La Madeleine, with 2 star Michelin chef, Patrick Gauthier, was the special highlight dinner during my 2007 stay at La Varenne residential cooking school in Burgundy. Coming back to Sens this time on the barge was a wonderful opportunity for us to book La Madeleine and for me to meet up with Chef [...]
One of the world’s most expensive foods is the truffle. Truffle hunting – called le cavage - was always one part of our week’s program at la Combe en Périgord. Nearby to our village of Les Eyzies, is a tiny village called Pechalifour, where Edouard Aynaud, the trufficulteur, lives on his truffle farm, Truffe en [...]
January is always a precious time for me. The cooking school is in recess and I spend the month at Kureelpa, Sunshine Coast, where On the Ridge Cooking School was created. It this idyllic place with wonderful valley views and further out to the Coral Sea, surrounded by peace and tranquillity, warmth and blue skies. [...]
'MFK Fisher among the pots and pans: celebrating her kitchens’, by Joan Reardon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. It was Mary Francis who said ‘...all one needs to cook is a mortar and pestle and the full awareness of all your five senses...' This book was sent to me by my dear chef friend Cathy, [...]
I love my early morning walks along the foreshore at St Kilda. They are a great start to my day, allowing me to think, plan, revitalise whilst absorbing the beauty of the bay. No matter what the weather it is always lovely, and on very still mornings you can see up to 5 or 6 [...]
All the seasons bring us their special fresh fruits and vegetables. It is nature’s way of ensuring that we have a varied diet. Summer is always much anticipated for its delicious fresh fruits – all the berries, stone fruits, tamarilloes, persimmons, pomegranates and the sweetest and oldest of them all – figs. The fig is [...]
I recently visited the Breville factory outlet shop in Huntingdale to buy a new iron for my son. It is an amazing place with excellent prices for all manner of household appliances. Each visit excites me as there are always new products to discover. I was tempted by a few things...an electric pasta machine which [...]
