Yumi Stynes is promoting stress-free cooking, swearing and all

Yumi Stynes has released her first cookbook, The Zero F*cks Cookbook, showing how it is possible to cook tasty and fuss-free food. There’s no bleep censor in sight when it comes to this radio star’s cookbook

Pictured is media personality Yumi Stynes at her home in Balmain in Sydney. Pictures: Richard Dobson

• WHO: Radio presenter and cookbook author Yumi Stynes

• WHERE: Inner west Sydney with husband Martin Bendeler and children Anouk, 16, Dee Dee, 13, Mercy, 3, and her two-year-old son who is nicknamed “Man Baby”

• FAVOURITE THING: I’m only just recovering from the pummelling my body received from having two babies 17 months apart. I will never stop being grateful for my health

• INSPIRATION: Our house reminds me of a treehouse with lots of wood and plants

• HOME IS: I always wanted to have a home where people feel welcome, and I think we have managed that

KNOWN as a TV and radio host who tells it like it is, leave it to Yumi Stynes to name her first cookbook, The Zero F*cks Cookbook.

True to style, the book is based on her own cooking philosophy, which includes statements such as, “marshmallows do not count as an ingredient. Nor does Coca Cola nor French onion soup. Thou art busy, not a bogan”. Then there’s this: “Thou shall never apologise. You cooked. That is enough.”

Clearly Yumi doesn’t take a backward step in her inner west kitchen either. Although she has no formal training as a chef, Yumi loves to cook and worked in kitchens around Australia when she was travelling after university.

When she was appearing on now defunct show The Circle as a co-host, she also got a kick out of sharing her recipes.

AT HOME WITH DR TRISHA STRATFORD

Yumi Stynes loves to cook and worked in kitchens around Australia when she was travelling after university. Picture: Richard Dobson

A copy of Yumi Stynes new cookbook.

Most of the recipes in the book are her own, or her mum’s recipes that have been rejigged in some way. They include soba noodles, bruschetta salad and mud cake. There’s even a Christmas cake recipe that a friend saved from a women’s magazine.

Ultimately, the idea of the cookbook is that it should be stress free, as the title suggests.

“How many people have to cook even though they don’t give a f ...?” she says.

“You want to eat yummy things, but don’t be stressed about cooking it.”

She says swearing in the kitchen is the least of her concerns.

“Women who see the title of the book will get it, and if people are offended, they are not the ones who need this cookbook.”

More: Instagram and Twitter @yumichild; Yumi Stynes can be heard on KIIS network’s 3pm Pick Up radio show. The Zero F*CKS Cookbook, $39.99, Hardie Grant Books

Japanese measuring spoons and scale: I love the designs of these spoons, and I also use the scales daily. It’s a late life lesson. Humble yourself and just follow the recipe.

Table and chairs: This wooden table is so dear to me. The chairs slot in perfectly to the table and almost disappear. It doesn’t actually work where it is in our current house, but I can’t get rid of it.

Japanese noren curtains: I bought these a few years ago in Japan. They offer a simple bit of privacy to the bedrooms and a simple bit of Japan to our Aussie home.

Runners: I do a fair bit of exercise, and now I have two pairs of runners, which I sometimes change mid-workout. I have light shoes for boxing and then switch to weight training shoes.

Lock & Co. hat: When I went to London last year I visited the shop where Charlie Chaplin used to get his hats. I love that tradition — and it’s a perfectly comfortable hat too.

Tiny vase: It cost 400 Yen and I love it. You put a tiny sprig of flowers in it and leave it on the mantle where your house guests may, or may not, see it.

Artwork by Lisa Kotoulas: I’m a great supporter of up-and-coming and mid-career artists, and I love to go to graduate exhibitions and support students by buying their artwork.

Philodendron plant: This is my gateway plant. It’s the first plant that I have managed not to kill. It’s given me great pleasure that it’s still alive and now I’m going to get another plant.