The Plating Game: Petra Bagust

We asked one of our favourite Kiwi celebrities to share her food loves so we could create a dish especially for her.

Since launching her popular podcast, Grey Areas in 2022, Petra Bagust has found a new lease of life by channelling her communication talents into an area that gives her a greater sense of purpose. And it's resonating well, in just a year of operating she won Best Entertainment Podcast at the 2023 New Zealand Radio Awards. On it, she and guests speak openly about growing up and going grey in Aotearoa. She describes it as raw, honest discussions about topics that span health, friendship, ageing bodies, financial finesse, menopause, identity and so much more. With a particular focus on the midlife years around 50 and beyond. It’s entertaining, inspiring and thought provoking.

Her effervescent personality, which has graced our screens for 30 years on various programmes and documentaries, shines through the podcast audio. She has a second podcast called Sunday Sanctuary, which is more internally, and spiritually focused. Topics such as being stuck in the waiting room, burning the candle at both ends and Perfectionism: the burden, the brilliance and how to plan your escape are all discussed in balance and depth but with a connection to Petra’s Christianity.

Family is important to Petra; she lives in Auckland with her cameraman husband Hamish and three teenage children whom she has successfully managed to keep out of the public eye. She’s also incredibly close to her Mum, Judi and is often photographed with her.
 

What are your first food memories?
Petra: I remember training myself to eat avocado, thinking this is strange, this is weird, but also thinking it's going to be good if I push through it. I have some quite visceral food memories.

And are they things that you like to eat now?
Petra: Yes, things like croissants with cheese, salmon, and avocado. I remember training myself to eat olives as well. You just have to get used to it, you just have to keep going.

What kind of food did your mum make growing up?
Petra: Mum is a really good cook. She's possibly also a perfectionist, so there was a stress associated with cooking. It wasn't like cooking just flowed out of her, but she cared deeply about how things tasted and how they looked. I remember my brother as a teenager saying, ‘Mum, what is this?’ And it was pasta al limone - lemon juice and pasta. And he was just like, ‘what the heck is going on?’ So she was always experimenting. I feel like we ate relatively adventurously. There were the usual Kiwi meals too, meat and three veg but to a high quality with herbs and always beautifully presented.

Do you like to cook?
Petra: I don't love it. But what I love is feeding people and making food look gorgeous. I really like my plate to have colour. I find it impossible to make chicken and cheese pasta because all the food is the same colour and it’s beige!

I think the most fun I've ever had was when I was making meals for my children, and I was just off-script and backing myself. I've probably not had that much confidence in the kitchen. I thought you could get it right or you could get it wrong and getting it wrong was dire as opposed to having the attitude of ‘we're gonna try again tomorrow’.

It's such a funny thing isn't it, some people love to be in the kitchen and riff with food and they can make anything out of anything and then for other people it is like ‘I've got to follow this recipe, I've got to do it right, otherwise it's going to be a disaster.’ Because I don't have personal cooking confidence, I have to follow the recipe. Watching my daughter cook, she was like, oh we don't have eggs, I'll use yogurt. Oh, we don't have that, I'll use oil. And seeing her confidence and substituting ingredients has really invited me into the space of trusting myself more, and I think when you trust yourself in a space you have more fun. And I have to confess that even using My Food Bag helped. There's a certain repetition to some of the methods, so now intuitively I understand the steps for a dish and how to make it.

What are some of your favourite dishes that you like to make?
Petra: I really love a sushi bowl or a poké bowl. I love all those gorgeous, yummy things on top of some rice or some noodles. The other day we made this incredible Pad Thai and I thought we've cracked it, we've cracked Pad Thai and we haven't made it since. I like cooking Mexican, and the use of the spices, I used to cook a super-delicious paella. I go through stages - I'll have seasons. Laksa was my go-to for ages, too.

Do you have any favourite cookbooks or food writers?
Petra: Nadia Lim and Annabel Langbein. My husband shot two series with her so we got given cookbooks. I do love Ottolenghi and I have dipped into other New Zealand recipe makers like Sophie Gray from Destitute Gourmet and a little Chelsea Winter. Oh and Jamie Oliver.

What would be your last meal?
Petra: It’s seafood. It's a humongous seafood platter with every kind of crustacean, shellfish and fish. I've pictured it many times. I'm on death row and I am having fun. And I want some green vegetables there, like edamame beans, asparagus and broccoli, with leafy greens like kale and cabbage.

Do you like to entertain, and do you have any tricks for entertaining?
Petra: I do like to entertain, and my trick is to invite people over before you've figured out what you're going to do. Don't stress about it. Just do it.

