Spring into My New Book!
/I've had a beautiful summer in my home in Uzès. We've had a suffocating heatwave of 39 degrees then suddenly the temperature dropped 10 degrees and we all had to put cardies on – 27 degrees in the South of France is practically chilly. The main extremely groovy news is that my new book 'It's Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession' hits bookshelves on my birthday 12 October. There will be various book launches around the country. So far it's looking like this…
Auckland – 14 October 6pm – Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Westhaven Marina. All welcome, no charge – bookings HERE
Queenstown – 16 October 1pm – Arrowtown Lifestyle Village. All welcome, residents $60, non residents $70 – bookings HERE
Dunedin – 17 October 5.30pm – The Dunedin Club (members & friends)
Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival – 18 October 11am – $25 bookings HERE
Wellington – 22 Oct 5.30pm – The Wellington Club (member & friends)
Oxford – 23 October 7pm – Emmas at Oxford. All welcome, no charge – to RSVP email sara@emmasatoxford.com
Christchurch – 24 October 5.30pm – The Christchurch Club (members & friends)
Christchurch – 25 October 2pm Scorpio Books. All welcome, no charge – RSVP HERE
I have just finished my Puglia gastronomic tour which is the same as saying I have just started weeping because I don't want to leave. My tears are pink because I drank so much rosé. You don’t know how much you miss Puglia till you leave it then you long to return to their gentle, easy-going ways and honest food. Folk and food are just different in the south. Because Puglia is in the heel of Italy and surrounded by the Adriatic and Ionian seas, the cuisine is bursting with seafood – my favourite is the red prawns which they eat raw. We gorged ourselves on olive oil, fava bean purée, chicory, octopus, gelato, fresh tomato sugo jumping with meatballs, pasta, pasta, pasta, bombetti (stuffed rolled pork) and pasticiotto (custard pies).
We spent three days in the gorgeous Baroque city of Lecce and three days in the countryside at the luxury Masseria Montenapoleone. The weather was perfect so we went sailing on a handmade, wooden gullet from Monopoli and jumped into the sea for a swim. In the interests of cultural understanding we also drank what Puglia does best – red wine with sexy names like Susumaniello, Primitivo and Negroamaro. We picked our own food at the organic masseria, made our own pasta and focaccia and drank the wine and olive oil they produce on the property. To lose the extra pounds we walked a lot and danced the traditional pizzica folk dance at the last night bash.
Two new things about the Puglia tour – firstly we have a new smashing tour manager called Giorgio – handsome, patient and fun. Secondly – we'll be doing it all again next year in MAY so we don't die in the heat. Puglia Tour 20 – 26 May 2026... full details are HERE.
Tours in 2026
An absolute favourite in terms of outrageousness is my India tour. Julie Le Clerc and I wrote a beautiful book about it in 2014 called Hot Pink Spics Saga and that's exactly what the tour is like – hot, colourful, spicy and dramatic. I've been hosting tours to India since 2008 and have been using the same manager from Jaipur, the famous Diggi since the beginning. This tour is a SHOPPING tour so all about textiles, fashion, interiors, crafts, homeware and clothes. Parts of it are hands on like the tie-dying class, the block printing class, carpet visit in the desert, turban tying for the men. All the accommodation is luxury and there is no such thing as too much bling. Here's the line up for 2026...
India fashion and textile tour 1– 10 March 2026 – 5 places left – full details HERE
Puglia gastronomic tour 20 – 26 May 2026 – full details HERE
Uzès gastronomic tour 5 – 11 June 2026 – full details HERE
Basque Country gastronomic tour 20 – 26 June 2026 – 5 places left – full details HERE
My supper club, held most Wednesdays and Saturdays from October to May 2026, is a situation where you get all dressed up as if in a Cezanne painting, grab a bunch of flowers or herbs from your garden and rock up to my apartment in central Auckland. Once there you just sit around and watch me cook sunny Provençal dishes like salade Nicoise tart, pomegranate & tomato salad, grande aioli (aioli with fish & vegetables), fig & mascarpone tartlets. Anyone can join the Supper Club... singles, couples, friends, work groups, book clubs, corporate groups or families. We network, tell stories and eat on my pointy floating terrace. Find out more HERE.
Moules Marinière (serves 6)
2 kg small black mussels
1 small onion or 2 shallots, finely sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
a sprig of thyme
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsps chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fried breadcrumbs
sliced baguettes or sourdough
Scrub the mussels in a sinkful of cold water, pulling out the beards.
Throw them into a heavy based pot, along with the shallots, wine and thyme. Cover, turn up the heat and steam the mussels open which only takes about 5 mins.
Add the cream, pepper and parsely, warm through, toss in the breadcrumbs and serve immediately.
Eat with your fingers and soak up the juices with the bread. Drink rosé and thank God you’re alive.
That's it for the moment. Stay alert for joyful pics on my socials as I host my Portugal tour. Then heading back to Uzès to pack my bags for my NZ home. Hope to see you at a book launch soon.
Peta