Daen Lia

With an enormous worldwide social media following that grows by the day, Daen Lia has established herself as one of Australia’s most popular digital creators. Taking inspiration from her heritage and global travels, Daen’s recipes are built on celebrating bold flavours and fresh ingredients. Generosity and accessibility are at the heart of everything she cooks. Daen’s food journey began the minute she could chew, falling in love with every type of food you could imagine. When every other child ordered battered calamari at the local fish and chip shop, she would order grilled scallops with a side of sauteed mushrooms! For her birthday rather than a cake straight from the Woman’s Weekly Cake Book, she would request a whole mud crab that her parents would dress up with a bow on its head and a balloon in its claw. She learnt everything she knows about cooking from two of the most important people in her life, her Spanish & Sicilian mum, and her late Sicilian Nana. Food is something that has always brought them together, either by rolling croquettes on Christmas Eve, making a Paella feast for family gatherings, or enjoying pasta for mid-week dinners. With a background in arts marketing, she created Daen’s Kitchen in 2018, drawing on her passion for food, recipe development and food photography. Since then she has built an incredibly strong brand, with a highly engaged audience of millions worldwide. Daen’s first book ‘Garlic, Olive Oil + everything else’ was published with Pan Macmillan in 2023. Daen lives in Melbourne, Australia with her partner and gorgeous daughters Indi and Margot. She loves nothing more than throwing a dinner party for friends and cooking for those nearest and dearest to her.