Hi I’m Holly

I am a wholefood chef, author and educator. I teach face to face workshops and online courses, in Sourdough Baking, Lacto fermentation and very soon, The Art & Alchemy of Japanese Wholefoods. Sign up to my news, to hear all the details about this new course starting in May 2023. My classes page shows upcoming face to face classes.

In 1985, alongside Willem Venter, I co-founded Sydney’s Iku Wholefoods Kitchen. Back then all our dishes were handmade, using organic produce, these were sold on the day they were made. Our mission was to seduce people to better ways of eating and to support organic farmers and producers. We were inspired by macrobiotic philosophy and the use of Japanese wholefoods. We made seasonally appropriate dishes, using mostly plants. 
I sold Iku in 1997 and have no current affiliations. 

I have spent many years refining my experience in using Japanese ingredients.  In my upcoming online Japanese cooking course, The Art & Alchemy of Japanese Wholefoods, I will pass on some of this understanding to you, so that you may enjoy a little of what these fine foods can offer you and your table.

I began my fermentation journey as a teenager, using mum’s linen cupboard and any spare bench I could find to house delicious fermenting pickles, cheeses and drinks. I have been making these foods and teaching others how to cook and ferment wholefoods for over 40 years.

I am never happier than when I am sharing my knowledge, SCOBYs and starters with the curious, and love that the saying ‘You Never Learn Less’ is indeed true.

My most recent book, Ferment- A guide to the ancient art of culturing foods now sits beside my first book Nourish, but sadly that one is out of print. Ferment is currently available in four languages, five if you count American English as one!