Goreme, Cappadocia I love spending hours at open-air food markets, seeing what is on offer and how the locals use it. In Turkey we travelled to Cappadocia,  a place known for its incredible landscape. There is nothing like it on earth. It is a semi-arid area with rock formations caused by erosion,...

I trained in linguistics and psychology and taught English as a Second language for a number of years in Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul and Tianjin, China.   I have fond memories of many meals in Sydney where students would bring dishes from their home country, adapted (sometimes reluctantly) to the ingredien...

The Lonely Planet Guide 2011 named Banks Peninsula and Ground Culinary Centre as one of the top ten destinations for cooking classes in the world!!! Since the 2011 earthquake and the loss of our building we are now focussing on one style of cooking class: Dinner classes only. The Master Class...

Mar i muntanya - Kiwi style. Nelson scallops wrapped in Rai Valley bacon Spring at our place is signalled by the appearance of bright yellow blooms on our kowhai tree, the arrival of bellbirds and crisp, clear days that offer a promise of summer. The rule of thumb down our way is that you don’t pl...

This is an Ethiopian vegetarian stew made with Berbere. Full of flavour and very filling.

Moroccan tomato salad This fresh tomato salad is obviously best if you use vine-ripened tomatoes, not watery flavourless supermarket tomatoes. Never keep your tomatoes in the fridge; they lose their flavour. Ingredients   ½ red onion, sliced 1 clove garlic, sliced 4 tablespoons extra vir...