Merry Christmas to Me

When I was WWOOFing in Coromandel Rachel, my host, introduced me to a chef named Peter Chaplin. He’s a Kiwi who makes delicious vegetarian and pescatarian food. He also has a cooking school, and I had the pleasure and yummy fortune to attend one of his classes at his restaurant whilst in Auckland.

The theme of the class was a Christmas Barbie that you can prepare ahead of time. We made Thai fish cakes, Saffron, fruit, and cashew basmati rice, Vegetable Kebabs, and Chili and Brown Sugar grilled Pineapple. Definitely not the traditional Christmas dinner fare where I’m from, but it was delicious nonetheless!

The class of about twenty people, all of whom were locals and most of who were over thirty, sat in a semi-circle table formation in front of Peter’s kitchen. We listened to technique and tips before helping prepare the simply scrumptious dishes and finally, chowing down.

It was such a wonderful experience, cooking with Peter. He’s so warm and knowledgeable and creates smart, simple, and savory dishes. No wonder why Madonna hired him as her personal chef way back in the day during her Blonde Ambition Tour!

I walked away with a full tummy and my very own autographed copy of Peter’s newest cookbook, Rock Around the Kitchen. Believe you me, I cannot wait until I get to Rock around my own Kitchen once again!