November news from NZ

Next year's tours are filling up like a glass of rosé on a hot day – but there are still a few places on my Marrakech tour in May, the Uzès tour in June and my new Portugal tour in September, (which I did for the first time this year). On all these adventures we do lots of walking and it can be hot so gastronomads need to be reasonably fit with no mobility issues.

Marrakech never ceases to be exotic, chic and lush – bursting with colour, spices, singing and dancing. It's a lot of fun and we really rock the kasbah. Think outrageously exotic restaurants, designer kaftans and sharp suits, funky jewelry and textiles, fusion tagines, sexy North African cool and drop dead stylish accommodations owned by my friends who I've been working with since my first tour in 2007. We learn how to make couscous from scratch, go camel riding, sing and dance and navigate the souk full of deliciousness and interior decor shops, but most of all we learn how to slow down and relax. Breakfast is home-made jam, honey, mint tea and baskets full of freshly baked flat bread and croissants. I ask you. We have 3 places left in May 2024.

The Uzès tour in June is very close to my heart as it is the Southern French town I live in for half the year. This beautiful protected art town is where it all started for my culinary tours back in 2005. The sun shines so much (300 days a year) and the skies are so unremittingly blue that it is almost monotonous .... but not quite. More like intoxicating. My salt-of-the-earth friend Annie feeds us a farm lunch and shows us how to make Pelardon goat cheese. We have cooking classes in my home which is also the location for our last night bash distinguished by a live jazz group, live paella and live fashion statements from the inspired guests. We visit vineyards (no-one drinks water in Uzès, we just drink rosé), shop in Nimes and wander around the Pont du Gard.

My first ever Portugal tour this year was absolutely gorgeous and we'll be doing it again in 2024. It all happens in the south, so half the week in Lisbon – the city of colourful tiles, great seafood and traditional fado singing (we have a private concert on a tram) and half the week inland in the Alentejo plains where most of the Portuguese olives and grapes are grown – a land of endless blue skies, sparkling white towns and so much sugar... they LOVE sweets. I first visited Portugal in 2002 when I wrote a book about the music and food. They can sing in the Alentejo too – staunch male polyphonic choirs. We eat things like salt cod, oysters, black pork and custard tarts and drink lots of very good Portuguese wine. We visit markets, organic farms and ancient hilltop villages. The Portuguese are very sweet people seemingly from another planet – dreamy and easy going.

Supper Club

The supper club is in full swing at my apartment in Freeman's Bay Auckland on Wednesday evenings and Saturday lunch. Lately we've been cooking fresh artichokes and gorging on asparagus. We do whatever is in season and whatever I feel like cooking. For example, last night's class included fresh artichokes with home made aioli, mechoui roasted lamb shoulder and mincemeat Tarte Soleil with lashings of cream. I'm starting to include some Christmas recipes.

When you're feeling down in the dumps, cook. Just shut up and cook. If you're still down, put some beautiful clothes on. Just shut up and ransack that wardrobe. If all else fails, put some lipstick on. This advice also applies to men because we're all beautiful and wonderful in our own way.

Peta 💋