'Real food' chef joins our team

Jimmy is a chef, a cookbook author, TV presenter, food writer and is well known around the world as a "real food" chef and "the Gluten-free Chef".

His first cookbook, titled The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook, was released by Penguin NZ in July 2012.

As a chef, Jimmy spends his time working from home as a food writer and developing recipes for companies such as San Remo Pasta for which he is a global brand ambassador. Jimmy is also their executive chef here in New Zealand.

Jimmy also spends time assisting companies in real food product development and is a chef presenter at food shows, master classes, on TV and is a popular speaker at food and health related events. He is followed by over 50,000 people on Facebook and his food blog, "Taste Of Home", is popular worldwide for his real food and down-to-earth approach.

Jimmy started cooking at the age of five in his mother's kitchen. That, along with his half Sicilian heritage, has given Jimmy a seasonal, fresh approach to his cooking, bringing wonderful taste to his dishes that are family friendly and easy to bring together.

Jimmy has lived and worked in countries all over the world, learning from local cooks and chefs about how they do things in their part of the world. He brings this real life experience as fusions within many of his dishes.

Jimmy's approach to cooking is all about getting back to the basics with how-to-dos packed full of tips and tricks on bringing wonderful food to your table with little fuss that is packed full of flavour.

You can read more from Jimmy at www.tasteofhome.co.nz.