Peta Christine Mathias MNZM is a New Zealand food writer and television show presenter and owns a television production company that produces food and travel shows.[1] She is also known for leading gastronomic tours in the south of France, Morocco, Spain and India.[2]
Biography
editMathias was born in Auckland. She initially trained as a nurse and worked at Auckland Hospital for five years. She then moved to Canada, where she lived for six years in Montreal and Vancouver working as a toxicotherapist in drug and alcohol treatment centres.[3] Mathias then moved to London and to Paris and started working in restaurants, first as a dishwasher and later as a chef; eventually she bought a restaurant there, Rose Blues, and ran it for four years.[1][2][4]
In 1990, Mathias returned to New Zealand and began to work in food writing and broadcasting. In 2006 she set up a company organising and leading culinary tours, and in 2008 she set up a production company, Red Head Media, to make food and travel television shows based on her travels.[3]
Publications
edit- Don't Get Saucy With Me Bernaise (1996), Random House New Zealand[5]
- Fete Accomplie: A New Zealander's Culinary Romance
- Sirocco: In Search of Moorish Flavours (2002), Random House New Zealand[6]
- Can We Help it if We're Fabulous (2008), Penguin Books ISBN 9780143008040[7]
- Una questione di gusto (A Matter of Taste) with Fulvio Bonavia (2009), De Agostini ISBN 9788841857922[8]
- Burnt Barley: How to Eat, Drink and Sing your way around Ireland
- Just in Time to be Too Late (2009), Penguin Books ISBN 9780143202462[9]
- Fabulous: Thoughts on Being a Woman (2009), Random House New Zealand[3]
- Culinary Adventures in Marrakech (2010), Penguin Books ISBN 9780143204596[10]
- French Toast: Eating and Laughing your way around France (2010), Penguin Books ISBN 9780143206156[11]
- Beat Till Stiff: A Woman's Recipe for Living (2011), Penguin Books ISBN 9780143566700[12]
- Noodle Pillows: A Journey Through Vietnamese Food and Culture (2011), Exisle Publishing[13]
- Never Put All Your Eggs in One Bastard (2016), Penguin Books ISBN 9781775533870[4]
- Hot Pink Spice Saga: an Indian Culinary Travelogue with Recipes with Julie Le Clerc (2014), Penguin Books ISBN 9781775535157[14]
Awards and recognition
editIn 1997, Mathias won Best Segment in a Food Program at the World Food Media Awards for her segment on TVNZ's series Taste NZ. In 2003, she won the Supreme Award at the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers Culinary Quill Awards.[1] In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours Mathias was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as an author and television presenter.[15]
Her book Burnt Barley won Best Literary Food Writing (in English) category at the World Cookbook Fair.[16] The book was released with an accompanying four-track CD of the same name (released on the Vintage label), on which Mathias sings Irish country songs.
In 2014, Hot Pink Spice Saga, which Mathias co-wrote with Julie Le Clerc, was shortlisted in the Best in the World for Indian Cookery category at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Peta Mathias ... a zest for food and life that you can almost taste". Saxton Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Peta Mathias | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Mathias, Peta (11 March 2011). Fabulous: Thoughts on Being a Woman. Random House. ISBN 9781845969875.
- ^ a b "Never Put All Your Eggs in One Bastard | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ Mathias, Peta (1 January 1996). Don't Get Saucy with me Bernaise. Random House New Zealand. ISBN 1869413059.
- ^ Mathias, Peta (1 November 2002). Sirocco: In Search of Moorish Flavours. Random House New Zealand. ISBN 9781869415204.
- ^ "Can We help It If We're Fabulous? | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ Bonavia, Fulvio; Mathias, Peta (2009). Una questione di gusto (in Italian). De Agostini. ISBN 9788841857922.
- ^ "Just in Time to be Too Late | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ "Culinary Adventures in Marrakech | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ "French Toast: Eating and Laughing Your Way Around France | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ "Beat Till Stiff: A Woman's Recipe for Living | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ Mathias, Peta (15 July 2015). Noodle Pillows: A Journey Through Vietnamese Food and Culture. Exisle Publishing. ISBN 9780908988488.
- ^ a b "Hot Pink Spice Saga | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee honours list 2012". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^ "Burnt Barley | Penguin Books New Zealand". penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2016.