South Australian food icon Maggie Beer speaks after the death of daughter Saskia Beer
Food icon Maggie Beer has spoken out about her daughter Saskia’s death for the first time.
Food & Wine
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South Australian food icon Maggie Beer has described 2020 as the worst year of her life, following the shock death of her daughter, Saskia, in February.
Beer, 75, has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of her eldest daughter, who died in her sleep at the age of 46 on the night of February 14. She describes being in “total shock” and the COVID-19 lockdown period being a “gift”.
“Your life is changed forever and this year has been the worst of my life,” Beer said in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly.
“I don’t know that you do cope. You find things to do, to engage you.”
The beloved TV personality and businesswoman describes herself as a “homebody by nature”, and says the lockdown period during the peak of COVID-19 in March was a gift because she “didn’t have to leave home and could be cocooned”.
As reported by The Advertiser in February, Maggie and her husband Colin posted a statement on social media on February 16 confirming Saskia’s death.
“It is with broken hearts we need to let you all know that our beautiful, extraordinary daughter Saskia died unexpectedly yet peacefully in her sleep on Friday night,” they wrote.
“We ask for time and space as we grapple to come to terms with our loss and appreciate all the support we have been given.”
In her interview, Beer says she still doesn’t know exactly what happened that tragic night of February 14, but that Saskia died “peacefully”.
While the year has been personally challenging, she and Colin have been a support for Saskia’s children, Max, 23, Lilly, 21, Rory 17.
“It’s about being there and making sure we all talk about things that Sassy would love, what she would do,” Beer said.
Her favourite memories of Saskia are “us being in the kitchen together at home”.
Saskia was born and bred in the Barossa Valley just after the family moved from Sydney in 1973.
In 1979, her parents established the Farm Shop just outside Nuriootpa, which became the famous Barossa Pheasant Farm Restaurant later that year.
“I could see how mum would control her ingredients by telling dad what she wanted her pheasant to be like – that’s how I learned,” Saskia said in an interview in 2013.
“Growing the food and cooking it in our restaurant was fantastic – we were living it well before it became something sexy to do.”
She launched Saskia Beer Farm Produce at Nuriootpa in 1997 when in her mid 20s, soon after the birth of her first child, with an emphasis on free range and chemical-free food.
Her business has continued, while Maggie and Colin’s youngest daughter, Elli, now runs The Farm Shop and Eatery.
Saskia listed her mother among her cooking heroes, alongside the likes of Heston Blumenthal and Kylie Kwong, who posted a tribute on Facebook: “Your beautiful, special, darling Sassy-girl … I am just so, so sad for all of you, I loved Sassy so much and hold you all very, very closely in my heart.”
The Beer family have created a Churchill Fellowship in Saskia’s honour, which will be granted in 2022.
