- Connect
- Living
- Travel
- Health
Vitality Community - because we've got a whole lot of living to do!
Our aim is to be your guide to living life to the full. The keys to staying vital and active for longer are within our grasp! Read more...
- Money
- Retirement Living
- News
- Games
- Directories & Classifieds
- Offers
- Contact & Help
- Store
Become a GrownUp and join our Community. Stay up to date with our weekly newsletter, discuss topics with other members, grab some great member-only offers and so much more.
Introduce others to a new world, online.
Expert Health Tips, Articles and Advice
Our aim is to be your guide to living life to the full!
Read the story of one of the largest tour & river cruise operators in the world.
House Sitters, Employment, For Sale, Property & Personals
Click on the blue banner on the top right hand side of the page!
Disclaimer: GrownUps is not an Insurance Broker. We do not make recommendations on any financial services products. Always seek suitable advice.
Check out the new section available to everyone.
Find some delicious recipes by clicking here.
related categories
gerald bryan articles
Much as I enjoy browsing round food stores there are times when I don't feel like going out to shop. On those days I have a look to see what's in the pantry, fridge or freezer and have fun putting together a serendipitous meal
Nowadays people have a better idea of what Italian food should be, although sadly, to many it's still just pasta and pizza but with good Italian cooking, all roads lead to home.
With the smell of wood smoke on the night air and the first misty chill of oncoming winter, my appetite turns to the warming, comforting and hearty dishes that keep the cold months at bay.
Marching Out - The Delights of Mexican Food
Gerald discovers the delights of new Mexican food in Wellington as well as a new diet concept.
In our house, and I suspect in quite a few others, thick-cut rib-eye and sirloin steaks are for special occasions in these difficult times and even a pork chop of respectable thickness is rare.
I have loved mussels ever since the early 60's, when my mum and dad first took me to eat them on the old boat in Barcelona harbour that served the shellfish fresh from the mussel "farm" that surrounded it.
Whether yours is by the beach or in the backyard, state of the art or run of the mill, fuelled by gas, charcoal or driftwood there is something wonderful about cooking on a barbecue.
"An apple is an excellent thing…until you have tried a peach." - George du Maurier 1834-1896
A belated Happy New Year! I have always found this an unreal time of year in New Zealand; Christmas is past, the New Year celebrated but with many still on holiday and the country itself has got its shorts and jandals on and is just cruising slowly throug
Whether these thoughts help you to solve your Christmas present problems or just give you something to put on your own wish-list to Santa, Donna and I wish you the very Merriest of Christmases and a New Year of Peace, Joy and Happiness.
I have no wish to cause uproar in the aisles, but realising yesterday that there is less than a month to Christmas I thought it perhaps time to give a thought or two as to what to eat over this hospitable and celebratory season.
I don't know what it is about eating outdoors but I love it. A cup of coffee and a croissant for breakfast outside on the deck; a light lunch and perhaps a glass of wine in the sunny courtyard of a downtown café; dinner under the stars; I love them all.
Wild rabbit meat has fewer than half the calories of pork and about half those of lamb and beef. Delicious and nutritious though these animals undoubtedly are, they are also a major pest.
The popular story goes that in 1761 John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, reluctant to leave the gaming table to dine, asked to be brought slices of meat between two slices of bread.
We are told so often how lucky we are to be living in New Zealand, where we have such wonderful produce and spectacular food. I thought about that as I wandered round my local supermarket last week, trying to get enthusiastic about buying something for di
It was a Latin axiom that I could never get quite right at school, "Tempora muntantur, nos et mutamur in illis"…the times are changed and we are changed in them.
Plato once said, perhaps after a zythos or two with his mates in the back bar of The Wooden Horse, "He was a wise man who invented beer."
Why can't we respect foreign cuisines without feeling the need to make a fast buck by dumbing them down to a cheap, and frequently nasty, takeaway or by processing and packaging them for quick and easy, and unauthentic, dishes to be heated at home? To my
One of the great pitfalls with food at home these days can be boredom, mainly through eating the same dishes if not day after day, then week after week. For whatever reason, this can destroy one of life's great pleasures!
It is estimated that 1 in every 100 New Zealanders is affected by gluten intolerance or Coeliac disease and in addition to this there are thousands more who although not gluten intolerant themselves, have to adapt their food buying, preparation and cookin
This evening I will sit in front of the fire and enjoy one of my favourite winter suppers, a pot of tea and toasted crumpets with a slice or two of strong cheese and some crisp celery sticks or maybe some potted prawns or Gentleman's Relish spread on the
There are some dishes however that might not be out of place on a twenty-first century table; as leeks are in season try this one from the book but with the style of writing it is essential to read the whole recipe first.
Well, it's "The Food Truck". I watched all of the first series on television and was watching the odd episode in series two when I received "The Food Truck Cookbook".
Last Saturday I was at Wellington's Westpac Stadium and saw scrums and mauls that would have delighted the heart of any All Black coach. But I wasn't there to watch rugby... I was at the Cake Tin for The Food Show 2012.
Who said "I could put up with sausage and mash forever" - sorry, that should be Dr Who said etc., etc…well, in fact it was Colin Baker, the sixth actor to play the part.
