Marion Grasby Mother's Day Interview

Marion Grasby Mother's Day Interview

With Mother's Day just around the corner we thought you might be interested in how the mother daughter bond between Marion Grasby and her mother Noi inspired the celebrity chef's love of cooking and business empire.

From a young age, Marion was immersed in the authentic cuisine of her heritage. Noi Grasby instilled a passion for Thai food and culture into her daughter, raising Marion on authentic dishes whilst other kids ate peanut butter sandwiches.

However, it wasn't until after studying as a lawyer and practicing as a journalist that Marion rekindled her love of cooking on MasterChef. Her Asian-inspired dishes were an audience favourite and drew obvious inspiration from her childhood. Following this, Marion channelled her passion for cooking into Marion's Kitchen to make Asian food accessible to everyone. The variety of flavours and styles are a nod to the spicy eye-watering dishes her mum would make.

Today Noi, a trained Thai chef, is still very much invested in her daughter's career, heading up the product quality control team, a new position created to keep a tight control on the flavour of the Marion's Kitchen range.

Interview with Marion Grasby

Question: How did your mum inspire your love of cooking?

Marion Grasby: My mum is a trained chef and has always had such an unwavering passion for food and cooking. It was her influence that taught me to love cooking so much.


Question: Can you share with us one of the tips, your mum taught you, in her kitchen?

Marion Grasby: Thai food is all about tasting and adjusting flavours until they're perfectly balanced. The biggest tip I've learned from her is to taste and season as I go.


Question: What are your earliest memories of cooking?

Marion Grasby: I remember helping my mum cook her beautiful Thai curries from a very early age. Even now, the smell of a Thai green curry simmering on my stovetop makes me feel like I'm getting a big hug from my mum.

Question: How did other kids respond when you were learning to cook authentic Thai dishes whilst they ate sandwiches?

Marion Grasby: Well, I think most of the kids thought my lunches looked weird but I didn't care because I thought my lunches were the best!


Question: How does your mother support Marion's Kitchen?

Marion Grasby: My mum is now working with my company in a formal capacity as our Quality Control Chef. She heads up the team that test each batch of our products to make sure they're tasting the best they can. I'm so lucky to have her working with me!


Question: What will you be cooking, for your mum, this Mother's day?

Marion Grasby: We're actually heading out for a day of lovely wine and good food. We've been cooking together so much recently, so it's more of a treat to take my mum out this year!


Question: What's next for the Marion's Kitchen range?

Marion Grasby: I'm constantly developing new products for my Marion's Kitchen food range and I have a whole bunch of exciting products coming out in June focused on providing -better-for-you', premium Asian flavours. Stay tuned!


Question: What advice do you have for parents when teaching their children to cook?
Marion Grasby: Making it fun is key!


Question: How can parents encourage their children to get involved in cooking?

Marion Grasby: The young kids in my life always love when there are loads of colours to play with. I try to get them involved in preparing lots of colourful vegetables in the hope they get excited about eating them later.


Interview by Brooke Hunter