Season’s Greetings and wishing you all a Safe, very Happy and Healthy 2019. Another wonderful year has rolled quickly by here at Cooking on the Bay and I have loved every moment we have shared cooking together.

The final classes for the year finished last weekend and so it is with a mixture of happiness at the prospect of the summer break ahead at Kureelpa, and also with sadness as I always miss our days in cooking classes here at Cooking on the Bay, the friendship, comradery and your company cooking together.

There are a few secret ingredients I cherish here in the cooking school; the first is YOU, the participants, who come in to the classes, sometimes a little shy, but always leave feeling very much at home and part of the cooking class group.  Many of you are now my friends which is marvellous and I see you often. The other ingredients are the relaxed, fun atmosphere which accompanies the cooking, the serenity, warmth and peace of the kitchen and  the dining in our glorious setting on the bay. And of course, the learning of new techniques and methods of cookery, plus some inspiration to try new dishes.

If you would like to join us for a class next year or gift a class as a very Special Christmas Present, click here to go into the Gift Voucher section on the website. Gift Vouchers are a perfect solution for those who love to cook or indeed for those would like to learn cook better.  The Gift Vouchers will be emailed out to you within 24 hours and will also be emailed until late on Christmas Eve!

Read further down to discover our news about my new, very exciting Low Carb High Fat cooking class program coming a little later this year!

I believe you will enjoy the cooking process so much more if you can take the time and think of it as ‘mindful cooking’.

 I frequently talk and write about the importance of taking time in cooking and indulge yourself in the enjoyment the process.

Elizabeth David, the famous, awarded and celebrated English writer and ‘cook’, said on making mayonnaise …’I do not care, unless I am in a great hurry, to let time deprive me of the pleasure and satisfaction to be obtained from sitting down quietly with a bowl and spoon, eggs and oil, to the peaceful kitchen task of concocting the beautiful, shining ointment which is mayonnaise’. She looks relaxed here, in her famous kitchen, with her glass of wine!

In Jonathan Green's recent radio interview on Radio National's Blueprint for Living on Saturday 6th October, 2018, food writer Jenny Linford talks about her new book called 'The missing ingredient: the curious role of time in food and flavour'. They talk about how, such things as, taking time in browning your meat to develop its flavour, through the Maillard Reaction, exactly what I teach in my cooking classes. It is well worth taking 'the time to listen to the interview', and also possibly reading the book! It is a great read.

Plus, take ten minutes to watch the YouTube video I made with Dietitian, Vicky Kuriel, on the making of mayonnaise! On the  Cooking on the Bay Facebook Page 

This program is designed for those seeking great recipes to support a LCHF dietary regime leading to  improved long-lasting energy and well-being, weight loss and another approach your diet.

This program of Cooking Classes in the Low Carb High Fat cooking regime may appear to be challenging for some of you.  It will appeal to many, I am sure, as we explore this ‘toolkit’ for building a heathier lifestyle.  For those of you who are new or unfamiliar with the latest research on dietary guidelines and the food pyramid, you may like to do some research of your own as well as read a wonderful book by Dr Peter Brukner, OAM, world-renowned Australian sports medicine physician, researcher and founder of ‘SugarByHalf’.  The book is called ‘A fat lot of good’ and it explains Peter’s food philosophy relating to the LCFH diet; it is a great explanation and introduction for lay-people. 

My ‘teacher’ on this path is Vicky Kuriel, dietitian and founder of Eat, Play Thrive, her practice and specialist boutique fitness business in East Malvern. Vicky has a wealth of information which she shares in her LCHF Lifestyle Challenge programs operated online from Eat, Play, Thrive.

My cooking course will be offered a little later in the year so do watch out for it. I will be suggesting that you might like to read Peter’s book before or during the cooking class program of classes.  Contact me for more details. tonya@cookingonthebay.com.au

As usual, Christmas Gift Vouchers have been popular again this year and there is still plenty of time for you order your for those challenging and hard to buy for family and friends.
These days when we are trying to reduce our global imprint, giving a Gift Voucher is something very useful and practical as well as giving much joy used.  I always love meeting the recipients of these vouchers as they are excited when they remember the reason for their gift.  Plus they can then go home and share it by cooking and entertaining the donor!

