At Home With… Bridget Davis

Bridget Davis is The Internet Chef. As a chef, consultant and food writer, Bridget has spent most of her life cooking and now enjoys sharing her skills through online ‘foodeos.’ For more information visit www.theinternetchef.biz.

How did you first learn to cook?
I learnt a lot by watching my talented family members whip up culinary delights in our homes and Marae (NZ Maori meeting houses), where we would gather as large families of 200 to 300 hungry folk.

What advice would you give to people who are just learning how to cook?
Watch, read and absorb as much information as possible. Whether it be from cookbooks and food magazines, cooking shows and YouTube videos or online recipe sites. Become a sponge and soak up as much content as possible. Even now after 22 years working as a professional chef my mind is constantly searching for new “wow” recipes and techniques to make my time in the kitchen more pleasant and the outcome for the eater more pleasurable.

What is it that you love most about food and cooking?
I love the creative process involved in the kitchen, and making dishes that will hopefully transform the dining experience of the person presented with the meal. If I can make someone feel comfort, pleasure or bring back happy memories, my satisfaction as a craftsmen is complete for the day.

What are your four ‘go-to’ ingredients?
New Zealand butter. You can take the girl out of the country, but you cant take the butter from the girl! I love the creaminess of good quality NZ butter.  Also Murray River salt flakes are a local sensation and worthy of a place in everyone’s kitchen. Grove Avocado oil deserves a round of applause for its flexibility in the kitchen. It tastes delicious, is very good for you and has the ability to be heated to a ridiculously high temperature without burning and loosing its flavor and properties, making it the ideal oil for the good old Aussie Barbecue. And finally, Best Foods mayonnaise. I am not ashamed to admit that I have a weakness for America’s favorite mayonnaise. I use it as a base for other sauces as its pantry stable and is a great flavor carrier for herbs and spices.

If you could invite anyone over for dinner at your place, whom would you invite?
I would invite my family. Being only a fairly recent immigrant to Australia, I miss my family in New Zealand, Tonga and America.  If I could get everyone together at one and time and place, it would be the greatest meal of my life.

 

 

 

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