Doing it for dad: Sarah Kelsall is teaching healthy cooking to help students avoid heart attack risks.
Andrew Mathieson
A CHEF who turned industrial workers off fatty food in just months is launching a bold public campaign with a demonstration of healthy alternatives to reduce the risk of heart attack.
Saving lives with a chef’s knife rather than a surgeon’s blade is close to Sarah Kelsall’s heart.
She developed her Pro Heart Cooking Demonstrations for heart-attack survivors after her father suddenly died aged 52.
“I became a chef first and then the challenge was to create nice-tasting food but with healthier choices,” she said.
“When my dad died of a heart attack it inspired me to go down this path and do more.
“It did affect me and it’s just sort of now that I’m taking a lot of notice of my own health.”
Mrs Kelsall, who has been a qualified chef for eight years, wants to challenge the misconception that healthy eating must mean longer preparation and compromises on taste.
But her heart-smart meals were initially hard to swallow among many workers at Alcoa’s Point Henry plant.
The 30-year-old said breaking old eating habits at the plant cafeteria was “a bit of a shock” to the workers on their slow conversion to health food.
“When I started there four months ago it was just a bain-marie full of deep-fried food,” she said.
“We’ve been able to reduce that food back to just a really small section. We’re trying to offer things that are just as appealing and just as tasty but without the saturated fats.”
Ms Kelsall said she would launch her Pro Heart Cooking Demonstrations on November 27.
She was seeking sponsorship, donations and “continued community support” for the event.
Success on the day could lead to ongoing classes throughout next year, she said.
Ms Kelsall’s event would feature a high-profile chef who would lead the cooking demonstrations.
Participants would also hear from health industry professionals and heart attack survivors, she said.
The session would conclude with participants taking home recipes for healthy dishes.
Ms Kelsall asked anyone wanting to register to phone 0425 805 895.
Proceeds from the $5 entry fee would go to The Heart Foundation, she said.
