{{short description|New Zealand food writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2016}} thumb|right|Mathias in 2017 '''Peta Christine Mathias''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM}} is a New Zealand food writer and television show presenter and owns a television production company that produces food and travel shows.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.celebrityspeakers.co.nz/peta-mathias/|title=Peta Mathias ... a zest for food and life that you can almost taste.|newspaper=Saxton Speakers Bureau|accessdate=29 October 2016|archive-date=27 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027011111/http://www.celebrityspeakers.co.nz/peta-mathias/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is also known for leading gastronomic tours in the south of France, Morocco, Spain and India.<ref name=":1" />
==Biography== Mathias was born in Auckland. She initially trained as a nurse and worked at Auckland Hospital for five years. She then moved to Canada, where she lived for six years in Montreal and Vancouver working as a toxicotherapist in drug and alcohol treatment centres.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=br9kOJxpH_YC&pg=PT33|title=Fabulous: Thoughts on Being a Woman|last=Mathias|first=Peta|date=11 March 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=9781845969875|language=en}}</ref> Mathias then moved to London and to Paris and started working in restaurants, first as a dishwasher and later as a chef; eventually she bought a restaurant there, Rose Blues, and ran it for four years.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://penguin.co.nz/authors/33-peta-mathias|title=Peta Mathias {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=29 October 2016}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://penguin.co.nz/books/never-put-all-your-eggs-in-one-bastard-9781775533870|title=Never Put All Your Eggs in One Bastard {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=29 October 2016}}</ref>
In 1990, Mathias returned to New Zealand and began to work in food writing and broadcasting. In 2006 she set up a company organising and leading culinary tours, and in 2008 she set up a production company, Red Head Media, to make food and travel television shows based on her travels.<ref name=":4" />
=== Publications === * ''Fête Accomplie'' (1995, 2014); Random House New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-1-77553-741-0}} * ''Don't Get Saucy With Me, Béarnaise'' (1996); Random House New Zealand<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xcBfAAAACAAJ|title=Don't Get Saucy with me Bernaise|last=Mathias|first=Peta|date=1 Jan 1996|publisher=Random House New Zealand|isbn=1869413059|language=en}}</ref> {{ISBN|978-1-86941-305-7}} * ''Salut!'' (1998); Random House New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-1-86941-332-3}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=Salut! by Peta Mathias |url=https://www.bookexpress.nz/products/salut-by-peta-mathias-5030f |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=Book Express |language=en}}</ref> * ''Burnt Barley'' (2000), Vintage New Zealand; {{ISBN|1-86941-427-6}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=Burnt Barley by Peta Mathias |url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/burnt-barley-9781775538622 |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=www.penguin.co.nz |language=en}}</ref> * ''Insatiable'' (2000); Random House New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-1-86941-444-3}} * ''Sirocco'' (2002), Vintage New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-1-86941-520-4}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wphVAAAACAAJ|title=Sirocco: In Search of Moorish Flavours|last=Mathias|first=Peta|date=1 November 2002|publisher=Random House New Zealand|isbn=9781869415204|language=en}}</ref> * ''Noodle Pillows'' (2003), Exisle Publishing; {{ISBN|978-0-908988-48-8}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=Noodle Pillows: A journey through Vietnamese food and culture - Peta Mathias - Paperback |url=https://www.harpercollins.co.nz/9780908988488/noodle-pillows-a-journey-through-vietnamese-food-and-culture/ |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=Harper Collins New Zealand |language=en-NZ}}</ref> * ''A Cook's Tour Of New Zealand'' (2005), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-0-670-04560-0}} <ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathias |first=Peta |last2=Belcher |first2=Laurence |title=A Cook's Tour of New Zealand |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22193363?