The story behind NonnaKit

My name is Audrey, founder of NonnaKit, and my love of cooking began long before I became a trained chef.

I was born in Antibes, in the south of France, and raised in Belgium near the Luxembourg border. Growing up across different cultures shaped my appreciation for food, flavours and the way cooking brings people together.

But my first real cooking lessons came from my grandma when I was just four years old.

At five, I decided to bake my mum a cake all by myself. There was just one problem: I burnt the top.

My grandma looked at me and asked, “What are we going to do?”

I opened the fridge, looked at what we had, and spotted a jar of apricot jam.

“I'll use this!”

I scraped off the burnt part, covered the top with jam and hoped the sweetness would balance the bitterness.

It wasn't a perfect cake, but I had found a solution.

Without realising it, I was learning something that would stay with me for life: you don't always need the perfect ingredients or a perfect plan. Sometimes, you just need to look at what you have a little differently.

Years later, I trained as a chef and worked in professional kitchens in Luxembourg, Monaco and Nice, including Michelin-starred restaurants.

Those experiences taught me about ingredients, technique, flavour and the craft of cooking. But the instinct I developed as a little girl has always stayed with me.

For me, combining flavours often just makes sense. I can open a fridge, look at a few ingredients and imagine what they could become.

But I began to realise that what feels natural to me can be a real challenge for other people.

We've all been there. You're following a recipe when you discover you're missing one key ingredient. Suddenly, you're wondering whether the dish will still taste good.

Do you risk it? Head to the shops? Or order that one missing ingredient for delivery, spending more money and delaying dinner?

Sometimes, you simply open the fridge after a long day and have no idea what to make. So you cook the same meal again, throw away ingredients you've forgotten about, or order takeaway because cooking feels like too much effort.

I don't believe it needs to be this way.

We're not all trained chefs. We don't all have fully equipped kitchens, specialist equipment, hours to spare or the budget to buy new ingredients every time we cook.

And we shouldn't need any of those things to enjoy good food.

Today, I live in Sydney, Australia, and I wanted to find a way to share what I've learnt throughout my life — from my grandma's kitchen to my professional chef experience — with people everywhere.

That's why I created NonnaKit.

The idea is simple: start with what you already have, and discover what you can make.

Whether you're a student cooking on a tight budget, a busy professional with little time, a parent feeding a family, a grandparent looking for inspiration or someone navigating specific dietary requirements, NonnaKit is designed to help you make everyday cooking easier.

Show us what's in your fridge or pantry, tell us what works for you, and discover practical recipes adapted to your ingredients, preferences, available equipment and the way you cook.

No unnecessary complications. No pressure to be a chef. No need to buy a whole new set of ingredients just because a recipe says so.

Just simple, delicious ideas that help you make more of what you have.

And because food is enjoyed differently around the world, NonnaKit is designed to adapt to different countries, languages, ingredients, measurements and food cultures. Your kitchen, your preferences, your way.

For me, cooking has never been just about following instructions. It's about being curious, experimenting, making things work and discovering something delicious along the way.

My grandma taught me that when I was five years old, standing in front of a burnt cake with a jar of apricot jam.

Now, I want to share that same spirit of creativity and resourcefulness with kitchens around the world.

Because cooking should be something we enjoy, not another chore on our to-do list.

You don't need to be a chef. You don't need the perfect ingredients. You just need a little inspiration and the confidence to give it a go.