Return to enchanting India

Namaste Gastronomads

I finally got back to India after four years. Four long years of no outrageous colour, no henna painted hands, no heart-stopping rickshaw rides and no excuses for a party every day. There are so many festivals, religious celebrations and special days in India, they seem to be constantly celebrating. During my second tour we were in Jaipur for Holi – the festival of lights, colours and flowers celebrating the triumph of good over evil. Everyone goes completely bonkers throwing coloured power and flower petals all over each other. In amongst all the madness, we found our way (thanks to our fabulous managers Diggi and Vijendra) to the best fabric, rug, shawl and clothing shops, tie-dying classes, jewellery makers, block-printing workshops and the best restaurants in town.

It was so wonderful to see everyone again and the textilenomads embraced the madness with open arms. Most had to go out and buy another suitcase and everyone loved the gorgeous block prints Rajasthan is so famous for. We bought rugs, dohars (summer blankets), outrageous jewellery, shoes, metres of fabric, laughed our heads off with the locals, walked around temples in our bare feet, drank more gin than could strictly be considered medicinal then sloped back to our luxurious hotels to recover and tell stories. Thank you to Diggi & Vijendra of India Beat, and thank you to the very wonderful travellers who rocked along in my two tours – it felt good to be back! I'll be doing it all again next March and places are filling up quickly. Full details are HERE.

This outfit below is a perfect example of hand made, hand woven, hand embroidered clothes you find in India: top (sari blouse) from Pero, block printed skirt from Rias in Jaipur, bag from Delhi (my Indian friends call it the marigold bag – hand crocheted).

Gastronomic Tours in 2025

It's never too early to start planning your next escape.... 2025 travel is just around the corner!

India – 3 – 12 March 2025
Marrakech – 12 – 18 May 2025
Uzès  – 30 May – 5 June 2025
Basque Country – 14 – 20 June 2025
Puglia  – 31 August – 6 September 2025
Portugal – 14 – 20 September 2025

Uzès Cooking Classes

I leave NZ for my other life in Uzès, mid-May and will start up my sun-drenched cooking classes there – Kicking off on Wed 22 May, and finishing on Sat 5 October. In between I will sometimes be absent hosting tours. My class starts at the market at 9am and finishes around 2pm at my house. I teach southern French dishes so lots of meat, fish, vegetables, olive oil, anchovies, parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme. Uzès is of course one of the most beautiful towns in France and the market has been voted the best in the south. The market is huge on Saturday and smaller and cuter on Wednesday for the farmers market. So if you're wandering around the South of France this French summer, come & have a market cooking class with me. Full details HERE.

I'm off to Marrakech next month so chances are, I could get sick of airline food. How hard can it really be? Why can't they just give us some smoked salmon, cream cheese, blinis & Champagne and call it a day? Why do we have to eat pet food? See you in Marrakech – the chicest city in North Africa. 

Peta