For two decades a St Clair street regularly filled up with cars and people traipsed down the path into a house, to reappear hours later inspired and refreshed. REBECCA FOX talks to Judith Cullen about a tradition about to end.
While family may have urged her to slow down or give up her rigorous Christmas class schedule years earlier, it was approaching the big 20 that was the crunch for her.
''I just had it in my mind.''
For many people, not having that regular class to attend to not only learn new recipes and kitchen tricks and tips but also meet up with friends was going to leave a big hole.
Some of those who attend the classes have been coming since her very first class 20 years ago and many regular attendees have become friends along the way.
The classes began after Mrs Cullen, a home economics teacher by trade, and her family returned from living in the United Kingdom for a year.
They had sold their popular Partners cafe prior to leaving so she was looking for something to combine her passion for food and teaching with raising three young children, the youngest was 3.
Holding cooking classes in her home seemed to fit the bill and her skills.
''I could talk and prepare food at the same time.''
She wanted to show good, healthy home cooking with heaps of flavour was not about a flash kitchen. Her kitchen back then was ''really old''.
''I wanted people to see you could cook at home even if you didn't have flash appliances and acres of bench space. That it could be done in small spaces.''
When Fisher and Paykel gave her a large gas oven to use, it would not fit in her kitchen, forcing a remodel. However, her kitchen remained small with limited bench space, although it was supplemented by a butcher's block above which a mirror was hung so people could see what she was demonstrating.
It was not all smooth sailing; she burnt herself a few times during class.
''I've made lots of mistakes - but then, people like that, it shows what not to do - but most of the time it just works out.''
She also wanted to show how easy cooking with fresh, local produce was, a result of growing up with parents and grandparents who gardened and preserved. ''We've always been very holistic about our diet and food.''
So she developed a menu and invited people into her home once a month to see her demonstrate how to cook it.
''The number of people who have been through here is phenomenal.''
She fed the children early and her husband took the children upstairs and helped them with their homework and put them to bed.
The other aspect to her early classes was showing that feeding children did not mean having to do special food for them.
''I wanted to portray that having a family meal sitting down and eating something together could be done.''
It reflected her own child-raising philosophy that if her children did not eat what was in front of them they went hungry, and helped widen children's food choices.
She hastened to add she was not precious about food. The family still got fish and chips on Friday and fizz and lollies - but only as treats on weekends.
Word soon spread and she was doing guest appearances at fundraisers and travelling around Otago and Southland giving demonstrations.
There were many stories to tell, such as arriving at Bannockburn Bowling Club, menu all planned, to discover the cooker was a 1930s model with hot plates, or losing power in a Waikaka hall and discovering a possum was at fault.
''When you travel away, your car is laden with food and crockery, and I was travelling up the Danseys Pass and there was this woman driving toward me on the wrong side of the road. I thought she'd correct herself but she didn't and I had to brake hard. Of course everything went flying about the car.''
As her children got older they all helped in the kitchen during classes, helping with prep and washing dishes.
''Consequently, they all gained a lot of skills in the kitchen and are very capable and interested in cooking.''
Inviting ''strangers'' into her home on a regular basis had not bothered her, and her children did not know anything different. ''It's all they knew.''
In 2003, she changed the format to seasonal classes with summer, autumn, winter and spring menus, often introducing new flavours or food trends such as sumac or barley risotto.
''At the same time, I don't put out a recipe if you can't buy an ingredient. I made sure its available.''
While many people said she made it look so easy, it basically came down to doing the preparation beforehand, she said.
''It takes days of work to set up, do the prep, get the recipes tested.''
There was also her garden to take care of. It was very important to her and she used a lot of the produce she grew in her recipes.
''I love picking my own fresh herbs and I use a lot of herbs in my cooking.''
Each year she also ran a series of very popular Christmas classes. She has been known to do 22 of them over November and December, often back to back.
''I'd go up to Wanaka and do four nights on the trot.''
She reluctantly admitted that in recent years she had begun to notice the toll the long days and day after day of classes could take.
''I used to do it no trouble, day in day out, but now I definitely notice it.''
Keeping up physical fitness was important in the food business, she said. So too was eating naturally, and she avoided processed food.
''I'm reasonably careful - I don't eat anything low fat, and eat real butter and oil.''
The classes attracted regular attendees. Many had attended since the classes started, including a staff member from Partners.
''There are mothers and daughters who come and others use it as a chance to catch up with friends. It's a social meeting time for friends and family, which is nice, really.''
