Creative ID: 757
My arts or creative practice (including details about my specific focus within that art form/practice and my strengths)
I am a practitioner of food writing, food styling and cookery, authoring a number of successful cookbooks, writing and food styling for magazines, and presenting on radio and TV in the field of food and cooking. A link to my website is available on request.
My track record of experience and success - or the track record of experience and success of the creative or artist that I will partner with
- 15 years as a professional food writer, food stylist and presenter/broadcaster/entertainer in the cooking and food education realm.
- Five years working as food editor, features writer and columnist in the thriving and competitive environment of print-media as features writer, regular columnist and food editor for New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.
- Four years as host of a successful TV travel-food show screened first in New Zealand, now in 85 countries worldwide.
- Published author of best-selling books.
Describe the experience you have had working with children or young people, teaching or facilitating creative processes
I created a cooking school for teens, which was a three-day holiday programme in Port Waikato. Students would engage in hands-on cooking classes for three days that would culminate in a ticketed community dinner for up to 70 diners. The students were in charge of menu creation, food prep, plating up creatively and service through waiting on the guests as part of the experience and it was a huge success! I only ceased running it when I became too busy with work and travel in my work to dedicate time to it. Students were 9 to 16 years old. My aim was to elevate their cooking skills to include dishes that were favourites in other food cultures; curries, tangines, French desserts like creme brulee etc; as well as to educate their palates through the use of different spices and other ingredients so that students could connect with food that was different from their own known world and culture.
I would take the approach of asking them what they enjoyed eating, then build the recipes and lessons around that, making the food easy and healthy to cook and eat. The students commented often that this food was far more inspirational than that traditionally taught in their schools.
Why I want to be part of the Creatives in Schools programme and how my involvement will link to my creative practice
The Creatives in Schools programme interests me as I'd love to see students creative a cookbook of their own, valuing recipes that can be used for life. By creating their own class cookbook the students would experience what it is to write creatively about food, write analytically to ensure recipe accuracy, how to capture dishes in images that inspire the reader and how to collate and maybe even market the book for a school fundraiser.
So often the cookery classes in schools don't inspire the students to enter a life of food and cooking as there is no physical, long lasting record of their efforts but sharing a recipe through a book, they will receive feedback that can be both encouraging and affirming. Feel good factor 10/10! It's fantastic that this programme exists so that 'real-life creatives', like myself, who are living and working in their creative life, can guide and inspire the next generation.