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Brendan O'Connor

“Australia’s Martha Stewart” Donna Hay

09 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 19.828 Brendan O'Connor

Brendan O'Connor on RTE Radio 1. Listen back on the RTE Radio Player app. Now, you might know my next guest from her Disney Plus Food Show Coastal Celebrations, or you might have one of the 8 million cookbooks she sold. They call her Australia's Martha Stewart. Donna, hey, you're very welcome.

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19.927 - 21.731 Donna Hay

Thank you. Great to be here.

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21.751 - 24.497 Brendan O'Connor

I believe you've just landed in Ireland for the first time, yeah?

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24.517 - 25.079 Donna Hay

I have.

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25.119 - 26.843 Brendan O'Connor

And look at you, fresh as a daisy.

26.983 - 31.914 Donna Hay

Absolutely. This nice chill in the air, but a little bit of sunshine with me.

32.255 - 35.522 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah. And no pressure, but how do you like it here so far?

35.823 - 39.288 Donna Hay

Oh, I'm sure I'm going to fall in love with the country. Absolutely.

39.409 - 42.994 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah. You haven't had any food yet, I presume. You haven't had a full Irish breakfast, have you?

Chapter 2: What insights does Donna Hay share about her first trip to Ireland?

45.017 - 53.19 Brendan O'Connor

OK. Yeah. Yeah. We were catching up with Australia on coffee, I think. Yeah. Have you any particular specific eating planned while you're here?

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53.491 - 63.625 Donna Hay

I'm going to leave that to my Irish friend, Donal. Oh, yeah. He's the one responsible for getting me here. So I'm leaving it up to his capable hands.

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63.826 - 72.478 Brendan O'Connor

I'd say he has plans for you. So how do you become Australia's Martha Stewart? I think it involved turning down a job with the actual Martha Stewart at one point, didn't it?

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72.458 - 94.49 Donna Hay

Yes, I went. She called for me and I went to New York to do some filming with her for her TV show when she had it. This was back in the day. I was in my 20s. And she offered me a job to be on her food team. I went home to Sydney to think about it and I was offered my own magazine to start that at home. So I stayed and did that instead.

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94.51 - 109.327 Brendan O'Connor

Now, you see, people might have an idea that Australia... Food-wise, I know it's come on a lot, but that there isn't like, there isn't what you call an Australian cuisine, is there? How would you characterize it?

109.427 - 119.043 Donna Hay

I think that is the best thing about Australia, that there's no traditional cuisine. So we sort of have a little bit of everything, which makes the food scene super exciting.

119.524 - 120.486 Brendan O'Connor

Okay, amazing.

120.506 - 136.755 Donna Hay

Yeah, like our immigrant culture is... So diverse. So it doesn't matter what you want to eat. It's all there. The produce is seriously great because of the amount of sunshine we have. So I feel really spoiled for choice.

136.972 - 150.791 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah. And you're not locked into too much tradition or anything either. It's like, yeah. Australia is not a prisoner to history in the way that a lot of countries are, is it? Like it's pretty much, you're all living for the moment pretty much. We're pretty rebellious. Unburdened by the past.

Chapter 3: How did Donna Hay become known as 'Australia’s Martha Stewart'?

166.132 - 174.261 Donna Hay

Oh my goodness, it's so amazing. I just love it. I love being by the water, which was so nice when I came in from the airport, saw the coastline.

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174.321 - 175.121 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah.

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175.182 - 175.842 Donna Hay

Very nice.

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176.022 - 187.675 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah, it's not quite living by the sea in Sydney, but yeah, we do live by the sea here. We probably don't embrace the bay as much as you do in Sydney. So what kind of food do people eat when they live by the sea in Sydney?

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188.355 - 195.382 Donna Hay

Well, I think they eat a little bit of sunny food. type of food, sun-kissed, we like to say.

195.422 - 196.123 Brendan O'Connor

Okay.

196.143 - 218.835 Donna Hay

And this book leans into all the produce that's available in summer because that's really the time when anyone in any country in summer wants to eat that kind of food that might remind them of a holiday they had by the coast or just a great family holiday or some sort of fun time because summer to me is one of the best times of year.

218.9 - 230.649 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah, absolutely. And so is that a bottom note in kind of that all Australian food that there's a little bit of sunshine in all of it? It's kind of summery. I think so. It's kind of holiday food all the time, yeah?

230.79 - 231.612 Donna Hay

Yeah, it is.

Chapter 4: What defines Australian cuisine according to Donna Hay?

269.349 - 270.371 Donna Hay

It's heaving. Yeah.

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270.892 - 275.62 Brendan O'Connor

OK, so everyone's out and about. Out and about from five o'clock. Yeah.

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275.64 - 276.402 Donna Hay

It's crazy.

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276.542 - 282.893 Brendan O'Connor

Amazing. And I bet you when you have breakfast, you're not sitting down to five types of pork like we do here, are you?

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282.873 - 291.406 Donna Hay

No, it's a big kind of culture of, you know, healthy food, light food, avocado toast, of course, which I think started, you know, in Australia.

291.506 - 292.407 Brendan O'Connor

Did you invent that? Yeah.

293.068 - 305.227 Donna Hay

I'm going to say no, I didn't. I'm a terrible liar. But yeah, it's a really sunny outdoor kind of culture, you know, and that's kind of why I've always based myself in Australia.

305.347 - 321.638 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah, I can see where you've never left Australia. So you're going to give us some recipes from the book. Sunshine, lemons and sea salt, it's called. So why don't we start so with breakfast? So tell me about your honey and tahini breakfast cookie. This is healthier than it sounds, yes?

321.955 - 346.849 Donna Hay

No, really tasty. But this is actually something that I have in a container on my bench for me. Look, without sounding drab, it's like everything you need to start your day. So it's like all the sunflower seeds, the tahini is great for your glowing skin. So it's kind of like a multivitamin, but in a cookie. I grab it and I head out to the car and off I go.

Chapter 5: What makes breakfast culture significant in Australia?

664.281 - 675.321 Brendan O'Connor

There's a double spiced fried chicken in there. Fried chicken is having a kind of a moment everywhere, isn't it? And I mean, look, let's face it. What's the worst fried chicken you've ever had? Fantastic.

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675.301 - 679.651 Donna Hay

Well, what's the worst thing about fried chicken? It's actually coating the chicken.

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679.892 - 680.032 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah.

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680.052 - 698.676 Donna Hay

Like it just gets everywhere all over your hands and it just drives me a little bit crazy. So I came up with a boost on flavour and a little bit of a lower effort on coating the chicken. So... It's kind of a recipe that is a derivative of this poached Chinese-style chicken that I have.

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699.217 - 699.317 Brendan O'Connor

Okay.

699.337 - 704.548 Donna Hay

But it's ginger and soy and rice wine vinegar and a bit of garlic. So it's all of those beautiful flavors.

704.568 - 705.51 Brendan O'Connor

There's loads of umami in there. Yeah.

705.951 - 711.082 Donna Hay

And szechuan peppercorns or some white peppercorns just for that little bit of, you know, kick.

711.283 - 711.383

Yeah.

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