Aine McAteer is a creative personal chef, food writer and educator. Her background as a chef to actors, musicians and athletes has given her the opportunity to travel worldwide and explore other cultures through their foods, which adds flavor and dimension to her culinary creations. At an early age, Aine discovered the power of food to impact her health and wellbeing and it became her passion to follow a path of discovery and learning that has evolved into a rewarding career. She takes joy in sharing her delicious health supportive food with people around the globe and through her website hopes to create a platform for health and wellness that will inspire you to reach new levels of vitality and wellbeing in the most creative and delicious way.
EARLY INFLUENCES: If I try to recall my earliest childhood memories, there was a strong sense of having a gift in my hands. Over the years, this has become evident to me – my gift was not one of “the gab” – it was the ability to put my hands to work and trust that the results would happily surprise me. One of the biggest influences in my childhood was my maternal grandmother. Of the eleven kids in our family, I secretly knew that I was her favorite. Perhaps it was because I showed an interest in her craftsmanship – I would sit for hours and wind the handle on the old singer sewing machine that she spent her days creating on.
She also taught me how to plant seeds in the garden – an abundant garden that was the source of much of our nourishment. I learned from her the rhythms and cycles of nature – the best time to plant and how to tend to the seedlings and harvest the fruits of our labor. These are the memories I cherish and that have given me a sense of connection with nature and an awareness of its role in our growth and nourishment.
With eleven hungry mouths to feed, my mother seemed to have a magical way of making food appear on our table. She didn’t own such thing as a cookbook and she always made it look so effortless. As a young child, I would try to emulate her – my efforts always began with mixing together my two favorite ingredients, butter and sugar. To what was left after I had finished my tasting, I would add all sorts of things – mustard, ketchup, even venturing out to the garden and adding whatever I could pick. I would leave my concoctions up on a shelf and every once in a while I’d check in on them and observe how they were changing. I loved to play in this way and considered myself quite the alchemist – always conjuring up some weird concoction. These days, I continue to create in the kitchen with that same spirit of adventure, but hopefully my creations are a little more edible and delicious!
CAREER: I’m often asked “what made you decide to become a chef?” and I really have to stop and ponder. It was never an ambition of mine, nor was it something I set out to become. I simply discovered the power of food to impact my health, vitality and wellbeing and followed my passion to learn all I could about food and health. It has been a long and enlightening journey that has evolved into a career that I could not possibly have envisioned. My cooking talent was something that surprised me, and to this day, continues to do so. The kitchen is where I let my creative spirit take flight and this is what keeps me coming back, and keeps it fresh and alive for me. My career has allowed me to fulfill my ambition to travel the world and I get to experience cultures in the most intimate way, through their foods. Each place I travel to adds a new dimension to my work with food and each new client I cater to challenges me to rise to new levels as I aim to seduce another palate to the world of healthy eating in the most deliciously indulgent way. My work with food has taken me into the lives of Hollywood superstars, who are responsible for most of my travel adventures as they take me with them to movie locations around the world. I have also catered to many people who are using food as a tool to recover from health challenges – from Multiple Sclerosis, to cancer. I have witnessed the power of food to simply transform lives and this continues to motivate me to share my gift with people, through my personal chef work and my writings and teaching.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: One of the greatest accomplishments I feel is the fact that after all these years, I still have the same passion, enthusiasm and sense of excitement when I get to create in the kitchen. I never consider myself an “expert” as I know that there’s always so much more to learn and the world of food and cooking continues to evolve and always offers a new learning curve.
Sending my first cookbook “Recipes to Nurture” out into the world was one of the most thrilling highlights of my work. To have an opportunity to share my creativity with the world in this way was truly a blessing and to have it singled out as “Best Health and Nutrition Cookbook in the World” at the Gourmand World Cookbook awards was a great honor.
My book has been published on three continents – Australia, UK and Ireland and Croatia. I have since published two other cookbooks in Croatia – one is a collection of healthy recipes for children and also a Vegan dessert book.
I have been featured in magazines, newspapers and on television around the world and continue to welcome opportunities to share my gift of creative healthy food on the global stage.
GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS: I have recently taken a step back from my personal chef work so I can focus on writing, teaching and exploring other creative avenues to share my gift. Many opportunities now present themselves for me to share my gift with more people so stay tuned as it continues to evolve, always surpassing my greatest expectations. I hope that my website allows me to interact with more people and gives me a place from where I can continue to share my creative endeavors with you.
OTHER AVENUES OF EXPRESSION – my creative explorations do not end in the kitchen – I have always followed my creative urges and this has expressed itself over the years in other mediums such as making jewelry or clothing. I’ve been known to spend my day in the kitchen cooking for my clients and come home and whip up a new dress or kimono. I believe that if my career hadn’t evolved into one in the kitchen, I would have somehow been involved in the world of fashion. I love to dress and I get immense pleasure from creating with fabrics these days. Very much like my approach to cooking, I don’t follow patterns or adhere to any trends, I simply allow my creativity to guide me. Many people, when they see my creations ask me if they are for sale, so I’ve decided to create an area here where they can be purchased. I will also be taking custom orders if requested.
The name for my clothing line “Summer of Love” was born a few years ago when I delved back into an old love of mine from years ago – tie dyeing fabrics. I created a lovely line of dresses, skirts and tops for myself and my friends. I’ve always loved the boho chic vibe so I think it’s an apt name that reflects the relaxed and versatile nature of my designs. I hope that you will enjoy wearing them as much as I do.