I always want the table to be beautiful, so I preset the table and prep as much of the meal so that when guests arrive, I can enjoy them as well as finish it off. I used to stress about everything being ready at the same time, now I’ll take a deep breath and let some food not be delivered to the table in pristine condition. And if somebody says, can I chop something? Can I give them a task? I put them at the breakfast bar. So, for me, it's let myself be helped, let myself be organized, and let myself not do it perfectly. At the end of the day, it's being together, right? You don't want to not do it because you're so worried about how you're going to do it. Which is kind of like everything in life.

Who would your dream dinner guests be?
Petra: For my dream dinner party I would probably invite Nelson Mandela, and he'd need a friend so that he felt comfortable. My best friend, Amanda Blake because she'd cook. I would do the presentation and set the table. I reckon it'd be worth having my husband there, he's good company. Amanda can have her husband, he's real nice. My kids, and their boyfriends or girlfriends.

I'd love to have Jesus for dinner but I kind of have Jesus for dinner every night so that's fine. Perhaps Kate Sheppard. I just found out it took her 14 years and four petitions to get the vote. I've read Michelle Obama's book, she'd be sensational. Whina Cooper would be incredible. My friend Te Waka McLeod and her husband Elliot Collins, he’s an artist. So, we've got a few people - we've got artists, politicians, activists.

And what would you serve them?
Petra: It would have to be sharing plates. That's Amanda's problem now (laughs). We've got a ceramic charcoal-fired barbecue so an incredible piece of meat that doesn't need to be filleted because the barbecue is so clever. We need pūhā and kūmara. I think we might go traditional on it. We might go with a modern version of a hāngi, but maybe, I'm messing with it now, like fusion. Fusion hāngi. Maybe slow-cooked lamb

Is there anything you don't eat?
Petra: I didn't used to be able to eat goat's cheese and now I adore it. I'm training myself to eat feijoa. Probably the only thing I don't eat is tamarillos because I vomited three times on a quarter of a teaspoon.

I can't drink feijoa drinks but I can have feijoa and ginger jam, I can have feijoa in some things, but feijoa and tamarillo are things that my body says no to.

What's a treat that always lifts your mood?
Petra: Dark chocolate. I am partial to Ārepa, they are sponsoring the current season of Grey Areas, but even before that, if I think, how do I get through the day? I'm likely to turn to something like Ārepa or sparkling water with freshly squeezed lemon and then you take the lemon on the rim of the cup. I find that a real pick me up.

What is your favourite tipple?
Petra: Well, a tipple makes me think of alcohol, and I know gin is in fashion, but my favourite drink in the world is water. I know that sounds terrible - people say it doesn't even taste like anything. But I think it tastes delicious. In terms of wine, I'm probably leaning towards varietals. So, I've been trying things like Riesling, Viognier and Chenin Blanc, even good old Chardonnay. I used to be a Chardonnay girl, and now I'm leaning away from Rosé and back towards Chardonnay.

Do you have any favourite restaurants in Auckland?
Petra: It’s always good at Amano and Ebisu. As a family we often go to Asian fusion at fun places like Chinoiserie and Kiss Kiss. We've got a local dumpling house we adore, but if it's a bit fancier then Ortalana, Baduzzi or Ada, they are all so delish. Next on our list Mr Morris as a big fan of Michael Meredith's cooking.

What’s a meal you’ve always wanted to master?
Petra: Probably an amazing Indian curry. I've read and gathered recipes for complex Indian dishes like Vindaloo or Masala, and I'd love to be able to start from scratch but haven't yet. I'd also like to conquer Beef Wellington or Bomb Alaska, those things where you're like - how?

Are there any cuisines that you are keen to try or countries that you'd like to travel to and eat the cuisine there?
Petra: Morocco, Turkey, and more of the Eastern Mediterranean. I was lucky enough to go to Beirut in Lebanon a few years ago. I'd like to do more of that part of the world. I loved learning more about the people and food.

What are some go-to weeknight meals when you need something quick?
Petra: Nachos which can be tacos which can be tortillas which can be burritos - that overall family of foods. Poké bowls or sushi bowls, as the kids call them. That’s a go-to quick and easy. And we do make sushi as well. And then it's things like gourmet burgers and pasta.

Best discovery with cooking?
Petra: Just add fresh herbs to everything. I appreciate Nadia doing that! We've got a herb garden and we're about to bring our herb pots closer to the door. But yeah, just herb it up.

Click here to find the recipe that Sarah made for Petra.