You may purchase your Gift Voucher here! On receipt of your order, I email you the Gift Voucher, some information on the cooking day, a Cooking School brochure and the Program of Dates for 2019. So you are able to order up to Christmas Eve!

A great Christmas Celebration cake as well as a lovely gift, the Italian panforte, also called Siena cake, is a delicious Italian Christmas fruit, nut, chocolate, dense, chewy, candy-like cake, which hails from Siena, Tuscany.  It is very much a favourite of mine and I make it every Christmas.  Stored well it can last for months, but it is usually eaten well before that!  It makes a wonderful Christmas gift wrapped in clear cellophane with ribbons, tinsel and Christmas balls.

Although a sugar thermometre is not essential, it makes the making of this cake so much easier.
To discover my recipe go to the Recipe Collection on the website here.
 

As you may know, January is my serious reading time to catch up on those books I do not have time to read during the year.  My desk and bookshelves are crammed with marvellous cookery, biography, cooking reference books as well as recipe books.  I need to live a long time if I am going to read them all, especially as I frequently enjoy re-reading old favourites!  This year I was given these two huge books both weighing in at around 5 kilograms and they will accompany me to Kureelpa!  I have scanned them both and used them already but I now want to read them and study them. 

The first is the remarkable Heston Blumenthal’s Big Fat Duck Cookbook, a divinely illustrated, stunningly-designed, and gorgeously-photographed masterpiece that takes you inside the head of the world's most 'maverick' restaurateur. It is not for the faint-hearted!  It demonstrates his genius, dedication and amazing knowledge gained through extensive reading and experimentation.  I am loving reading every word and you can ‘hear’ him talking through his words! 
Heston spent a few years learning, reading, experimenting and teaching himself to cook.  He read about the world's best chefs, restaurants and indepth about the scientific methodology of cooking especially the book by Harold McGee,  'On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen', a favourite book of mine and one I read and I refer to often.

The Fat Duck Book is separated into three sections: Part I is History - Heston's background and the unorthodox path he took to achieve his goal; his philosophy for what he thinks a food should be and his early ideas and early days running The Fat Duck.

Part II is Recipes which includes a large selection of recipes from his Fat Duck. Some are broken down into their many component parts, but they remain complex and just as he cooks then at the Fat Duck.  There is no way he would compromise their integrity and so they are as he cooks them!  And that is daunting!

Part III, is Science, the science of it all, the technology and implements that make the dishes work. Various food scientists and taste experts contributed to this section. It is a foodie's dream to open up The Fat Duck Book and discover just what goes on in the head of one of the world's most famous chefs. How did he come up with the idea to open The Fat Duck? What book made him fascinated with cooking and the idea of opening a restaurant? How does he make dishes involving cans of nitrous not just delicious, but even comforting?

As background, in August 1995, the self-taught Heston opened his Fat Duck restaurant, gaining three Michelin stars in January 2004 when Heston was only thirty-seven-years old. In April 2005 the Fat Duck received worldwide recognition for its unique approach to gastronomy and was proclaimed The Best Restaurant in the world by the "50 Best" Academy of over 600 international food critics, journalists and chefs.  He is culinary genius and his exquisite cookbook is a thing of beauty in itself! How many of us will cook the recipes? Let me know!

The second is a more practical and classic cooking bible, hailing from another of my culinary ‘heroes’ the ‘Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique: the Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Culinary Excellence’, published in 2016 and so really just before his death this year.  It is an authoritative, encyclopaedic reference work which covers 250 core techniques in extensive, ultra-clear step-by-step photographs, which illustrate all aspects of preparing, cooking and serving delicious, high-end food! This is a great book for those who want to learn to cook using the principles and methods of cookery.

Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique is a world-renowned centre of culinary excellence, based in France. Founded by 'Chef of the Century' Paul Bocuse, the school has provided the very best cookery and hospitality education for twenty-five years for professional chefs and also serious cook and amateurs. Anyone who wishes to learn how to cook will enjoy this book as their culinary reference.  It stands very proudly next to the other great reference works from the Culinary Institute of America.

Select the best dates for cooking classes to suit you now so you can plan out your year!

Here is the program for the first six months of the year.  If you would like the complete program, please email me or check the dates on the website.

Sunday classes are added when the Saturday classes are fully booked

Private classes available on request for groups of 6+

February – Saturday 16th - Mediterranean – Touch of Spice – 8.45am – 3.30pm
February - Sunday 17th - Spanish Cuisine – Camino Inspirations – 8.45am – 3.30pm

February – Saturday 23rd - French Odyssey – Journey through France – 8.45am – 3.30pm
February – Sunday 24th - French Odyssey – French Bistro Classics – Charcuterie 8.45am – 1pm

March – Saturday 2nd - Italianicious – Cooking with Passion – 8.45am – 3.30pm
March – Sunday 3rd – At Our Italian Table – Pasta, Risotto and Arancini - 8.45am – 1pm

March – Saturday 23rd – Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina – 8.45am – 3.30pm
March – Sunday 24th - Mastery in the Kitchen – Stocks, sauces and soups – 8.45am – 3.30pm

March - Saturday 30th - French Odyssey – Journey through France – 8.45am – 3.30pm

April – Saturday 6th - Mediterranean – A Touch of Spice – 8.45am – 3.30pm
April – Sunday 7th - Spanish Cuisine – Camino Inspirations – 8.45am – 3.30pm

April – Saturday 13th - Italianicious – Cooking with Passion – 8.45am – 3.30pm
April – Sunday 14th - At our Italian Table – Pasta, Risotto and Arancini - 8.45am – 1pm

April – Tuesday 16th – Tuesday 30th – Easter

May – Saturday 4th - French Odyssey – Journey through France - 8.45am – 3.30pm
May – Sunday 5th - TBD

May – Saturday 11th - Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina – 8.45am – 3.30pm

May – Saturday 18th – Cook Real Food – Fit and Healthy menus - 8.45am – 3.30pm
May – Sunday 19th - Mastery in the Kitchen – Stocks, sauces and soups – 8.45am – 3.30pm

May – Saturday 25th - A French Odyssey – Journey through France – 8.45am – 3.30pm
May – Sunday 26th – French Bistro Classics – Desserts - 8.45am – 1pm

June – Saturday 1st - Mediterranean – A Touch of Spice – 8.45am – 3.30pm

June – Saturday 8th - Italianicious – Cooking with Passion – 8.45am – 3.30pm
June – Sunday 9th – At Our Italian Table – Pasta, Risotto and Arancini - 8.45am – 1pm

June – Saturday 15th - Moroccan Exotic Spices and Flavours of the Medina – 8.45am – 3.30pm
June - Sunday 16th – Spanish Cuisine – Camino Inspirations – 8.45am – 3.30pm

June – Saturday 22nd - French Bistro Classics – Charcuterie Masterclass
June – Sunday 23rd – TBD

June – Saturday 29th – Cook Real Food – Fit and Healthy menus – 8.45am – 3.30pm
June – Sunday 30th - Mastery in the Kitchen – Stocks, sauces and soups – 8.45am – 3.30pm

July – Saturday 6th - Mid-Winter Christmas Special Occasion Cooking Class – 8.45am – 3.30pm
July – Sunday 7th - Mid-Winter Christmas Special Occasion Cooking Class – 8.45am – 3.30pm

July – Saturday 13th – A French Odyssey – Journey through France – celebrate 14th Bastille day
July – Sunday 14th - A French Odyssey – Journey through France – celebrate 14th Bastille day