About

My love and passion for food was something I was born with. I live and breathe food, everywhere I go, no matter what time of the day, food is always the first thing that comes to mind. I was fortunate enough to be born into an Italian family, where food was a way of life. Every family gathering growing up was based around food. My two Nonna’s, Maria and Rosa, and Mum Anita in the kitchen, preparing feasts, and us kids running around the house waiting to be fed what we still call the best food we’ve ever had!

From the moment I started walking, I would climb onto the bench next to Nonna and would always want to help make gnocchi or stir the pot. Over the years, I remember outgrowing the apron that my Nonna made me as a child, and she still keeps it in her draw at home. My first real food memory was when I was 6 years old, living in the beautiful country side of Tuscany in Italy, when I learnt how to make gnocchi by my Nonna Rosa. To this day it is still one of my fondest memories, recalling there was more flour on the floor and in the cracks of the cupboards, than in the pasta dough itself. I would come home from school and want to help mum make dinner instead of doing my homework, finding stirring the pot and chopping vegetables more enjoyable than maths!

Into my younger teenage years, every Christmas and Birthday I would ask for cookbooks and slowly built a library of cookbooks in my room. Cooking for me was an escape from studying and all things stressful. I was driven to learn more about the Italian food culture and my family’s traditions, so I did.

I knew that I always wanted to work in the food industry, but felt like the thing to do after school was to go to University. I Graduated Siena College in Camberwell in 2012, and after spending all my life living in Templestowe in Melbourne, my parents decided to pack up the house and family and move to McLaren Vale, South Australia early 2013. This is where my love of food just grew to new extremes; attending the local markets every weekend, cooking with the freshest produce, growing my own produce and foraging for all things from pine mushrooms, to the cockles down at Goolwa. I Attended Flinders University and completed my first year of my Bachelor of Health Science degree, where one day I was procrastinating studying for exams and decided to apply for Masterchef Australia 2014. And that’s where it all started…

I packed up my whole life in 3 suitcases, and flew to Melbourne to pursue my love of food. Before I knew it, after 6 months of hard work, determination, persistence, lots of tears and too many laughs in the Masterchef Kitchen, I found myself in the Grand Final. And before I knew it I was crowned Runner-Up of Masterchef Australia 2014. Scary thought, I know! But I could have never have done it without the support and love of my beautiful family. I couldn’t have done any of it without them and their never-ending care. I owe it all to them. The whole experience for me was the most rewarding and eye-opening experience to date. I learnt more about myself in 6 months than I have in 19 years. I found strength I never thought existed, persistence and determination, my love of food reached new heights, and matured and became extremely independent, knowing that I literally held my future in my hands. I met incredible chefs, from all over Australia and around the world. I was mentored by the incredible Marco Pierre-White, who left me in awe and inspired me to be best version of me that I could possibly be, inspiring me with “A tree without roots is just a tree, never stray too far from your roots Laura”. Oh, and I met the most incredible bunch of people. The people who lived and breathed the same air I did, who never left my side and became my second family. The same bunch of people who helped me grow into the brightest version of me I’ve ever been.

And now, well where do I even start? I landed myself the most rewarding job, working as a Junior Chef for Jock Zonfrillo at his Restaurant Orana, in Adelaide. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my Italian inspired cookbook, hitting the shelves in April 2015. I am an Ambassador for the Starlight foundation Australia and get to help put smiles on some of the most ill children in Australia, working for San Remo Pasta, endorsing their incredible brands, cooking at events and creating recipes for them, doing all sorts of catering events and cooking demonstrations and helping out local schools with Kitchen Garden Programs, inspiring the younger generations to get in the kitchen, the heart of every household. Yeah that’s about all, well that I can think of!

Thank you to my friends, in Melbourne, in Adelaide, around Australia and all over the world for making me laugh, cry and for helping me through every obstacle life has ever thrown at me. My family, I have no words at all. You are the driving force behind everything I do, my life, my all.

This is the first chapter of many.

Enjoy.

Laura Cassai