Diane Holuigue CCP OAM
Diane Holuigue CCP OAM

Diane Holuigue (Nicholls ’58) was dubbed a living legend by the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival in March 1995 for her contribution to the food and wine traditions of Australia. In October 1995, she was awarded ‘Best Overall Contribution in the Food Print Medium’ at the Food Media Club (Inc.) inaugural Food Writers’ Awards. In January 2002, The Times (London) Cook, Jill Dupleix, called Di “one of the world’s greatest cooking teachers,” and in 2013, she was awarded the Order of Australia medal for her services to the hospitality industry in the Queen’s Honours List.

Diane Holuigue (Nicholls ’58) was dubbed a living legend by the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival in March 1995 for her contribution to the food and wine traditions of Australia. In October 1995, she was awarded ‘Best Overall Contribution in the Food Print Medium’ at the Food Media Club (Inc.) inaugural Food Writers’ Awards. In January 2002, The Times (London) Cook, Jill Dupleix, called Di “one of the world’s greatest cooking teachers,” and in 2013, she was awarded the Order of Australia medal for her services to the hospitality industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Diane has published 13 cookbooks. The first, The French Kitchen (AFL Publishing 1983) remains the authoritative volume on French cuisine for Australia/New Zealand. For the last 30 years, Diane has been a columnist for major publications including Home Beautiful, the Melbourne Herald, The Australian and its weekend magazine, and The Age Good Weekend.   Her most recent book, A Lifetime of Cooking, Teaching and Writing (Slattery Publications), released in 2013, is a 950 page collection of work from books and articles of her lifetime career, and includes 250 unpublished new recipes.

After spending three years at Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School, Paris, in the 1960s, Diane opened her trail-blazing Melbourne cooking school The French Kitchen in 1969. By the time it closed its full-time operation in 1996, it had become the foremost private cooking school in Australia, inspiring over 54,000 students to love and understand all things culinary. She has cooked with the likes of Julia Child, Michel Guérard, Paul Bocuse, Frédy Girardet, Roger Vergé, Alain Senderens, Jean-Michel Lorain and at La Tour d’Argent.

Diane was the first Australian member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and holds its highest grading of Certified Culinary Professional (CCP).

Diane still travels extensively in Australia and New Zealand as the acknowledged authority for bridging the gap between the amateur and professional culinary world. Diane lives in Melbourne with her husband Gérard and has two children and four grandchildren.

November 2015