Au revoir Autumn... Bonjour Spring

/

I am girding my loins for my Marrakech gastronomic tour starting 12 May. Around New Zealand ten other excited people are packing and unpacking and repacking to join me for a week of passion, crushed rosebuds and falling pomegranates in a land where time passes on slippered feet. I have enjoyed an Auckland summer of my twice weekly Supper Clubs where we learn magical things like how to turn a salade Nicoise into a tart, how to network, how to eat on a floating terrace and how to laugh while trying to hide in the group photo. Thank you to all the wonderful Supperettes who have joined me over the Summer.

 I've also been overseeing the publication of my next book 'It's Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession' coming out on my birthday 12 October. There are life stories about anger and temps perdu, why it's not a sin to wear black underwear and how to open your eyes with a knife. From time to time I put up excerpts on my social and I'll keep you in the loop as to when you can pre-order.

Tours in 2025

There have been a few cancellations due to illness so it turns out there are a some places available on the Puglia and Portugal tours. Puglia is overflowing with great wine, seafood and gorgeous Baroque cities full of beauty, grace and art. Portugal is wistful, gentle and kind of adorable. It's romantic and abundant with wheat fields, blue skies and vineyards. 

Marrakech – 12 – 18 May 2025 – Tour Full
Uzès  – 30 May – 5 June 2025 – Tour Full
Basque Country – 14 – 20 June 2025 – Tour Full
Puglia  – 31 August – 6 September 2025 – 1 place left!
Portugal – 14 – 20 September 2025 – 3 places left!

Uzès Cooking Classes

I fly straight from Marrakech to my home in Uzès, South of France, to spend the summer there – hosting tours and teaching Provençal cooking classes. The first class is Saturday 24 May and the last one will be Saturday 4 October. The classes are based on the market so I teach them Wednesdays and Saturdays. We meet at the market, one of the most beautiful in the South, get cheeky with the stalll holders then walk back to my place to cook dishes like white asparagus with tarragon, tellines (baby clams) in white wine and cherry Clafoutis. Book or find out more HERE.

Provençal  Pork & Chicken Liver Terrine

Here's a recipe from Uzès.

350g neck or shoulder of pork
350 pork cheek
150g back fat
300g chicken liver, chopped by hand
3 shallots (70g) hashed
3 garlic cloves, hashed
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tbsp cognac or brandy
1 1/2 tbsp port
1 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp each of fresh thyme, chervil, marjoram and tarragon (if using dried, halve the amount). 
1/8 tsp each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom
100g pistachios
3 or 4 slices of bacon (optional)
1 litre terrine dish

Have the butcher grind the pork and fat together on the largest grind (no.10) and preheat your oven to 190˙C.

  1. Place meats in a large bowl and add all the other ingredients. Mix well with hands.

  2. Grease terrine and pour mixture into it. Cover with bacon.

  3. Place the terrine in a deep roasting dish and add hot water to reach 2/3 of the way up the sides of the terrine. Cook for one and a half hours.

  4. Allow to cool, refrigerate and eat the next day with fresh baguette, lashings of butter and cornichons (tiny gherkins).

That's it for the moment. I wish you luck and inspiration in all your artistic persuits. It's easy to write a book – you just keep typing till your fingers bleed. 

Peta