DANI Valent has clocked up a lot of miles in the pursuit of good food.
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The Sunday Age food critic and former Lonely Planet writer has been to most continents on earth as part of her work.
“I will travel just about anywhere for food,” she said.
“My first food job with Lonely Planet was a trip to Turkey (World Food Turkey was the result); I have covered food across Australia, in the US, Asia, Europe and Africa.”
Ahead of her first winter food workshop in Wodonga this month, Valent said her interest in cuisine started young.
She said her mum was a good meat and three-veg cook who had learnt to evolve her style.
“When my sister became a vegetarian when she was about 10 my mum had to be creative and branched out with different ways of doing vegetables,” Valent said.
“Food was certainly the centre of the family.”
Valent will host Wonderful Soul-Warming Food for Winter Weather in Wodonga on June 24.
Melbourne-based Valent, who is a Thermomix recipe developer, said she would cook dishes from her website danivalent.com and newest cookbook, Entertaining.
She said this year marked her “10-year Thermo-versary”.
“There will be cosy dishes for winter like my Hungarian grandmother’s goulash; a beautiful slow-cooked beef stew,” she said.
“I like a bit of spice to warm you up from the inside.”
Valent said one of her first jobs for Lonely Planet took her through Wodonga in the mid-1990s.
“I drove a rental car and I had to stop in Wodonga for lunch,” Valent said.
“I locked my keys in the car and had to call the RACV.
“It was not the most auspices of starts but I have fond memories of the nice Wodonga RACV man.
“I’m really excited to check out the Wodonga food scene now and all of the wineries within easy reach.”
“I love connecting that complete food story from the paddock to the plate,” she said.
“Meeting the primary producers is always so humbling.
“Visiting farms and seeing the incredible dedication from producers despite all of the risks.”
Wonderful Soul-Warming Food for Winter Weather in Wodonga will be held at The Cube Wodonga from 2pm to 4pm.
Tastings will be served during the workshop.
