Mint tea is an integral part of Moroccan life and the Moroccans drink it all day - at the beginning of the meals and as a welcome to guests. It is often served with little pastries, cakes and biscuit treats. In the Berber villages they tend to use just one mint, we often used a [...]
The tangier is a slow roasted meal, made in a tangier pot, with meat such as lamb, chicken, beef or osso bucco cuts, plus garlic, water, lots of saffron and a special tangier spice called rosea. The tangier is cooked in the Hammam coals for some hours. Rosea is the special spice mixture used in [...]
Farmers’ markets are so colourful and such fun. They are now an integral part of many people’s lives as they provide fresh, local farm produce. In Australia there are now over a hundred farmers’ markets, with the first officially trading in 1999. To locate the farmer’s market in your area, there is the Australian Framers’ [...]
Travelling in France is one of my wonderful joys in life. I love the beautiful countryside, the delightful and interesting people, the history of the places we visit, plus of course French food and wine. On each visit I look forward to a few special dinners or lunches at some wonderful restaurants and brasseries, both [...]
This trip to France and barging into Germany is quite different to our usual travels on the French canals. We barge only on the Moselle and do not travel at all on the canals. River barging, ‘cruising’, is quite different in many ways; the current on the rivers is significantly strong, this effects the travelling [...]
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 [...]
Going into the Sahara Desert was an amazing experience. The scenery is very beautiful, extremely colourful, bright oranges, browns, greys and the occasional greens in the oases; quite spell-binding and full of contrasts...a memorable journey with an expert guide and host in Edwina who has spent years discovering these hidden gems. Thank you Edwina - [...]
We are here at last with Edwina and the House of Fusion, Marrakesh. What are we doing so far? Driving along through the Tizn Test Pass passing earth built hillside villages along the route. A picnic in a little gorge in the Atlas mountains along side a river bubbling quietly over stones... Visiting [...]
Many months ago, the Western District Epicureans, based in Hamilton, invited me, via my long-standing school friend and their committee member Leigh, to cook with them for their April Epicureannes dinner. It was themed ‘A Mediterranean Dinner with Tonya’. The idea was that their committee of 5 would be led by me, as we do [...]
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. [...]
