peapod cuisine is Australian chef Adam Hynam-Smith and his Canadian partner Tamara Jensen.
Adam Hynam-Smith. Adam received his introduction into the world of food and cooking from his family: his parents, both talented home cooks who loved their kids to try new flavours; his auntie, who instilled the attitude of “you don’t know until you’ve tried it” at a very young age; and his Nan, who always took him under her wing to help make the Sunday roast lamb, sago plum pudding and choc chip cookies.
At the age of 13, Adam was offered work in a family friend’s restaurant washing dishes. He quickly took on other challenges helping the chef Robert Griffiths with odd jobs and was soon addicted to the high paced rush of the professional kitchen.
Adam’s professional career began at the young age of 17, when he accepted a formal apprenticeship with Robert Griffiths. Adam’s skills and passion for the trade were quickly recognized, and positions with some of Melbourne’s leading chefs soon followed.
After relocating from the country to Melbourne, Adam started working at Melbourne’s best restaurant ‘Jacques Raymond’. Although Jacques Raymond himself (a Michelin Starred Chef from France) could not offer Adam a paid position, he continued to work at the restaurant until a former chef of Raymond’s was looking for someone.
Adam began the last half of his four-year apprenticeship working under the guidance of acclaimed chef Cath Claringbold at MECCA. It was here that Adam learned about Middle Eastern, North African and Mediterranean cuisine, and quickly fell in love with the flavours and smells of the spices used in these regions. While working at MECCA, the restaurant received its second Chef Hat, from Melbourne’s Age Good Food Guide, making it one of the best restaurants in Australia at the time.
After completing his apprenticeship, Adam traveled to Port Douglas in Far North Queensland. It was here that Adam worked for former Melbourne chef Tony Sassi, a self-taught chef from Sicily. Adam learned the ins and outs of Italian cuisine “mama style”, while having the luxury of working with the freshest fish Australia had to offer.
Upon his return to Melbourne a year later, Adam took up the position of chef de partie for chef/owner George Billionis at his soon-to-open restaurant SOUK. It was here that Adam learned about the traditions of Greek food and culture, and where Adam took the next big step in his career when he took on his first position as a Sous Chef.
After two years working at SOUK, Adam decided it was time to travel and experience the foods and cultures of the world firsthand. While he set his plans in motion, Adam did a brief stint as Sous Chef for owners and chefs Nick and Sonia Anthony at ‘The Bridge’ in Bendigo, Victoria. Adam benefitted from Nick’s experiences working for acclaimed Melbourne chef Teage Ezard, and absorbed all of Nick’s teachings of Southeast Asian cuisine.
Adam left Australia in 2005. After spending seven months in Canada, working and traveling through British Columbia, he flew to Morocco to meet up with his parents for a two-week adventure through the country. In Essaouira, Adam spent a day with the chef from their Riad, going through the markets and preparing the feast for the family that night.
Adam and his parents then traveled to the south of France spending a month driving through the region. Adam then left his parents and flew to England and lived there for nine months while he traveled England and Europe. It was in Barcelona that he met his partner Tamara Jensen, which led him to the decision to move back to Canada.
In addition to their travels through the Midwest and southern states of America, New York City, and the Caribbean, Adam and Tamara made the trip to Southeast Asia to get firsthand lessons in traditional Thai cuisine. Their instructor, Gob Khao, an acclaimed Bangkok-based chef and instructor of her own cooking school, had previously trained some of the best chefs from Australia, Spain and the United States.Upon returning to Canada, Adam and Tamara moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, where they are busy with their own venture, peapod cuisine. They fell in love with the area after taking a trip with Adam’s parents during their visit to Canada the previous summer. Excited by the plethora of local produce and wine, Adam and Tamara look forward to contributing to the growing food and wine community in the area. With a focus on using as much of the locally grown produce as possible, the couple will be offering cooking classes, small off-site catering, private chef services, and much more.
Tamara Jensen. Tamara’s parents encouraged her to have fun in the kitchen at a young age, and her grandfather cooked at several Montreal restaurants (including the Ritz Carlton) after immigrating to Canada from Denmark. However, the thought of cooking for a living wasn’t something Tamara considered early in life. Instead, she attended university and graduate school, eventually earning a Master’s degree in forensic psychology.
It was during the long hours of procrastination while she should have been writing her Master’s thesis that Tamara realized her true passion for food and hospitality. Tamara found any excuse to bake and cook for friends and family as a way to avoid her research. She dreamt of opening a quaint bed and breakfast or a small café, where she would welcome her guests with freshly baked treats and satisfying dishes.
Not one to give up on her commitment, Tamara finished her thesis and earned her degree, which in Canada’s capital city, led to an analyst job with the federal government. It was before starting what would be two years of crunching numbers in a cubicle that Tamara took off to Europe with a friend. They traveled through France to Spain, where Tamara met Adam on the beach in Barcelona.Adam returned to Ottawa with Tamara, and while she interviewed inmates and enjoyed the job security of the government, Adam found work in some of Ottawa’s best restaurants. The long hours and exhaustion that came with Adam’s job did nothing to deter Tamara’s fascination with the restaurant industry and her eagerness to share her love for food and cooking with others. Soon Tamara and Adam began planning their own culinary business, and made their move to Ontario’s wine region. Combining Adam’s professional training as a chef and Tamara’s experience as a home cook, peapod cuisine offers personalized cooking classes, personal chef services, and off-site catering to the local community.
