The secret to cooking for Oprah

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This was published 12 years ago

The secret to cooking for Oprah

By Donna Demaio
Oprah Winfrey meets a local koala at Hamilton Island Wildlife Park.

Oprah Winfrey meets a local koala at Hamilton Island Wildlife Park.

It's hardly surprising that chocolate cake played a role in securing Oprah's visit to Hamilton Island ( the first stop on her whirlwind Australian trip) late last year. Competition amongst sunny tourist destinations was fierce but Jane-Therese Mulry, executive chef at luxury resort Qualia, had a delicious ace up her sleeve. She had previously cooked for Oprah and knew her favorite dessert.

A chef of 22 years experience, Mulry has enjoyed three years at the helm of Qualia's kitchen.

“You never know who's going to walk through those doors," she says. "You never know who's going to eat your food.”

The softly-spoken workaholic, shrouded in humility, has earnt herself a fine reputation over the years.

“I kind of fell into cookery. I wasn't intelligent enough to do what I wanted which was to be a physical education teacher. But I wanted to travel and realized half-way through my apprenticeship that this is what I am good at and have a passion for,” Mulry says.

Her cuisine, as she describes it, is healthy, modern, imaginatively plated while remaining classic. She dreams of a lush herb garden from which she can pluck fresh ingredients

“If I was a guest at Qualia, I'd love to see the chef walk past me at eight o'clock in the morning, coming back with some ridiculous little basket full of tomatoes, herbs or whatever's growing in that garden.”

Another dream is to hold cooking classes in the aforementioned herb garden, set amongst the stunning native landscape of the island. “I would love to walk around, speak about the produce and teach people. I do enjoy pottering around in a garden and it's great inspiration”.

Mulry eventually opens up and talks “Oprah” , revealing she cooked for the billionaire while working at the luxury Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg. “It's a very well-known hotel. It's where Nelson Mandela lived and wrote his autobiography. It's an amazing place. And each year, Oprah visited her school and stayed at the hotel.”

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And it was during this time, Mulry learnt about Oprah's predilection for a particular sweet. “I know she loved the Saxon torte and when she flew out of Jo'burg, she would take one home with her on her private plane. It's a special cake the pastry chef used to make and I was lucky enough to get the recipe.”

So, when Oprah's people were traipsing around looking for places to stay, Mulry showed initiative.“It was a race between Hayman Island and us, as to who was going to get her. We did do a lunch downstairs and you know, obviously, I went to speak to them and dropped a couple of hints that I'd cooked for Oprah before. So it was quite strange that when she came, we made it here. It's basically a really rich chocolate cake”

Mulry is content with her career arc, so far. “Working at Qualia, I am grateful every day. It's really where I want to be. I love the people and the culture. You look around at the people that come here. For me, right now, it's a perfect platform to do whatever I want to do.'

She's bracing for another celebrity onslaught with the likes of Catriona Rowntree, Geoff Heugill, Megan Gale and Collette Dinnigan joining hundreds of yachting enthusiasts heading to this year's Hamilton Island Race week. Now Mulry just has to figure out their favorite desserts?

Audi Hamilton Island Race week runs 19th to 27th August.

The writer travelled to Qualia as a guest of Hamilton Island Enterprises.

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