She’s built up a stellar career since appearing on MasterChef Australia in 2019 – but it turns out Steph de Sousa still isn’t a fan of a complicated recipe.
“I can’t read a recipe to save my life. I’m terrible at it,” the 53-year-old mum of four tells Woman’s Day candidly from the kitchen, explaining she likes to deal in “whole numbers or cups” because she’s dyslexic her brain “works better that way”.
The star’s new cookbook, No Stress Recipe Queen, is a case in point. It’s practically devoid of fiddly numbers.
“Seriously, a gram or a millilitre here or there, in my experience – with the food I make – doesn’t make any difference,” Steph declares.
BIG BREAK
It’s a refreshingly relaxed take for a cook who battled it out to impress the notoriously picky judges on MasterChef.
Steph won hearts during her time on the show, having quit her well-paid government HR job to give it a crack.
But despite her popularity with viewers, her early exit forced her to dig deep once the cameras stopped rolling.
“I think because I had quit, and I was so determined to not go back [to HR], I had to make it work. I didn’t have a choice. It was a ride-or-die situation.”
The star, who lives in NSW with husband Neville and son Noah, 17, explains how she “knocked on doors” and grabbed every opportunity just to “keep some money coming through the door”.
It was only when she started posting content to her social channels that things “really started to come alive”.
“I stopped being a food snob and started showing people what I cook at home, and giving people practical ideas about recipes, shopping at Aldi, those kinds of things,” she explains.
As well as finding joy in sharing simple tips and tricks, Steph sees cooking as a “mindful process”, and at times of struggle it’s the constant she turns to.
“I’ve had my own mental health battles over the years… and it’s something that if I’m having a particularly anxious day or struggling or life is crazy, all I want to do is get in the kitchen,” she explains.
“Because when I’m cooking, I’m only thinking about cooking.”
While feeding her family helps Steph take on the world, she also views it as an “act of love”, poignantly cooking for her beloved sister Therese as she fought a “horrible, painful” battle with motor neurone disease (MND), which she lost in October 2022.
“It was one of the loveliest things,” the star emotionally shares.
“I was so blessed that Therese asked me to care for her. She could have got carers, but she really wanted to have family close by.”
Steph explains how she would do “sneaky things” in the kitchen to try and give her sister the nutrition she needed to stay healthy for as long as possible.
“She just loved food too,” she recalls. “It was one of those pleasures that she had right to the end.”
LOVE & LOSS
It is perhaps testament to Steph’s devotion that Therese ate her last meal the night before she passed away.
“Most people can’t eat, most people can’t talk, but she literally lost everything except for those two things,” the star explains, adding that before her passing, her sister promised her she would signal her ongoing presence with white feathers.
“I often see a white feather. It makes me think of her every time,” Steph shares.
“I absolutely feel her every day.”
Despite the agonising loss, Steph knows that her sister would be “so excited” to see what she’s achieved.
“What I’m really proud of is the fact that I’m a middle-aged woman who doesn’t have to shrink into the background. If you’re brave enough and you can save enough, you can change your life if you really want to. I think that’s a really important message that women particularly need to hear.”
No Stress Recipe Queen, HarperCollins, $29.99
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