Marion Grasby

Marion Grasby
Marion Grasby in Thailand, January 2013
Born	(1982-09-29) 29 September 1982 Darwin, Northern Territory
Residence	Bangkok, Thailand
Nationality	Thai Australian
Ethnicity	Thai Australian
Education	Journalism, Law, Gastronomy
Alma mater	Queensland University of Technology University of Adelaide
Years active	2006–present
Known for	Owner and creator of Marion’s Kitchen food range, television presenter, cookbook author, food journalist
Television	Marion's Thailand 2013 (Lifestyle Food Channel MasterChef Australia, Season 2 MasterChef Australia All-Stars The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, Season 2
Partner(s)	Tim Althaus
Website
Marion's Kitchen

Marion Grasby (born 29 September 1982 in Darwin, Northern Territory) is a Thai-Australian cook, and the owner and creator of Marion’s Kitchen food range. She is also a television presenter, cookbook author and food journalist. She is considered a passionate home cook.^[1]

Early life

Grasby started life in the tropical city of Darwin. She later moved to Brisbane where she boarded at Somerville House. Her heritage is Thai (courtesy of her mother) and Australian (courtesy of her father). Her love of food and travel became ingrained at an early age as her parents lived and travelled in Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Australia.^[2] Grasby's mother, Noi, is her hero and mentor. Grasby says her mother (a professionally-trained Thai chef) inspires her with a natural love of food that contributes to her success in her food career.^[3]

We travelled and ate our way across so many places when I was growing up and that sense of adventure translates into the food I cook now. The way we cook and the way we eat tell us so much about who we are and where we’ve been.^[4]

Journalist

After university, Grasby was employed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Adelaide, South Australia as a journalist. Between 2006 and 2008 Grasby was a reporter with the ABC. She filed reports for a range of radio and online services, including The World Today,^[5] AM,^[6] and ABC Rural.^[7] She also worked as a producer for Stateline.^[8]

Career with food

With her love of the culinary world and her dream of becoming a food columnist^[9] in 2008 Grasby left her journalism career and went back to university to study for a Masters of Gastronomy at the University of Adelaide.^[10] Her study allowed her to indulge her fascination with the historical, sociological, and political aspects of food and wine.^[11]

MasterChef Australia, Season 2

In 2010 Grasby took a break from her Masters in Gastronomy course to compete in the second series of MasterChef Australia. She went from strength to strength throughout the competition and was a favourite among viewers. Her creative flair with Asian flavours mixed with her penchant for classic European technique and a calm kitchen presence impressed the judges and celebrity chef guests alike. A MasterChef poll put Grasby as favourite to win the competition.^[12]

Grasby's highlights in the series include winning a celebrity chef challenge against Movida’s Frank Camorra and being singled out by Heston Blumenthal as the best performer during a MasterChef challenge in the UK.^[13] When MasterChef favourite Grasby was eliminated, her shock departure made front-page news across the country. After leaving the MasterChef competition, Grasby was overwhelmed by opportunities to cook, write and present.^[14]

I was really interested in signing Marion because MasterChef Magazine is all about integrity and credibility. Marion has a background as a journalist at the ABC, she is passionate about food and cooking and is studying for a masters degree in gastronomy – she’s perfect columnist material and immensely likeable.^[15] Trudi Jenkins, editor-in-chief, MasterChef Magazine.

