Overseen by Executive Chef Daniel Jarrett, the Tamarind Cooking School at Spicers Tamarind Retreat, nestled in the verdant hills and rainforest of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, is welcoming a new chef, Tommy Kennedy, whose maternal Italian heritage adds a taste of nonna’s kitchen to his cooking classes.
“I’m trying to teach about the love within food,” he says. “My nonna’s Italian heart would come out in all the food she created. For me, cooking with love in mind completes a dish.”
Kennedy describes himself as a “rustic-loving fine food chef,” so it’s not surprising one of his favourite dishes on the cooking school menus is the fresh pasta.
“One of the dishes we prepare is a classic, simply hand-made linguine with beautiful vongole in a Champagne butter sauce,” says chef Tommy, “there’s a wonderful tension between the rich butter and the Champagne zing that melts into the vongole.“
“Most people leave my classes saying, ‘I’ll be making my own pasta,’ now they know the way to nurture it with their own hands,” he says.
Share the love
The Tamarind Cooking School runs classes for up to 16 people every Saturday from 11:00am to 3:00pm, at $225 per person. The classes are on a rotating monthly schedule of French and Italian classes run by Tommy, and northern and southern Thai run by chef Paul Blain – a local foodie legend, as the founder of Tamarind Retreat and Cooking School and the ground-breaking Chilli Jam Thai in Noosaville.
Chef Tommy says, “The classes are very informal and a lot of fun. We take a tour of the kitchen garden and pick our own herbs for the class then sit out on the deck to eat our meals and have a glass of wine – it’s just delightful.”
The chefs are very hands-on at every station, giving tips and help where needed. The Tamarind Cooking School changes menus with each of the four seasons, and sources ingredients from their local suppliers.
The recipes are easy to follow and have been tested and tasted to perfection. Chef Tommy’s Italian menu will take guests through how to prepare (and consume) a fresh caprese salad – waving the Italian flag of red tomato, green basil from the garden and creamy white fresh buffalo mozzarella; the linguine vongole, and a smooth vanilla panna cotta with seasonal berries and lemon syrup.
Although the dishes reflect Italian cuisine’s simplicity and emphasis on quality ingredients, cooking school guests will see how to structure their time to deliver the dishes together, and make it look fabulous on the plate, with a plethora of vibrant colours and textures.
Guests also receive a Tamarind Cooking School apron and a recipe pack to take home, to inspire them to share the love by creating the same dishes for family and friends.
The Italian connection
Chef Tommy has experienced the dolce vita first-hand, visiting his family in Italy, who had no English, but they did own an artisanal butcher and olive farm.
“Although I didn’t speak their language, I could still work with them in the kitchen, which was great, and see how they cook with passion for the family.”
“France and Italy have been my favourite travel destinations. In France I explored the origins of bouillabaisse in Marseille, and I discovered that garlic would have to be my favourite ingredient. It’s so simple to use in use so many dishes.”
Kennedy’s mother raised five kids while working the parents’ business, so at the age of nine years, he started helping his mother, in the kitchen, to feed their family, and his love for cooking blossomed.
“Now I love teaching my kids how to cook with love,” Tommy says, “instead of going for the commercial pre-made meals and fast food that’s at the touch of a finger, rather than the touch of eggs in flour with some oil and salt.”
Chef Tommy wants you to get your hands dirty making fresh pasta and feel his nonna’s warm smile as you’re working the dough.
Cooking with passion
Chef Tommy Kennedy has had a diverse career as professional chef. He comes to The Tamarind Cooking School from Lodge 21 at Perisher Ski Resort, where he was head chef, and for three years before that was a mature age carpentry apprentice at the Sawtell Building Company – he’s a craftsman of all kinds.
After completing most of his chef’s apprenticeship at Fishtales Restaurant in the Sawtell Hotel in coastal northern NSW from 2006 to 2009, Kennedy worked in restaurant kitchens across the Gold Coast region until 2020.
“My second head chef at Fishtales was and still is like a mentor to me,” Tommy says. “Shannon was calm, collected and loved to be around food, he had a passion like no other chef I’ve known. I wanted to be like that, just better.”
“The trawler captains would the call the chefs at Fishtales when they were coming into port so we’d be first in line to secure the best quality seafood, it’s still my favourite protein,” he says.
Kennedy also has a passion for Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines, and he’s had time at Kouzina Greek Restaurant in Robina, and through 2014 and 2015 at Avvia French/Israeli restaurant at Palm Beach. Staying on the coast, 2017 saw Kennedy in the kitchen of Oskars on Burleigh as chef de partie.
“I’m a bit of a fan of Marco Pierre White and Jamie Oliver,” Tommy explains. “I feel I’ve taken their finesse of flavour and combined it with a certain rustic-ness to suit my cooking style.”
Escape the daily grind
Situated near the town of Maleny on a picturesque 18-acre property next to Gardner’s Falls, Spicers Tamarind Retreat offers intimate, rainforest-fringed luxury infused with the seductive spices of Asia.
Just an hour north of Brisbane and 3km east of Maleny, Spicers Tamarind Retreat is an Asian-influenced oasis of natural beauty and tranquillity that makes you feel like you’re a world away from the daily grind.
The Tamarind is an award-winning modern Asian restaurant with a Thai heart, combining sweet, sour and spicy flavours with the freshest local produce. Led by Head Chef Dan Jarrett, The Tamarind has earned an enviable reputation for quality, with two Chef Hats in the 2024 Australian Good Food Guide and a loyal following.
Spicers Tamarind Retreat offers intimate accommodation in five one-bedroom villas, seven two-bedroom villas, a studio room and the fully self-contained Orchard Villa that hosts up to 12 guests, as well as meeting facilities and two venue spaces with room for 70 guests.
Guests can enjoy the outdoor swimming pool and spa, take a dip in the popular Gardner’s Falls next door, or venture into the local region to continue their culinary adventures at local wineries and the Maleny Cheese Factory. Those looking for more action can visit the world-famous Australia Zoo, go bush walking, mountain biking or take the Glasshouse Mountains scenic drive.
