Unlike most kids in 1980s suburban Brisbane, Courtney Act didn’t have Vegemite sandwiches, sausage rolls or fruit roll-ups in her school lunchbox.
“I always had things that other kids didn't eat, and I was never sure if that was because mum was Danish and dad was German, or because my dad is a naturopath. So, there was a lot of focus on fruits and vegetables, fresh foods and whole foods,” says Act.
Her mum would pack a closed version of smørrebrød, the open sandwich popular in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia.
“I've asked my Danish friends about it and the pumpernickel bread or rye bread is familiar to them, but not the liverwurst and beetroot. It was some sort of combination between 1980s Brisbane, and Denmark. I think it was fusion," she says, laughing.
"It would be a closed sandwich at school, cut in half, wrapped in Glad Wrap and put in my lunchbox. The kids next to me would have Vegemite or cheese and tomato and I would have liverwurst and beetroot,” she recalls.
Already at that age, Act had a strong sense of who she was, and having a different lunch than her friends was not something that bothered her, quite the opposite.
“It didn't seem that odd to me at the time because it was just what I liked and ate at home. But I do remember other kids being like ‘What is that? Is that chocolate bread?’ And I was like, ‘No, no, it's rye bread’," she says.
"I always thought it was kind of cool. I know that kids can struggle with what's in their lunchbox if they're from different cultures. But I always just thought that the weird things in my lunchbox were a bit cool.”
Matt Moran the liverwurst and beetroot smørrebrød for Courtney Act on Memory Bites. Credit: KITTI GOULD
Act has been vegetarian since 2012, after a life-changing night at Burning Man, the arts and music festival in the Nevada desert.
“I went out one night and came home when the sun was up after I had this wonderful, magical night. Somebody made this shaved turkey and melted provolone cheese sandwich on crusty bread, which is not at all common at Burning Man; you’d normally be eating things like baked beans from a can. I sat there and I ate this sandwich, and it was just so delicious. And then I went to bed. When I woke up, I never felt like eating meat again,” she explains.
“It's better for me, better for the environment, and better for the animals.”
She starts most days with raw muesli with berries and oat milk, and tofu is a staple of her diet. She’s also partial to a vegan burger or a chicken-style schnitzel with Bisto gravy and steamed broccoli, but mostly sticks to whole foods and vegetables.
“I remembered my dad talking about eating a diverse range of vegetables for a strong microbiome. And then I watched a documentary on this. It's funny, all of these things that are in fashion now that my dad has been talking about since the 80s,” she reminisces.
Another habit she kept from childhood is to eat kiwis with the skin on, which turned out to be quite divisive when she posted about it online.
“The Internet works on outrage and people are outraged by somebody eating the skin of a kiwi fruit. It's the kind of outrage that isn't causing wars. So anytime I can find an opportunity to provoke outrage from the Internet, that is as easy as eating a kiwi, I take it,” she says, laughing.
Nutritious fruits like kiwis are definitely part of the menu when it comes to fuelling her high-energy cabaret shows, for which she likes to keep things balanced with a healthy meal… often washed down with a double tequila soda!
“Most of us can get in our heads. I don't recommend drinking alcohol before going to work, but when you're performing in a theatre and the people are drinking, it puts you on the same level as the audience,” she says.
Whether it’s on stage or at the kitchen table, Act proves that staying true to yourself, and your taste, is always a recipe for success.