Marion’s Kitchen food range

In 2011, Grasby fulfilled a lifelong dream to create her own Asian food range business called Marion’s Kitchen. Marion’s Kitchen is a collection of Asian ingredient kits based on the traditional recipes Grasby learnt through her Thai heritage. Each ingredient kit contains ingredients and a step-by-step guide to perfecting each dish.^[16] Each kit contains all the pantry staples for each dish, such as kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, fish sauce, coconut milk and bamboo shoots. Each sachet is numbered and labelled with instructions. The product helps people to spend a minimal amount of time in the kitchen and produce a tasty and easy homemade meal.^[17]

Marion’s Kitchen food range comprises seven meal kits

• Marion’s Kitchen Thai Green Curry^[18]
• Marion’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry ^[19]
• Marion’s Kitchen Pad Thai^[20]
• Marion’s Kitchen Thai Basil & Chilli Stir-fry ^[21]
• Marion’s Kitchen San Choy Bow ^[22]
• Marion’s Kitchen Singapore Noodles^[23]
• Marion's Kitchen Malaysian Curry ^[24]

In order to better introduce and help people to learn how to cook her products, Grasby filmed the cooking videos for Marion's Kitchen Green Curry, Red Curry and Thai Basil & Chilli Stir-fry. The videos were filmed at Pra Pathom Chedi night market in Nakorn Pathom, Thailand, where Grasby cooked her meal kits on a street cart and shared her food with local people.^[25] She counts her successful product range as one of her biggest achievements to date. Marion’s Kitchen is now stocked in the Asian section of about 3000 stores across Australia as well as selected supermarkets in South Africa.^[26]

Grasby recently moved to Bangkok with her husband and business partner Tim Althaus to be closer to her producers and suppliers to ensure consistent quality of her ingredients. Her food range now sells 150,000 food kits per month in Australia with the plan to expand Marion’s Kitchen globally.^[27]

Marion: Recipes and stories from a hungry cook

In 2011, Grasby released her first book, Marion: Recipes and stories from a hungry cook (ISBN 9781405040518)

The recipes in this book are not simply recipes I’ve plucked out of thin air. Each recipe tells a little story about me, where I’ve been and the people I love.^[28]

The recipes were written by a home cook for home cooks, with dishes to make every night of the week, for dinner parties and lazy afternoons. The recipes are peppered with stories and with photography of the food and of Grasby’s travels through Australia and Thailand.^[29]

Marion’s Thailand 2013

In 2011, Grasby put together a crew to film her cooking adventure in Thailand. She travelled to her mother's home country to film her TV series. Grasby's new series is Marion's Thailand, in which she introduces viewers to fascinating parts of rural Thailand and teaches them how to cook the authentic Thai food handed down through the generations.^[30] Marion's Thailand TV series was aired on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Food channel in May–June 2013,^[31] with total of 10 episodes that features different kind of Thai cuisine. Marion also shared her stories and recipes throughout the show.^[32]

I love it because it's such a simple place ... you cook on a little charcoal stove and as a cook it's a wonderful experience because you realise you don't need all the fancy things to cook great food.^[33]

Press and media

Grasby regularly appears on TV programs such as Good News Week,^[34] the Nine Network's Mornings,^[35] Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield^[36] and The Living Room.^[37] Grasby also joined MasterChef All-Stars and Nine's Celebrity Apprentice for charitable purpose. Grasby nominated Save the Children as her charity for both shows.^[38]

In February 2013, Grasby was nominated as a campaign ambassador for American Express Australia's 'Realise Your Potential in 2013' competition to help inspire people to aim high and achieve their dreams.^[39]

Charity

Grasby is a Save the Children ambassador. Growing up in Papua New Guinea, she witnessed first-hand the huge difference in the lives of children in a developing country compared to Australia. As a result she understands that some children at home and overseas need a helping hand, which is why she works with Save the Children.^[40]

I grew up in Papua New Guinea where the difference between the children who have and those who have not is so incredibly huge. This is something I've never forgotten.^[41]

Personal life

Grasby is a friendly, down to earth person who loves a chat and has a passion for food, and sharing the stories behind them.^[42] During her time out, she likes to seek out and be inspired by new experiences from travelling and tasting great food.^[43]

References

External links

• Marion's Kitchen
• Marion Grasby's Facebook
• Marion Grasby's Twitter
• Marion Grasby's Vimeo
• Marion's Kitchen Youtube