A Perfect Pantry

With more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Stephanie Bourke has trained as a chef, including two years in a classic pastry kitchen. Stephanie and her chef-husband ran a catering business in Sydney as well as their very own restaurant, before Stephanie joined the Kambrook team.

Sharing a love of food, Stephanie has a burning desire to encourage those around her - whether it is family, friends, kids or colleagues - to enjoy cooking and eating a variety of nutritious and delicious foods.

As a mother of three, Stephanie can relate to the need for finding family-friendly, budget-conscious meals the kids and grown-ups will love. Gluten free cooking and a love of baking keep her motivated to try new recipes and ideas.  Outside of the culinary realm, Stephanie enjoys spending time in the great outdoors as an avid hiker and beach lover. 

Move over Betty Crocker, here comes Tania. A baker to the core, breads, cakes, cookies, puddings, scrolls and pastries are Tania’s specialty. She loves to host high tea parties for friends and family, where she can experiment with her favourite new recipes. Her breadmaker is a necessity for saving time in the kitchen. Snicker doodle cookies are Tania’s best creation and she loves to jam-pack them with cinnamon–her all time favourite cooking ingredient.

If the idea of spending hours preparing a meal turns you off cooking completely, then Gina is the cook for you. Like so many others, she loves using appliances that cut cooking time in half. She adores her deep fryer and would be lost without a microwave. Life should be easy and that’s the way Gina likes to cook. Two of her all time favourite meals are sirloin steak marinated in Worcestershire sauce sprinkled with Montreal steak spice on (microwaved) mashed potatoes and hot’n’spicy Buffalo wings. And she loves using spices. The more spice, the better!

Natasha would consider herself an amateur when it comes to food but her honed palate would disagree. She loves dining out with friends and when she eats a restaurant dish she loves, she tries to recreate the recipe at home. Meat of any kind is her favourite food and a good rib eye wagyu beef is her choice cut. She couldn’t live without her food processor and loves learning new tips and tricks that make her cook like a professional!

It’s an understatement to say that Kate has a sweet tooth. She’s known to skimp on the savoury dishes to make room for decadent desserts. Convinced her desire to cook is part of her genetic make-up, she sees baking as a therapeutic exercise. She also sees herself as a perfectionist and will happily spend hours in the kitchen to achieve impeccable results. As kitchen enthusiasts, Kate and her friends are known to have competitive bake offs amongst each other. Her favourite baked goods include cakes, cupcakes and cookies with chocolate as her star ingredient.

I believe that cooking from the heart is a gesture of love. As a ‘self-taught’ home cook, I’m a woman who enjoys cooking for family and friends. I also believe that creating a great meal doesn’t have to be complicated, or rely on expensive or inaccessible ingredients. My idea of fun in the kitchen is experimenting with simple, staple items to create ‘crowd pleaser’ dishes that everybody can enjoy. As an advocate for sticky date pudding and reinventing classics, I’m keen to try out variations of this decadent dessert. My biggest cooking idol is my mother. I hope to one day replicate all the amazing family recipes she has mastered.