These days she was also aware there were a lot of one or two-people households struggling with what to cook and eat, such as couples like herself and her husband whose children had left home.
She had eased into the situation as they got older and busier by holding Sunday dinners at which all the family were required to attend. The times when the children were home now were treasured, especially when they all got into the kitchen together.
''I know when they all come home it's not going to be just me stuck in the kitchen. Everyone will be pitching in.''
The cooking classes also led to the publication of two cookbooks, Judith Cullen Cooking Classes and Dinner in a Basket, both of which sold out. "That was a huge learning curve.''
It also spiralled into appearances on TV One's Good Morning show and demonstrations as far afield as Auckland.
She has also done consultancy work with companies such as Silver Fern Farms and Glenfalloch, where she was able to help create a lovely environment to eat in as well as influence the food.
''It's a whole lot more than just the food.''
She was a great advocate of flowers, platters and lovely linen on a table. ''The food is part of everything else.''
Gone were the days of formal dinner parties, with people instead opting for simple, fun foods for which prep could be done ahead of time so they could spend time with their guests, she said.
Have fun in the kitchen
Mrs Cullen's advice for entertaining: ''Don't try to be a Michelin Star chef. Just do it well. Have fun in the kitchen.''
Times were changing with the advent of social media and keeping up to date with the latest technology was difficult when working at home alone, she said.
That technology, along with the explosion in cookbooks, had also increased access to information about food and recipes, yet she was puzzled by why people's cooking skills were decreasing.
''There are people who actually don't know how to use an oven, who can't taste. They've been brought up on high-flavoured foods with salt and sugar, prepared food, not real food.''
Those concerns had been highlighted by her travels to places such as Turkey, where people cooked all their meat over charcoal, often on small takeaway charcoal cookers in parks.
''The flavour is fantastic. It's completely different.''
For the past eight years she had combined classes with running tours to Europe.
''They sit side by side. You can't travel without eating, even if it is eating cake for breakfast,'' as they discovered on one trip to Italy, she said.
Her tours had inspired in her a wish to spend three or four months living somewhere in Europe where she could immerse herself in the culture and food. She was a big believer in spending time in places and on her tours always ensured they spent three or four nights in each place so people could become familiar with the villages and people.
Overall, she had ''loved'' her years demonstrating cooking.
''I feel very lucky I can work at doing something I love.''
Spiced lamb balls with roasted tomato relish
Roasted tomato relish
2 cans cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 small chillies, sliced
2 branches fresh oregano
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Meatballs
3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 chilli, seeded and finely diced
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Half cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
500g lean lamb mince
grated zest of two lemons
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g fresh labneh
Standby salad
1 carrot, julienned
Half cucumber, julienned
2 spring onions, sliced thinly
A handful of bean sprouts
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
Half cup coriander leaves
Half cup mint leaves
Half cup parsley
Half cup flaked almonds, toasted
Dressing
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice
Labneh
500g Greek unsweetened yoghurt
1 Tbsp flaky sea salt
Method
Preheat oven to 180degC
Roasted tomato relish
In a medium-sized baking dish pour in the cherry tomatoes, along with the red onion slices, garlic and oregano. Season with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Roast for 50 minutes until the tomatoes are looking dried out and the onions are very soft. Mash with a potato masher and transfer to a bowl to cool.
Meatballs
Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a small frying pan. Saute the onion and garlic.
Add the chilli and dried spices and fry for 1 minute. Tip into a large bowl. Add the lamb mince, chopped coriander, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
Mix together with your hands. Shape into small balls.
Heat 2-3 Tbsp olive oil over a medium heat. Briskly fry the ball for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.
To serve
Pile the salad on to a flat platter. Drop the meatballs over the salad, place a teaspoon of tomato relish and labneh around the meatballs. Sprinkle with more coriander and flaked almonds.
Optional: Flatten meatballs before cooking and serve in slider buns with tomato sauce and salad or rocket leaves.
Standby salad
Place all the salad ingredients on a flat platter. Toss with the dressing before serving.
Dressing
Combine ingredients and mix well.
Labneh
Combine the yoghurt and salt. Line a sieve with a Chux multicloth and place over a bowl. Pour yoghurt into the lined sieve and leave to strain for a 2-3 hours at room temperature then overnight in fridge. Discard whey. Place cheese in a plastic container with a thin layer of olive oil. Keep in the fridge. Optional: Add chopped mint (or any other herbs) and zest of a lemon.
