AFMA 2010 Officials

Message from the Chair of Judges
The Australian Food Writers’ Awards were instigated in 1995, and how things have progressed in these past 15 years! The Awards are now called the Australian Food Media Awards and the Club recently changed its name to the Australian Association of Food Professionals to encompass the ever-broadening means of communication.

The first Awards program was humble but ambitious, determined to grow in both stature and reputation. The hard work and dedication of succeeding Presidents and the committees which organised their Awards programs have seen the AAFP now offering 23 categories to the nation’s food communicators, and their entries to be judged by 44 of their peers.

Each of our judges is a respected industry professional of many years standing and undertakes this task in an honorary role. The knowledge, experience and integrity that our judges bring from all disciplines in the media ensure that we maintain the highest possible standard in 2010. We thank them for their valuable time and the prestige they lend to these Awards.

How our judging process works.
The Awards continue to evolve, so with each new Awards program we carefully review and scrutinise each category and its judging criteria. When appropriate, we introduce new categories to meet publishing, broadcasting and internet developments.

Three judges are appointed to each category.
Each of these judges is chosen carefully; his or her knowledge and depth of experience is evaluated in order to produce effective arbiters for each specific category. The use of three judges also guarantees an objective and balanced result.  

Our judges assess entries with specific criteria for each Award category.  
The judges are given clear guidelines which are broken into a number of key elements with marking criteria. We have found our judges to be extremely conscientious in marking and have demonstrated an excellent understanding and appreciation of the judging process for each category.

AFMA judges are allowed to enter their own work. Judges, however, must absolve themselves from any category they wish to enter and advise of any circumstance which they feel may lead to a conflict of interest.  Each judge also signs an agreement to keep all of their findings confidential. Judges must not disclose which categories they are judging or have judged.

The Advisory Jury Program of the past three Awards programs has been a great asset in reviewing and developing all aspects of our judging procedure. The advice of these jurors has been incorporated into our current procedures.

Our judges receive no financial gratuity for their work, only our sincere thanks for their generosity of spirit in making this significant contribution to the food media.

Jan Boon
Chair of Judges
Australian Food Media Awards 2010

Judges’ Biographies
Jan Boon has been a Home Economist and Food Consultant for more than 40 years, managing the Australian Gas Cooking School, conducting state and national recipe and cookery competitions, and introducing cooking tours and chefs’ classes. She has co-authored three recipe books and developed countless recipe leaflets and brochures. Jan is a judge for the RAS Fine Foods Competition and District Exhibits, and also judges Preserved Foods, Non Perishable and Perishable Foods. She is a Past President of the FMCA/AAFP and a member of the AAFP Hall of Fame.

Jane Adams operates a specialist brand marketing and communications consultancy servicing the food, wine and hospitality industries. She is also a passionate advocate of farmers’ markets and Chair of the Australian Farmers’ Markets Association; an award-winning food writer, restaurant critic and Australian contributor to Cuisine. For 10 years she was chief judge of the peak industry NSW Restaurant & Catering Awards.

Caroline Baum learnt to cook as a researcher on Time Life’s “Good Cook” series with Richard Olney in London.  She has been a restaurant reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and written about food for Travel and Leisure magazine, Belle and The Age. She lives on the south coast of NSW.

Maggie Beer was co-host of ABC-TV’s “The Cook  and the Chef” for four series, which completed filming at the end of 2009. She has won numerous awards, the latest being named Senior Australian of the Year in the Australia Day honours this year. Her latest cookbook, Maggie’s Kitchen, was released in 2008, followed by the LifeStyle FOOD Channel’s People’s Choice Award at the Australian Food Media Awards 2008.

Sue Bennett is editor of Good Living in The Sydney Morning Herald. A newspaper journalist since leaving school, she has worked across the board in newspaper roles.

Tim Burrowes is the founding editor of Mumbrella, which launched in December 2008. Prior to that he was group editor of Reed Business Information’s Media Group, where he successfully relaunched B&T magazine, oversaw the launch of the B&T Today daily email newsletter, and led the award-winning launch of Digital Media magazine. Before coming to Australia, Tim was twice named Business Editor of the Year  by the British Society of Magazine Editors.

Susan Butler is the Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Australia’s national dictionary.  She has been Publisher from 1983 until the present, and is largely responsible for the selection and writing of new words in all editions.

