Chef shares vanilla tips for a good cause

Chef Natasha MacAller puts the finishing touches to a vanilla seed panna cotta.

International chef Natasha MacAller will be celebrating the planet's most popular flavour - and raising money for Project Promise - at a vanilla-themed evening in Kerikeri tomorrow night.

Ms MacAller will demonstrate savoury dishes, desserts and cocktails from her new book Vanilla Table.

The event will be held at Flourflower on Cochrane Drive (off Waipapa Rd) from 5.30pm tomorrow with demonstrations about 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

Tickets cost $20 and are available from PaperPlus Kerikeri by calling (09) 407 8076 or emailing kerikeri@paperplus.co.nz. Bookings are essential. All profits will go to Kerikeri Rotary Club's fundraising campaign for Project Promise, which aims to build a new oncology centre at Whangarei Hospital.

Project Promise has raised $3.67 million after a $1 million bequest from a Bay of Islands family. The new unit - the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre - will be built next year.