One of New Zealand's favourite chefs and dubbed 'cook of the nation', Jo Seagar will share her no-nonsense approach to cooking and some tips on table manners at a High Tea on Sunday, October 8, as part of this year's Whanganui Literary Festival.
Elbows off the Table, Please - her latest book published by Penguin/Random House - has been described as an indispensable kitchen-to-table companion, sprinkled with advice on how to navigate any social occasion, including a must-have collection of recipes.
The successful bestselling cookbook author and TV cook, famous for her catch-cry of 'easy peasy', trained as a cordon blue chef in Paris and London. Until the Canterbury earthquakes intervened, she combined cooking with teaching when she opened her café and cooking school in rural Canterbury. She now takes culinary tours overseas, has her own cooking school in Italy and is an ambassador for Hospice - a role she cherishes. In 2015 she received a Queen's Honour for services to the community, including more than 15 years supporting Hospice New Zealand.
The first edition of her classic You Shouldn't Have Gone to So Much Trouble, Darling sold more than 70,000 copies, with her down-to-earth approach and sense of humour making her a favourite for cooks of all ages and stages. That book sparked the 1998 TV series, Real Food for Real People, and the rest, they say, is history.
In an interview with the Australian Women's Weekly, for which she still writes a column, Jo revealed some things her fans may not know about her - she enjoys fly-fishing and flying and has a pilot's licence.
Asked what she is most proud of, Jo said: "I'm proud of being a New Zealander. I am a sixth generation on my mother's side and I am proud of the pioneers who went before and the strength of determination that has come through my lines. And I'm proud of my career.
"For years as a nurse I worked on the British regional heart study and it's now written about as the study of British men. I loved nursing. It was a great time of life - especially my work in obstetrics delivering babies. And now I've come full circle with my work with Hospice. I also loved being on television - they said 'We will never have a food programme in prime time,' and then, hello, it was the highest rating show TVNZ had ever made!"
