Hi Duang. Most people will know you from your stall selling delicious food at the Castlemaine Farmers Market. How long have you been at the market and how did you become involved?
I’ve been at the weekly market since it first started three years ago. I was one of the founders. In the beginning, we only had eight to ten stalls, but now, during the busy season, there are around 30 stalls. I like that the market is curated, everything has to be made locally and sold by the makers. The ingredients I use in my food are usually bought at the market, locally, or grown at home.
How long have you lived in Australia?
I was born in Thailand in a place called Nan. I then lived in America for 35 years. I came here 14 years ago because I married an Australian man. We first moved to Eltham. I was 60 years old and didn’t know what I was going to do. I started volunteering at a community garden, which was mainly for people with intellectual disabilities. I started taking food on the days that I worked and the teachers asked me to organise catering for them and that’s how my catering business started. 10 years ago I moved to Chewton and when I saw the benchtop in this house I knew I wanted to run cooking classes.
You went back to visit Thailand earlier this year. How was that trip?
I went back twice, once in January and again in June. I try and go every year. It still feels like home. I recently inherited my family home, which is being renovated to become a cooking school. I want to turn it into a place to run food and cultural tours for people from Australia and America. My home town Nan is not yet a tourist town and I want people to see it while it is still untainted.
Have you had other careers?
I originally trained as a nurse and then as a counsellor. I taught English as a second language and ran a few businesses. But I’ve always loved cooking.
What are your other interests?
Gardening. I grow a lot of my vegetables, things that I can’t buy. In summer I grow a lot of basil. I also grow eggplant which I use a lot in my cooking. The house we live in is built on a large sheet of rock, and my husband and I are both in our 70s, so growing things in raised boxes is the most conducive.
I love to sew, but don’t have time to write now, I mostly cook. I’ve always loved cooking. I started cooking as soon as I could walk. My mother had four daughters, and I must have an aptitude for cooking. None of my sisters were interested in cooking.
Any philosophies by which you like to lead life?
I’m not sure I can answer that in a short time or condense my answer! I guess it’s people. I believe in equalising for people who are disadvantaged, such as refugees. I think food is a fantastic equaliser. During COVID I started making and giving away free food at the market, it was a lot more than I bargained for but it taught me so much about people; the people who came for food and the people who supported the idea. There were farmers who supplied food and community people who came to help cook. Those that had a lot, gave a lot. That’s what I love about this community, the generosity of spirit. So that’s part of my philosophy, to make food accessible to people as much as I can.
Who would your three dream dinner guests be?
Bruce Pascall, who wrote Dark Emu, and Behrouz Boochan, who wrote No Friend but the Mountains. He came to Australia as an asylum seeker and was put into detention in Preston. He was very badly treated. He managed to get his story out through an outsider while he was in detention. He eventually moved to New Zealand.
Annie Smither the cook or if I could choose a dead person it would be John Reid who owned the Red Beard Bakery in Trentham. He was a foodie and a supreme equaliser which is a double plus.
Pet peeves?
The misuse of language. I hate it when people say, ‘people that came’, instead of ‘people who came’ or ‘the amount of people’ instead of ‘the number of people’.
What’s your musical genre of choice?
I don’t have one. I like silence. I cook in silence and I drive in silence.
What are you reading at the moment?
How to tell a story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth and Writing the Story of Your Life by Carmel Bird.
I sense a theme here. Are you planning on writing your story?
Yes.
How’s it going?
It’s going extremely well because I haven’t written anything!
I’ve been talking about writing a book for years. I love writing for the Chewton Chat and writing Facebook posts.
The final question Duang, what do you enjoy most about the place you call home?
There isn’t anything that I don’t enjoy. I love the physical house and the people of Chewton and Castlemaine. I’ve never lived anywhere with such a sense of belonging. I’ve been blown away by how the people support what I want to do! For example, the Red Hill Pub lost a chef. They asked me if I’d do a pop-up and I thought, ‘it’s the local pub. It’s a beautiful place where my friends go to drink’. So we agreed I’d try it and see how it goes. The first date booked out in a day! He asked me to give him a second date and it also booked out in a day! This is what I mean, I can’t believe it! I’m a no-name cook and 50 people a day are booking without knowing what the menu is! I don’t even know what the menu is!