Pamela Clark facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pamela Clark
Born	1944 (age 80–81)
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Chef

Pamela Clark, born in 1944, is a famous Australian chef. She writes cookbooks and presents food shows. She has worked with The Australian Women's Weekly magazine for 50 years!

Pamela's Early Life

When Pamela was very young, she lived on an island called Aneityum in Vanuatu. Her family moved back to Australia in 1948. She went to Meriden School in Sydney.

Her favorite subject was Home Science. Her teacher, Miss Scott, used to show people how to cook for a company called AGL. When Pamela was just 11, she decided she wanted to work with food too. At 15, she learned how to decorate cakes.

After school, Pamela followed in Miss Scott's footsteps. She became a cooking demonstrator for AGL. Later, she worked for another council for seven years. Through this job, she met people from The Australian Women's Weekly (AWW) Test Kitchen. She then applied for a job there.

Pamela's Amazing Career

In September 1969, Pamela started working at the AWW Test Kitchen. She was the Chief Home Economist. She helped create nine cookbooks in four years! She also made sure the magazine's food was tested and photographed well. She even prepared the Savoury lamb casserole for the cover of the first Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook in 1970.

In 1973, Pamela moved to Tasmania. There, she presented food shows on TV and radio. She also taught cooking classes and ran a hotel restaurant.

Back at the Weekly

Pamela returned to The Weekly in 1978. She helped create many popular cookbooks and recipe cards. She was the person who thought of The Children's Birthday Cake Book. She got the idea after making a dinosaur cake for a young neighbor. She later said this book was her favorite part of her job. She loved baking and creating children's cakes.

In 1984, Pamela became the Food Editor. She made sure more recipes had photos. Her job involved tasting and approving 2000 recipes each year! These recipes would then appear in the magazine and in six cookbooks.

Working with Kerry Packer

Kerry Packer was the owner of the media company that owned The Weekly. He often asked Pamela to make him pink-iced finger buns and three-minute eggs very quickly. Pamela also managed his dining room, which was in the same building as the Test Kitchen.

In a funny article from 1991, it was joked that Kerry Packer tried to make healthy lamingtons. The article said he did this before Pamela could stop him! It ended by saying people loved his lamingtons, but not his media ownership.

TV and Radio Appearances

In the 1990s, Pamela appeared on Channel Nine's 'What's Cooking' every two months. In 2003, she was on 'Fresh Cooking with the AWW'. From 2006 to 2011, Pamela also shared her recipes on the ABC Radio website.

Pamela believes cooking should be simple. In 2016, she said: "Cooking for me is all about simplicity - letting the beautiful fresh produce and flavours shine."

Over the years, Pamela's job title changed. She was Food Editor, then Food Director, and later Editorial and Food Director. This happened partly because the company that owned The Weekly was sold. She is now the Editorial Director at Large for Bauer Books. Many people consider her one of Australia's most famous cooks.

Helping Others

Pamela has also used her skills to help others.

Charity Cookbooks

In 1995, Pamela was part of the Celebrity Cooks Collection cookbook. This book was released by the National Heart Foundation of Australia. It featured 18 famous Australian food writers. Each writer shared recipes from their favorite international food, following healthy eating guidelines. Pamela wrote a chapter about food from Vietnam.

Fundraising Events

From about 2014 to 2017, Pamela was an Ambassador for the Australian Red Cross. She helped with their Red Cross Big Cake Bake fundraising event.

In 2016, she was a judge for a charity bake-off. People baked cakes from The Children's Birthday Cake Book. This event raised money for a charity in Canberra that helps parents with depression. Pamela planned to become a patron of this charity.

Pamela's Personal Life

Pamela has two sisters. One was a nurse, and the other was a high school teacher. In the 1990s, Pamela lived in Newtown, Sydney, with her son, Robby.

Pamela has two granddaughters, Elspeth and Isobel. They also enjoy choosing their birthday cakes from The Children's Birthday Cake Book.

Pamela met her partner, Paul, in 2014. They now live together on the island of Taveuni, Fiji.