Peta Mathias talks about food & telly

Posted on 28 September 2009

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Food, travel and television are synonymous with Peta Mathias. For 12 years she hosted TVNZ’s Taste New Zealand and its spin-off shows Toast New Zealand, Taste Takes Off and A Taste of Home. Mathias says her toughest TV moment came in Bolivia as part of the Intrepid Journeys series. It was a trip she describes as “pure hell”.

As well as her TV credits, Mathias has written eight books about food and travel, and leads food tours to her favourite gastronomic hot spots around the world. She also recently set up her own production company, Red Head Media, to create cooking DVDs.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Mathias discusses:

How she was discovered and her first TV audition
The impact Taste New Zealand had on local cuisine
How her outrageous outfits were a deliberate strategy
What she thinks of TV food shows
Why she ended up cooking on Hudson and Halls’ old stove
Why her Intrepid Journey to Bolivia was hell on earth
And the practical reason behind setting up her own production company

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Comments

by Julia on 29 September 2009 at 1:22pm

I really enjoyed this. I agree with those who said she didn’t do enough cooking on Taste NZ. It was always a pleasure to watch the reverence with which she approached the task. I loved the reason she got the job!

by TeMiha on 30 September 2009 at 3:11pm

great piece. i was reminded of how good she was; different, kinda outrageous, great dresser. but i remember how she was one of those cooks that really loved food and flavours and could really stimulate one’s digestive juices just by taking a mouthful of something and expressing, often non-verbally, how yummy it was!! many a time i was off to the supermarket after watching Peta!!

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