Jo Anne Calabria has been a food professional for more than 25 years. She is an accomplished food editor, recipe writer, cookbook author, food presenter and food broadcaster. She is an Honorary Life Member of the AAFP and the Immediate Past Chair of the Australian Food Media Awards, a position she held for four consecutive Awards programs.

Averill Chase has been in book publishing for well over 20 years. In 2006 she established The Authors’ Agent, a literary agency representing a wide range of non-fiction writers. Among her special areas of interest are food and wine writing.

Michele Cranston has been cooking and styling food for more than 20 years in a career spanning work as a chef, creative caterer and writer. She was the food editor of marie claire Australia for five years and is presently working on her 10th book under the marie claire title.

Veronica Cuskelly is a food professional: a home economist, recipe writer, author of many best-selling product recipe books, winner in 1997 of the Best Recipe Writing (Advertising) Award, and currently Vice President of the AAFP. She co-authored Eat to Beat Cholesterol and Heart Food – the healthy heart cookbook, and had the privilege of editing the 2008 Special Edition and the 2010 Updated and Revised edition of Australia’s iconic The Commonsense Cookery Book.

David Dale writes about ideas, journeys, fads, foods, the power of places and the peculiarities of people. He contributes a popular culture column called The Tribal Mind to The Sydney Morning Herald and a xenophilia column called Who We Are to The Sun-Herald. His books include Soffritto – a delicious Ligurian memoir;
Buon Ricordo, and The Little Book of Australia – a snapshot of who we are.

Terry Durack was restaurant critic of London’s Independent on Sunday for eight years, winning Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media’s Best Restaurant Critic in 2007 and Glenfiddich Restaurant Critic of the Year twice in that time. The author of six books, he is currently the chief restaurant reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald and co-editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011.

Rita Erlich is best known for her wine and food writing in a career that extends for more than 30 years, and covers newspapers, magazines and websites. She is also a teacher, public speaker and consultant, and leads food and wine tours. A former co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide, she has edited a number of other books on subjects from chocolate cake to regional food, and has written six. She is working on the seventh, and thinking about the eighth.

Margaret Fulton, OAM, is one of Australia’s leading cookery writers. The author of 15 best-selling cookbooks which have sold more than four million copies, Margaret was a regular contributor to New Idea and Woman’s Day magazines when they each enjoyed a circulation of more than one million. Official recognition came with an OAM in 1983, and she was declared a National Living Treasure in 1998.  In 2007 the National Library of Australia bestowed on her the honour of being “an eminent figure in the world of Australian literature and publishing”.

Gabriel Gaté is a freelance chef who trained in several of France’s top restaurants. In the past six years Gabriel has produced and presented a French gourmet series for SBS called “Taste Le Tour with Gabriel Gaté”. Gabriel is in demand as a speaker, MC and presenter, and takes a gourmet tour to France and New Caledonia every year. His 20 cookbooks have sold more than one million copies and his latest book, Recipes for a Great Life, was co-authored with
Dr Rob Moodie.

Suzanne Gibbs is currently Food Director of BBC Australian Good Food magazine. Suzanne gained a Diploma at the Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London and on graduating became the Chef Patissiere at the Cordon Bleu Restaurant. She has been a regular cookbook author and food writer for Australian newspapers and magazines for more than 30 years.

Helen Grasswill has more than 30 years experience as a journalist, author, editor and television program-maker. She is currently a senior journalist/producer with ABC-TVs Australian Story. Her most recent awards include a Walkley, two peer-voted Logies and the Human Rights Award for Television.

James Halliday is Australia’s most respected wine critic and wine writer, and has written or contributed to more than 60 books on wine. He is the founder of Coldstream Hills in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, and before that of Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley. A regular judge at wine shows both locally and overseas for many years, James is an unmatched authority on the Australian wine industry.

Ian Hemphill (aka Herbie) is best known as Australia’s leading authority on culinary herbs and spices. In 2001 his first book, Spice Notes, won the Best Hard-cover Food-related Book category in the FMCA’s Australian Food Writers’ Awards, and in 2003 he was presented with the peer industry award for Best Overall Contribution to the Communication of Food. Ian is Immediate Past President of the Food Media Club Australia (now the AAFP), and has won several other media-related awards here and overseas.

