About
Hello. I'm the person behind these recipes, the one who's been scribbling in the margins of cookbooks for longer than I care to admit. Marginalia started as a personal collection — recipes clipped from magazines, jotted down after dinner parties, adapted from half-remembered conversations with grandparents.
I believe the best recipes are living documents. They evolve. You make notes. You adjust quantities. You figure out that adding an extra clove of garlic makes all the difference, or that your oven runs hot so you need to drop the temperature by ten degrees. These annotations, these margin notes — they're where the real cooking happens.
This site is a love letter to well-used cookbooks. The ones with butter-stained pages and cracked spines. The ones you reach for without thinking because you know they won't let you down. Every recipe here has been made multiple times, adjusted, improved, and annotated with the kind of tips you'd whisper to a friend in the kitchen.
I cook because it brings me joy. I share these recipes in the hope they bring you joy too. Make them your own. Scribble in the margins. That's what they're here for.
"The best meals are the ones you come back to again and again — the ones you know by heart, but still keep the recipe for, just in case."
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I substitute ingredients?
Absolutely. Cooking isn't chemistry (well, mostly). If you don't have fresh thyme, use dried. Can't find barramundi? Try snapper or any firm white fish. The recipes are guidelines, not gospel. Use your judgement, taste as you go, and trust yourself.
Do you accept recipe requests?
I love hearing what people want to cook. Drop me a message through the contact page. I can't promise I'll get to everything, but if enough people ask for the same thing, it'll definitely jump up the queue.
Where do you find your ingredients?
Farmers' markets when I can, local grocers when I'm in a hurry, and the occasional specialty shop for things like lemon myrtle or good quality fish sauce. I'm a big believer in using what's seasonal and available. Don't stress if you can't find something obscure — there's almost always a substitute.
Can I share your recipes?
Of course. Food is meant to be shared. Link back to the site if you're posting online, and if you adapt something in an interesting way, I'd love to hear about it.
Why "Marginalia"?
Because the best insights are often found in the margins. Not in the main text, but in the notes someone scribbled in the corner — "add more salt", "double the garlic", "this is perfect". That's where the real wisdom lives.