A fabulous foodie Feb

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Hello Gastronomads

I hope everyone had a restorative and luminous holiday season as we did in Auckland. The inevitable arrival of omicron has put a slight spanner in the works but my classes, events and travels are still going ahead at this stage. It's been such a pleasure cooking and eating summer food like sweetcorn, Jersey Benne potatoes, artichokes, heritage tomatoes and super fresh fish from the fish market. I've also loved welcoming my Supper Club students in my home, who sometimes come bearing flowers and cakes for me. Silver Fox alert! For years I've been wanting to take my red hair to its now natural colour of silver. It feels great and I am relieved never to have to dye it again. Ever. This is it!

Supper Club

I host my Supper Club in my central Auckland apartment every Thursday evening and Saturday lunchtime and will be doing so till I leave for France in June. Recently I've had guests from all over the country – Supper Club is for everyone... not just locals. So if you fancy a fun evening/afternoon at my place, contact me via the website HERE to enquire about available dates. The experience is a chance to relax while I do all the teaching, cooking and book reading and you drink bubbly, laugh a lot and get connected around the terrace table while admiring the Sky tower. The recipes are mostly Southern French inspired by my cooking classes in Uzès. Speaking of which...

Uzès Cooking Classes 2022

I will be in my French home from June till the end of September teaching my regular cooking classes centered around the market, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. At 9am we meet at the market and tour and buy ingredients for an hour, taste wine (yes at 10am), meet local growers, swoon over the fish and seafood and pick up litres of the local olive oil. Think unbelievably sweet tomatoes, goat cheese, flowers, fruit bursting with sunshine, glistening olives of all descriptions. On the way home we stop at the boulangerie to eat fougasse bread then walk down the street to my place. Hands on cooking class for 3 hours then lunch with guess what? more local wines. It's hot but my house is blissfully air-conditioned on all three floors. We finish around 2pm which just gives you time to crawl to your hotel for a big fat siesta. More info on my Uzès classes is HERE.

What's on around NZ:

  • Cooking demo at The Food Show Christchurch, Saturday 19 March 1pm– more info HERE

  • Speaking event at Uxbridge Arts Centre in Howick, Saturday 9 April 7pm – more info HERE

  • Cooking classes Riverside Kitchen Christchurch, Saturday April 30 & Sunday May – more info HERE

  • Auckland Writers Festival, Friday 13 May – more info HERE and programme launch 9 March.

Puglia Tour – 28 August - 4 September

The other European culinary tour I'm doing this year (alongside my Uzès one in July) is Puglia in the south of Italy in September. Puglia is a secret land known for its whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland and hundreds of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline. They produce the sort of things that love dry conditions - very sexy earthy wine and very intense fruity olive oil and because they are suppounded by water, abundant seafood. They grow a lot of wheat which means pasta, pasta, pasta. We spend half the week in the Baroque city of Lecce – eating, cooking, shopping, joining in the passagiata (evening strolling) and half the week at a masseria (farm house hotel) in the countryside – partaking of their organic home grown wine, olive oil, capers, wheat, vegetables and fruit. We also go sailing the high seas and party on the last night with a traditional pizzica band. Puglia is breathtaking and one of my favourite places in the world... so if you've got itchy feet why not join me? All the tour info is HERE.

Duck Breast and Chicken Liver in Salt Crust (serves 6)

4 duck breasts
freshly ground pepper
200g chicken or duck liver
4 good sprigs of fresh lemon thyme
1kg rock salt
1/2 cup flour
1 egg white
2 tbsp water
Kitchen string
poultry needle

  1. Prick the duck breast skin, taking care not to cut the meat.

  2. Gently separate the lobes of the liver. Never cut them. Gently remove the veins, pulling them through the soft liver with the back of a vegetable knife. Avoid damaging the liver as much as possible.

  3. Lay two breasts on a board, place half the liver on top of them. Scrape the leaves off the thyme sprigs onto the liver. Place the other two breasts on top and tie up with string using your hands or a poultry needle. Grind pepper on both sides.

  4. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Heat a fry pan to very hot and fry the duck ‘sandwich’ for a few mins on each side until browned.

  5. Meanwhile make the salt crust by mixing the last 4 ingredients together. Cover the bottom of an oven proof dish with the salt mixture, put the duck on top and cover with the rest of the salt.

  6. Bake in the oven for 20 mins.

This dish is normally eaten cold so when it's cooked break the crust, allow the duck packages to cool down a bit them wrap in tin foil. Leave in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the foil and string and slice.
To eat it warm, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 mins. Take the oven dish to the table and break the crust in front of your guests – the cries of wonder at the smell are quite gratifying. Cut medium thickness slices. This would be good served with a lambs lettuce and walnut salad and new potatoes from your country cousins.

And that's the nine o'clock news. Just like the tender chicken liver safe inside the salt crust, make sure you have a protective layer of friends and family around you – it makes you a more delicious person. And don't forget to grab your copy of 'Shed Couture' from your local bookshop... essential Summer reading to be enjoyed whilst relaxing with a rosé.

Peta