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Natural+foods+--+New+Zealand&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject_text%5D=Natural+foods&search%5Bpath%5D=items}}</ref> * ''French Toast'' (published 1998 as Salut!; updated 2016, 2010), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-0-670-04560-0}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=French Toast, Peta Mathias - Shop Online for Books in New Zealand |url=https://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/French-Toast-Peta-Mathias/9780143206156 |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=www.fishpond.co.nz}}</ref> * ''Can We Help It If We're Fabulous?'' (2008), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-0-14-300804-0}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://penguin.co.nz/books/can-we-help-it-if-were-fabulous-9780143008040|title=Can We help It If We're Fabulous? {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=29 October 2016}}</ref> *''A Matter of Taste'' with Fulvio Bonavia (2008), Hachette Australia; {{ISBN|978-0-7336-2353-0}} <ref>{{Cite web |last=Mattias |first=Peta |title=A Matter of Taste |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/21701724?search%5Bi%5D%5Bcategory%5D=Books&search%5Bil%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Photography%2C+Artistic&search%5Bpath%5D=items}}</ref> * ''Just In Time To Be Too Late'' (2009), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|9780143202462}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://penguin.co.nz/books/just-in-time-to-be-too-late-9780143202462|title=Just in Time to be Too Late {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=29 October 2016}}</ref> * ''Culinary Adventures in Marrakech'' (2010), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|9780143204596}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Culinary Adventures in Marrakech {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand |url=http://penguin.co.nz/books/culinary-adventures-in-marrakech-9780143204596 |accessdate=29 October 2016 |website=penguin.co.nz}}</ref> * ''Beat Till Stiff'' (2011), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|9780143566700}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beat Till Stiff: A Woman's Recipe for Living {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand |url=http://penguin.co.nz/books/beat-till-stiff-a-womans-recipe-for-living-9780143566700 |accessdate=29 October 2016 |website=penguin.co.nz}}</ref> * ''Hot Pink Spice Saga'' with Julie Le Clerc (2014), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|9781775535157}}<ref name=":3" /> * ''Never Put All Your Eggs in One Bastard'' (2016), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|9781775533870}}<ref name=":2" /> * ''Eat Your Heart Out'' (2019), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-0-14-377293-4}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eat Your Heart Out by Peta Mathias |url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/eat-your-heart-out-9780143772934 |access-date=2026-02-12 |website=www.penguin.co.nz |language=en}}</ref> * ''Shed Couture'' (2021), Penguin Books New Zealand; {{ISBN|978-0-14-377305-4}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=Shed Couture by Peta Mathias |url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/shed-couture-9780143773054 |access-date=2026-02-12 |website=www.penguin.co.nz |language=en}}</ref>
===Awards and recognition=== In 1997, Mathias won Best Segment in a Food Program at the World Food Media Awards for her segment on TVNZ's series ''Taste NZ''. In 2003, she won the Supreme Award at the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers Culinary Quill Awards.<ref name=":0" /> In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours Mathias was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as an author and television presenter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/node/1045 |title=Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee honours list 2012 |date=4 June 2012 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=30 October 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604202359/http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/node/1045 |archivedate=4 June 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
Her book ''Burnt Barley'' won Best Literary Food Writing (in English) category at the World Cookbook Fair.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penguin.co.nz/books/burnt-barley-9781775538622|title=Burnt Barley {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=29 October 2016}}</ref> The book was released with an accompanying four-track CD of the same name (released on the Vintage label), on which Mathias sings Irish country songs.
In 2014, ''Hot Pink Spice Saga'', which Mathias co-wrote with Julie Le Clerc, was shortlisted in the Best in the World for Indian Cookery category at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://penguin.co.nz/books/hot-pink-spice-saga-9781775535157|title=Hot Pink Spice Saga {{!}} Penguin Books New Zealand|website=penguin.co.nz|accessdate=26 October 2016|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026234155/http://penguin.co.nz/books/hot-pink-spice-saga-9781775535157|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathias, Peta}} Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Writers from Auckland Category:21st-century New Zealand businesswomen Category:21st-century New Zealand businesspeople Category:New Zealand women food writers Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Category:New Zealand memoirists Category:New Zealand cookbook writers Category:20th-century New Zealand women writers Category:21st-century New Zealand women writers Category:20th-century New Zealand writers Category:21st-century New Zealand writers Category:New Zealand women memoirists