother from a village in the Peloponnese. Though I was born in Australia, my parents deliberately ensured that as a family we held onto our heritage, language, and culture. When it came to Greek food and the preservation of traditional meals, my mother did an exceptional job in patiently and lovingly teaching me the foundations of Greek cooking. She exemplified hospitality and instilled in me a love for Greek food from a very young age. On the other hand, my father enforced the importance of eating the Mediterranean way, insisting on its health benefits.

In addition, my passion for acquiring additional cooking knowledge and documenting recipes intensified immensely after meeting Athanasios (who would also become my husband) in my late teens. Born and raised in Greece, his family migrated to Australia in the late eighties. I loved the fact that they scarcely spoke any English and that everything they ate was traditional Greek food. I was intrigued that his mother cooked so differently to mine, even though the names of dishes were the same, and they had family traditions that differed to my family’s. It was then that I decided to further my knowledge of recipes from other regions in Greece and learn new skills and ways of cooking traditional foods. As a result, I was keen to share my findings through publishing cookbooks enabling others to know, and to learn, to pass on and to enjoy. I wanted to make accessible a means of preserving and passing on recipes that are slowly dissipating from our tables. A keepsake for those wanting to learn to cook Greek or for those of us like me, who live far from our mother land but still have an intense desire to keep our food traditions alive.

A must try: Chicken Soup with Handmade Sour Trahana