DAN PASQUALI has spent his life trying to understand how things work. Whether it was studying cancer cells under a microscope or perfecting the chemical balance of sugar, yeast and heat in his kitchen, curiosity has always been his driving force. But these days, his experiments are about more than perfecting pastries. As a freshly minted Movember ambassador, Pasquali wants to get men talking about their health – a desire born out of his own experiences.
“I started my journey by studying food science,” Pasquali tells Men’s Health. “After that, I did my masters in medical science. And then I did cancer research for a few years.” It was a respectable path – the kind parents brag about – but the former Bake Off contestant says it wasn’t the life he truly wanted.
“After I did Bake Off, I realised that my real passion is sharing food and sharing what I create with people,” he says. “Baking is still like a kind of science. You need to be very precise and know exactly what needs to be done for everything to work.” During lockdown, he made the leap. “I decided to hang up my lab coat and switch to an apron,” he says. “My kitchen is my lab now.”
For Pasquali, who once worked at the cutting edge of medical research, the science of health isn’t just about biology, but behaviour. And one thing he learned early on was how differently men and women approach it.
“When I was studying, I learnt that women are more likely to discuss health issues with other women in their community,” he explains. “They don’t think that having this conversation can be a sign of weakness. But sadly, so many men – especially where I grew up in Italy – think they are superheroes. They think they won’t ever have anything wrong with them, and if they do, they believe they will survive.”
That belief was founded in Pasquali’s childhood, when his grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “He found out after a random blood test,” he recalls. “Luckily, they removed everything and he lived another 30 years. But if he took a blood test earlier, the surgery would have been less invasive. If he took it later, he could have died.”
It’s stories like that, and the silence surrounding them, that motivated Pasquali to join Movember’s mission to help men live happier, healthier, longer lives. “That’s one reason,” he says. “But there’s also my own story.”
Long before the cameras and cookbooks, Pasquali was a high-achieving student carrying the kind of pressure many men know but rarely acknowledge. “When I was younger, I had so much stress from work, from school, because I was under a lot of pressure to do well in tests and stuff,” he says. “I kept bottling up all this stress without saying anything to my family or anyone around me. Eventually, all this tension was like a pressure cooker that erupted.”
The result was a period of panic attacks and anxiety that forced him to reckon with his own mental health for the first time. “That made me realise that if I was talking with people around me, I could avoid those moments of darkness,” he says. “I need to socialise and do things that make me happy. That’s the message I hope to send: you’re not alone in this, we are not superheroes, and we need to talk to people around us.”
Pasquali believes that food can be the perfect icebreaker for conversations that might otherwise be avoided. “I think a room of men sharing a meal together is a great way to start conversation,” he says. “Food makes you happy, especially carbs and sugar. Personally, when I’m having dinner with friends, I’m in the mood to talk more. Food can be the glue that brings people together.”
It’s a philosophy rooted in his Italian background. “In Italian culture, we always have our meals together at the table, and it’s an opportunity to talk,” he says. “I feel like that’s something missing from Australian culture.” The act of cooking itself, according to Pasquali, can also be therapeutic.
And if you’re wondering what he’d serve to get men to open up, here’s a meal plan: “Oh, I would definitely start with a beautiful pasta, handmade tagliatelle with ragu. Then have some focaccia to clean the sauce off the plate. And tiramisu as a dessert, obviously.”
When he’s not in the kitchen, Pasquali finds solace in the gym. “It’s so relaxing, just being there by myself, exercising, my headphones on, talking with nobody,” he says. “Sometimes even at 9pm or 11pm when I need it.”
He trains five or six days a week, a routine that gives him structure and calm. “Food is my work, so sometimes it can be stressful when I try to do too much in one day,” he admits. “But I find that both food and exercise can help me calm down and relax.”
As an ambassador for Movember, Pasquali is part of a growing movement encouraging men to take charge of their health. He knows that change starts small, with simple conversations over a meal or a workout. “I think it’s about making it normal,” he says. “Men need to understand that talking doesn’t make you weak.”
To find out more about Movember’s mission to help Aussie men live healthier, happier lives, click here.
