Secret Recipes

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  • 2001
  • 1 Season

Secret Recipes was a cooking show that first aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 2001. The show was hosted by Australian chef and food writer, Maeve O'Meara, who traveled around Australia discovering the secret recipes of various cultural groups.

Each episode featured a different cultural community that shared their secret recipes and cooking techniques. The show was divided into two segments: the first segment focused on a community's culinary tradition, while the second segment featured a cooking segment where Maeve demonstrated how to cook some of the traditional dishes.

The show was different from other cooking shows in that it focused on a cultural community's food traditions and how food was an integral part of their identity. The show highlighted the diversity of Australia's cultural heritage and how food brought people together.

One of the unique features of Secret Recipes was its storytelling approach. Each community shared their stories of migration, adaptation, and survival through food. The show demonstrated how food can be a conduit for sharing culture and history.

The show's production was of high quality, with beautiful cinematography and editing that showcased Australia's diverse landscapes and cultures. The episodes were shot on location, providing a genuine experience of the different communities, their cultures, and their foods.

Maeve O'Meara was an exceptional host, bringing her passion for food and culture to each episode. Her enthusiasm for exploring different cuisines was infectious, and her respect for each community's food traditions was evident in every episode.

During the cooking segment of each episode, Maeve demonstrated how to cook some of the traditional dishes of the community that was featured. Her recipes were accessible and easy to follow, often using readily available ingredients. The recipes were presented in a way that made viewers feel confident about trying them at home.

The show's impact on Australian audiences was significant. It celebrated the diversity of Australian identity and highlighted the importance of cultural traditions and identity. It also demystified some unfamiliar ingredients and cooking techniques and encouraged viewers to explore new flavors and foods.

Secret Recipes was not just a cooking show; it was an exploration of Australia's cultural heritage through food. The show epitomized the ethos of the ABC, which aims to provide quality programming that informs, educates, and entertains audiences while reflecting Australian diversity.

In conclusion, Secret Recipes was a groundbreaking cooking show that celebrated Australia's cultural diversity through food. It was a wonderful blend of storytelling, food, and cultural education that provided an entertaining and educational experience to its viewers. Maeve O'Meara was an exceptional host who brought her love of food and culture to each episode. Secret Recipes was a significant contribution to the ABC's programming, and it remains a classic Australian cooking show.

Secret Recipes
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Seasons
Brazilian
13. Brazilian
August 29, 2001
There is plenty of laughter when Jacques joins Cristina Moore to prepare some wonderful Brazilian food, including the national dish, feijoada, a black bean stew, and crab meat cooked in its own shell casquinha de siri.
English
12. English
August 22, 2001
It's aprons on and gloves off as John 'Hoppy' Hopkins and Jacques engage in some good-natured cross-channel repartee. They also share magnificent tipsy pheasant, delicious kedgeree and traditional homemade English marmalade.
Jewish
11. Jewish
August 15, 2001
Jacques joins Ren Nathan as she prepares a traditional Friday night Sabbath Shabbat meal for her family. Included on the menu are 'whole' baked gefilte fish, Danish herrings and beetroot soup.
Indian
10. Indian
August 8, 2001
Lakshmi Patel shares many of her best kept secrets in this rich and spicy episode, creating masala prawns, chicken tikka and the hot yoghurt soup, karhi.
Lebanese
9. Lebanese
August 1, 2001
Abla Amad introduces Jacques to some of her fabulous dishes including ghaame (tripe filled with rice and chickpeas), samke hara (whole baked snapper with tahini), and the smoky eggplant flavoured baba ghanooj.
Taiwanese
8. Taiwanese
July 25, 2001
On Ancestor Day, Magie Wu prepares Taiwanese fried rice noodles, sweet and sour fish, a simple smoked chicken and an interesting abalone and sea cucumber stew.
Sicilian
7. Sicilian
July 18, 2001
Watching Rosa and her family using traditional methods to prepare preserved olives, baked artichokes and more is a visual delight. Simplicity and natural ingredients with lots of flavours are the basis of Sicilian food.
Jamaican
6. Jamaican
July 11, 2001
Jamaican cuisine is never bland. The spiciest jerk pork, stamp and go fish pancakes and the hottest curried goat are all on the menu when Jigzie Campbell joins Secret Recipes.
Singaporean
5. Singaporean
July 4, 2001
Asian food often reflects many influences. Queenie Aikenhead is a genius at combining the distinct Chinese and Malay cuisines found in Singapore into the type of dishes that are commonly referred to as 'street food'.
Argentina
4. Argentina
June 27, 2001
The food of the gauchos is meat. In Teresa Diaz's hands, slabs of prime beef become spiced works of art, cooked to the beat of the tango played by her husband Pedro's band of backyard minstrels.
Croatia
3. Croatia
June 20, 2001
Croatian cooking is all about the simplicity and freshness that comes from centuries of living by the sea and relying on the daily catch. Boz Vidov, a tuna fisherman, cooks up a seafood feast.
Cyprus
2. Cyprus
June 13, 2001
Koula is in her seventies and has lived in Australia for 50 years, but still tends her garden every day. With Koula and her daughter Nicki we bake olive and cheese bread, roast stuffed Cypriot lamb and koupepia in the traditional backyard fourno.
Japan
1. Japan
June 6, 2001
The art of Japanese cooking is one of detail and patience. In this first episode, Hiro Naito Fanning shows us how much fun it can be to engage in the intricacies of preparation as she creates a wonderful mosaic of colour and taste.
Description
  • Premiere Date
    June 6, 2001