Rob Hirst MBA trained as a chartered accountant and joined the liquor industry 30 years ago. In 1985 he took over Tucker Seabrook, building the company to a national organisation specialising in premium wines, spirits, liqueurs and beers. He is currently Chairman of Fine Wine Partners (formerly Tucker Seabrook/Distinguished Vineyards). Rob is an active member and representative of a number of Australian and international industry bodies.

Di Holuigue is a prize-winning cookbook author and food writer, and winner of the prestigious Best Overall Contribution in the Australian Food Writers’ Awards in 1995. Initially trained in Paris, since 1969 Di has taught more than 58,000 people an understanding of all things culinary in her Melbourne cooking school, The French Kitchen. She has been a featured columnist for most of Australia’s major print media, and has written 12 books.

Sandra Hook has more than 25 years experience in journalism, public relations, print and broadcasting. She has held senior marketing roles at Fairfax Magazines, ACP and Murdoch Magazines, and was General Manager of pay-TV channels The LifeStyle Channel and LifeStyle Food. She joined News Magazines in 2007 with the acquisition of Federal Publishing, where she was Group Publishing Director. Currently CEO of News Magazines, she is responsible for the company’s 26 consumer titles and the website Taste.com.au.

Anita Jacoby has established herself as one of Australia’s most talented and experienced producers through her award-winning work on programs such as “60 Minutes” (Ch 9), “Witness” (Ch 7), “Sunday” (Ch 9) and “Laws” (Foxtel). Her work at Zapruder’s Other Films has included being Executive Producer of “Enough Rope”, “The Gruen Transfer”, “Elders”, “AFP”, “Hungry Beast”, “God On My Side”, “Gallipoli” and “Angels & Demons”.

Carolyn Lockhart began her publishing career with Vogue Australia and was the founding editor of Vogue Entertaining Guide.  She joined Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in 1990 as editor of Australian Gourmet Traveller. In 2001 Carolyn set up and edited the Qantas magazine for ACP as a joint venture.  She is currently a freelance magazine consultant and writer specialising in food and travel.

Barbara Lowery has written cookbooks, press columns and newsletters, and has broadcast food on ABC radio for 25 years. She initiated the Australian Food Writers’ Awards in 1995, has been a judge for Australian and New Zealand awards, and in 2006 was inducted into the FMCA/AAFP Hall of Fame.

Christine Manfield is one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs and an acclaimed restaurateur, currently at the helm of Universal Restaurant in Sydney. She is also an author, food writer, food manufacturer, presenter, teacher and gastronomic traveller whose culinary work draws on the exciting tastes and flavours of many cultures. She has written four award-winning books: Stir, Spice, Christine Manfield Originals and Christine Manfield Desserts, and her latest book, Fire – a World of Flavour, was released in October 2008.

John Mangos has been a television newscaster for more than 30 years, the last 12 of them with Sky News Australia. During his career he has worked for all the major commercial networks and launched Greek Australian Television on OptusVision. John also loves to cook and has been a regular teacher at the Sydney Seafood School for the past 17 years.

Nicola McConnell has 20 years experience in journalism and communication in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Currently working with specialist wine, food and leisure marketing communication agency Dig, she has experience in marketing and promoting some of Australia’s top wine brands, including Penfolds, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Coldstream Hills and Champagne Lanson.

Kate McGhie’s life is all about food. Food writer, cook and inveterate traveller, her weekly interactive column in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper influences 1.8 million readers, and her book, Cook, scooped three international awards. She designs and hosts exclusive Moroccan and Italian cultural adventures and is Chair of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Chair of Judges for Restaurant & Catering Victoria.

Lyndey Milan is a past president of the FMCA (now AAFP) and winner of Best Overall Contribution to the Communication of Food in the 2008 Awards. An energetic multi-award-winning communicator, author, teacher, presenter, MC and consultant on all things gastronomic and lifestyle, she is Contributing Food Director of The Australian Women’s Weekly, appears weekly on “Mornings with Kerri-Anne” on the Nine Network, Chair of the Fine Food Committee and a Councillor and Board member of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

Helen O’Neill is an award-winning journalist and author whose work appears across the globe. Her latest biography, Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Extraordinary Lives was released in the UK this year and won, among other accolades, the Australian Publisher Association’s Book of the Year Award. She is currently working on her third book.

