One of the many rewards of all this has also brought me is a nice mountain top house here in New Zealand, with a veranda, expansive sea views, where I can entertain and enjoy with friends long summer dinner parties, brunches or a chilled glass of Chardonnay or a cold beer with some bread and wonderful New Zealand cheeses. It is also a great place to come home to after a long day or after having been away and just sit, relax, drink in the ocean views and watch the sunset over the sea horizon….from where I will typing my columns to you. I do love life, "What would I do if I was 20 again" ? one of my trainees recently asked, "Be 40" I replied…….I do love this time of life! Well that’s a little about me, where I am, who I am and what I am about. You will no doubt discover more about me, my cooking, my culinary philosophies as time progresses.

What will the recipes be about each fortnight? As I write internationally, it makes it hard to target seasonal produce, therefore I normally I cover the most requested weekly recipe from my website or if there is a special day or national holiday happening I will cover relevant dishes: Christmas, Thanksgiving, St Patrick’s Day etc. So I hope you will join me here every fortnight starting from the next edition and enjoy my recipes and cooking tips.

In the meantime I wish you all a great week and bon appetite!