What is it about tripe that has people who have never even tried it turning up their noses? Tripe is up there with snails, frogs' legs and edible insects as a food which is adored by some but which disgusts others.
We were enjoying dinner with friends a few weekends ago when the conversation turned, as it nearly always does with me, to food and someone asked me what my top ten cookbooks were
Surely there can be no more versatile fruit (or vegetable) than the golden-fleshed pumpkin. This jewel of autumn can be prepared, cooked and served in so many ways but my favourite remains… pumpkin soup.
Autumn has always been my favourite season. It is a soft and sophisticated season, golden and mature, with none of the brashness of summer; it has a richness no other season can boast.
It only happens once a year and this year I missed it…Mardi Gras… Shrove Tuesday… Pancake Day! Never mind, I'm happy to enjoy pancakes any day of the year.
In 1840 Anna, wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford established the practice of afternoon tea to fill the gap between light luncheon and late dinner, a practice which soon became an English tradition, now celebrated all over the world.
I think I am becoming a Grumpy Old Man… Donna says I have been one for years… but I am reduced to speechless Mr Meldrew-like disbelief at the thoughtless way some people behave in large supermarkets. I was debating either to abandon my wheels and shoppin
I am shocked! Shocked and dismayed…that one of my favourite food writers should write "It is not an inspiring vegetable, unless you have a medieval passion for highly coloured food."
I really enjoy facing the challenge of creating every day, original, interesting and healthy dishes on a very limited budget. I get so much satisfaction from spending as little as possible, not wasting anything and still turning out meals that people enjo
The first vegetarian I ever met was Sid Pearson. We were Boy Scouts together and one day, as we tramped to an autumn campsite, Sid suddenly dropped his pack and darted into the woods to reappear moments later with a fungus called dead badger's finger.
really enjoy the informality that creeps into mealtimes about now. Now is the time I like to get down my oldest kitchen implement and in a very relaxed way, start cooking.
One of my favourite times is on Christmas Day when, with the lunch prepared and cooking and before the guests arrive, I can sit down and relax for a time with a Christmassy drink, while Donna and I open our presents.
In this column, I offer something more practical at this busy time by sharing my list for a cook's carefree Christmas catering.
If You Go Down To The Woods... Or Beach
My mind is taking a break from Christmas preparations and has turned to another vernal delight, the picnic. Every year I promise myself a summer of wonderful picnics.
For well over a month now in shops and on television, in newspapers, magazines and junk mail I have been exhorted to get my act together for Christmas. Here we are less than a month away and I am still not ready for it.
I still like the idea of carving at the Christmas table; I think it adds to the sense of occasion with everybody there and waiting to enjoy the meal together.
My personal pantheon of food writers whom I particularly admire and respect is not very large but it is growing, albeit slowly and for convenience I divided it into "Theory" and "Practical".
Sometimes when I see those little jars and packets of dull and dusty dried herbs, like parsley flakes and basil, dill and chives, rubbed sage and mint or the little plastic packs of fresh herbs in the shops, I wonder why more people don't grow their own.
I was blessed by having two grandmothers and a great aunt who had all been professional cooks. As a child, when my mother was working late, it was to one or other of these lovely ladies that I would be sent for my dinner.
"If Naples had managed to patent pizza it would now be among the world's wealthiest cities…" wrote Burton Anderson in "Treasures of the Italian Table".
I Say Xitomatl and You Say Pomodoro
As I write this, Labour Weekend looms large and that means but one thing in this house…
We've reached that time of year when I find that the wonderful comfort food of winter is no longer as wonderful or comforting as it was.
In 1672 William Hughes, a physician to King Charles II, described it as "one of the most rare and pleasant fruits... It nourisheth and strengtheneth the body, corroborating the spirits and procuring lust exceedingly."
"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." John Gunther, American journalist
The seeds I had found were brown mustard seeds or Brassica juncea, more potent than the white, that is sometimes called yellow, Sinapis alba; these two between them providing nearly all commercial mustard.
A. A. Gill, the English writer and critic observed in his wonderful 2007 book "Table Talk", "There are many roads to foodie heaven, but, as nanny said, they all have to go down the same big red highway."
The basic recipe is simplicity itself and can be made cheaply at any time of the year…
All right! I give in! Only no more, please, no more! It's not that I don't enjoy cooking programmes, I do and have loved them since the days of Philip Harben…sorry, New Zealand…Graham Kerr; it's just the endless MasterChefs.
Confessions of a Fundamental Foodie
I love food, I enjoy cooking it, reading and talking about it, growing it if I can but above all…I love eating it, preferably in pleasant and like-minded company.
I love bread. I am never so happy as when there is good bread at hand, whether to enjoy with some mature cheese or to wipe up the last traces of a beautiful sauce; to break into my soup or even to toss in a salad.
The culinary heritage of India is so rich and diverse that it seems such a pity and even disrespectful just to lump it all together and call it "curry".
When I was at school both my mum and dad used to go out to work but at the end of the day the family would help Mum to prepare dinner which we would eat at the table, together. She wasn't the world's most adventurous cook and the food was simple & fresh.
gerald bryan discussions
There are currently no related discussions to this topic.
site links
