Antarctica on a Plate: Misadventures of a Polar Chef

If you can't stand the cold, get in the kitchen. Alexa Thomson had a stellar city career but an increasing dissatisfaction with life when she applied for the position of cook with a company in Antarctica. Antarctica on a Plate is the joyful accound of how she lobbies shamelessly to get to Antarctica - despite her utter unsuitability for the job - and her exhilaration at finding herself on this continent of extremes. Armed with an old cookbook, she attempts to create three-course meals with no electricity or running water, and struggles to defrost meat in the coldest place on Earth. On a blue-ice runway where the accommodation is basic but the food is five star, life in the company of scientists, explorers and eccentrics begins to take on extraordinary dimensions. As 75-mile-an-hour winds blow and tensions rise, friendships - and love - are forged in this frozen neighbourhood. Alexa Thomson has been a web designer for an investment bank and a writer for Salon.com. She divides her time between Sydney and San Francisco.