Ian Parmenter was an ABC TV producer and director for many years before fronting the camera in 1992 to present Consuming Passions. Eighteen years and 450 shows later, Ian lives in Margaret River. He is the Festival Director of Tasting Australia and a regular radio broadcaster, with12 recipe collections to his credit. His book of memoirs, Sheer Bottled Bliss, won the Simon Johnson Award for Literary Excellence in a Food-related Book at the Australian Food Media Awards in 2004.

Cherry Ripe is an awarded food writer, journalist and broadcaster, and the author of five books, including Goodbye Culinary Cringe and Ripe Enough? Her radio documentary on Prince Charles’s organic farm at Highgrove won the award for Best Investigative Food Journalism at the Vittoria Australian Food Media Awards 2006.

Professor Barbara Santich teaches courses in food history and culture and food writing at the University of Adelaide. She has written six books and innumerable articles in her long career. A new, enlarged edition of her book, Looking for Flavour, was published in 2009. Barbara contributes a regular column to Sumptuous magazine.

Alan Saunders is a writer and broadcaster on a variety of topics but with a particular interest in food. He is presenter of “By Design”, ABC Radio National’s weekly review of architecture and design and landscape. Alanna, his first novel, was published in 2002 by Penguin.

Joanna Savill is a journalist who has been writing about food matters for local and international publications for close on 20 years. She is currently director of the Sydney International Food Festival. A long-time TV producer and host (notably of the landmark “Food Lovers’ Guide to Australia” TV series), she is also a practised broadcaster, author, and editor (both in print and online) and has won awards across the food media spectrum. She also co-edits The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

Carol Selva Rajah is an award-winning food writer, chef, educator, cookbook author and culinary tour specialist with particular expertise in Asian culture and cuisine, thanks to her early life in Singapore and Malaysia. Declared “One of the Great Women Chefs of Australia” in 2006, her writing, broadcasting and TV work has made her name familiar throughout Asia and in the USA as well as Australia.

Maureen Simpson was Food Editor of Australian House & Garden magazine for 30 years and a regular broadcaster on ABC Radio 2BL for 10 years. She received a National Award for Gastronomic Writing for the series “Australia Fare” published in Gourmet Traveller. Her books include Australian Cuisine, Cooking at Weekends and Comfort Food. She is also a member of the AAFP’s Hall of Fame.

Lynette Skeoch is a freelance food consultant and Home Economist with extensive experience in product and recipe development, training, recipe writing and editing. She is a former English and French teacher, has a degree in history and trained at Cordon Bleu in London. She is the author of
three cookbooks and was awarded Best Recipe Writing (Advertising) in the Australian Food Writers’ Awards 1999.

Kathy Snowball is a freelance food writer, consultant and educator. She has worked with food for more than 25 years and is a former food editor of Australian Gourmet Traveller and Food Director of ACP Specialist Titles. Kathy teaches at the Sydney Seafood School, tends her garden in Orange, NSW, and edits taste O, the monthly food and wine supplement of the Central Western Daily.

Richard Walsh was founding editor of Oz and Pol magazines and the weekly newspaper Nation Review. From 1972 to 1986 he was Managing Director of Angus & Robertson Publishers, and from 1986 to 1996 he headed Australian Consolidated Press, where he founded Gourmet Traveller and published The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbooks. As a book publisher at both Angus & Robertson and now Allen & Unwin, Richard has been involved in the publishing of cookbooks for over
35 years.

Loukie Werle is a food writer who contributes to House and Garden and GoodHealth & Medicine. She has written several books, among them Ingredients, Trattoria Pasta, Trattoria Table, Splendido!, Balls (with Lyndey Milan), Saffron, Garlic and Olives, Real Food (for the Heart Foundation), Italian Country Cooking, The New Classic Cookbook (for the Heart Foundation), BBQ & Grill Cookbook (for the Heart Foundation) and Loukie’s Kitchen. She gives cooking classes in her Sydney kitchen.

Christine Whiston, General Manager, ACP Books, has had a long career in publishing, completing her newspaper cadetship in New Zealand before moving into magazines in Australia, working as a journalist, stylist and editor. Christine ran her own publishing business for several years before joining ACP in 2001 as Deputy Publisher Women’s Lifestyle. She was appointed to the Books Division in 2006.