The recipes, and musings, on these pages were written in a lost age. In the late 80s and early 90s I was a regular writer in the pages of the Herald (Melbourne afternoon paper), and The Sunday Age. Simple Flavours, my first book, came from much of this work.

Later, when I had started another series of restaurants, I started writing again – this time for The Age. some of which became Good Food, No Fuss, my second book—published in 1994 by the legendary Anne O’Donovan. In the spring of 2011, Good Food No Fuss was added. Over the next (unknown period) I will continue to add recipes and ideas, as moments of spare time pop into my life.

It is fascinating to view the changes of cooking styles, fashions, use of ingredients over the journey. Some of this is to do with changing fashion, some to do with experience, some to do with experiments, some to do with what drops into your lap.

I’ve always believed that writing about food is about pushing the reader to try things. The recipe can be a prescription, but I prefer to think of it as a pointer, a starting point.

Geoff Slattery, October 2011