He’s one of Australia’s most famed chefs, but back when he was a kid, Curtis Stone’s first cooking creation was one of the nation’s favourite desserts.
In fact, thanks to his mum’s Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks, it was a tried and tested caramel slice recipe.
“Chefs weren’t a thing back then; no one followed chefs back then. They followed books like the Women’s Weekly ones and the Country Women’s Association ones,” Curtis exclusively tells The Weekly.
“I remember flicking through those recipe books and seeing an image of a caramel slice, and it piqued my interest as a young guy and making that recipe. And then I found another recipe for it, so I made that one as well.”
After some experimenting and discovering he preferred the base of one and the caramel chocolate part of the other, he found the perfect match.
“I somehow felt like I’d created my own recipe, which clearly wasn’t true, but that was one of the first things I made independently as a greedy seven or eight-year-old. I’ve got a seven and a 10-year-old now, and I can’t imagine Emerson making that as a seven-year-old, but I do remember making it and being pretty stoked with myself.”
So when it came to collaborating with Cadbury on a new chocolate block flavour, Curtis wanted to have not only a flavour he likes but also one that’s “a bit nostalgic”, so caramel slice was his number one choice.
“I was thinking about different flavours and ideas, and that one was the centre of the bullseye for me, so we got to plan with that, and that’s how we ended up with it,” he says.
“One of the biggest parts about food is that it brings us together. It gets us closer to each other, and we remember those dishes, but I think the things that probably make them significant are the conversations that came along with them and those special family times. That’s certainly been a big part of my life and food journey.”
Whilst he’s dabbled with The Weekly‘s recipes, he hasn’t joined the leagues of fans, including Sylvia Jeffreys and even New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, when it comes to the iconic birthday cakes.
“I’m a bit out of touch with the books, to be honest,” he confesses. “We bake for our kids every year for their birthdays, but I’m a chef before a cake decorator, that’s for sure!”
Curtis, who shares sons Emerson and Hudson with his wife Lindsay Price, admits that he’s not the only whizz in the kitchen at their house.
“My wife’s a good cook,” he remarks when asked if the family cooks together.
“I joke with her and say she does all the heavy lifting – the weeknight meals for the kids, so to speak – and I swoop in for the bigger events when we have people around or holidays that we’re celebrating. I get all the glory, but she does all the hard work.”
