Meet Tonya Jennings... - Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds

I met Tonya Jennings a number of years ago when she was first setting up her cooking school ‘On the Ridge’ in Dulong. There is something about people involved in the food industry, they are also so passionate… about food. They are passionate about other things as well, but the passion for food seems to weave a mesh that is strong and unyielding and so friendships begin.

I attended a couple of Tonya’s cooking classes and loved how she managed to take very simple recipes and add an air of sophistication – then again, she took some complicated recipes too and simplified them – without compromising their sophistication. The classes were filled with fun and friendships were made while churning out ropes of fresh pasta, or torch in hand, brûlée-ing the brûlée.

Tonya has a rich food background, her grandmother and mother both being exceptional cooks. Her grandparents lived on a farm in central Victoria, where they grew their own fruit and vegetables. With an abundance of quinces, figs, plums, apricots and apples, there was never a shortage of bottled fruits and jams. According to Tonya, her grandmother baked best sponges, scones, cakes and biscuits in a wood fired stove, and then there were the superb roasts using their own farm raised lamb and chickens. There was also a milking cow, the milk of which was skimmed for cream which was churned into a beautiful, creamy, yellow butter.

It was these joyful experiences and memories that laid the foundation for Tonya’s passion for food, cooking and fresh regional produce. Tonya’s mother was also a huge influence. Experimental and innovative, she was always trying new recipes and surprising the family with some wonderful dinners.

Having said all of that, Tonya did not start out with food, and for me it is hard to imagine Tonya as a librarian, but that is where her professional career began. It was some years later, while attending one of the many cooking schools that Tonya attended while exploring her passion, that she made the decision to develop her own cooking school.

That’s where we are blessed, as she chose her location to be Kureelpa on the Sunshine Coast. Local, seasonal and fresh produce was at the heart of Tonya’s food philosophy, so she could not have chosen a more perfect location, the Sunshine Coast absolutely abundant in local produce. By this stage, Tonya had also re-trained as a chef at Holmesglen TAFE in Melbourne and attended numerous classes in the cooking schools of Paris at Le Cordon Bleu, the Ritz Escoffier and in Burgundy with Ann Willan at her La Varenne Cooking School.

Since then much has happened. I am often envious of Tonya’s fabulous adventures. She travels to France, often, spending time on the glorious waterways with her partner Michael, on a fabulous barge. I think that is everyone’s dream at some stage or another! And then there is the time she has spent at La Combe en Pèrigord, a residential cooking school in the Dordogne, where she has been a guest chef in the beautiful 18th century country house. Who wouldn’t be envious; truffle hunting, duck decoupage, walnut oil tasting… divine!

I recently spent some time cooking snails with Tonya. Fresh back from time in France, we had a snail cookout – Tonya with fresh French enthusiasm, and I, fresh with snail enthusiasm, due to a new acquaintance with a snail farmer at the Glasshouse Mountains. While we both had never cooked snails before, we made a number of dishes and were suitable impressed with our handiwork, the results of which I will share with readers.

While Tonya still visits her Kureelpa as often as possible, her focus is now on Cooking on the Bay – Cookery School, where students can enjoy the pleasures of the table overlooking Port Phillip Bay, in Melbourne. It is a bit of a loss for the Sunshine Coast, but I take comfort in the fact that our fresh regional produce will always draw her back.