Hello Foodie Friends, I’m Taor

(pronounced Tay-or),

My love for food started in my grandparents' kitchen. My Nanna learned to cook when she was young in India, and she became amazing at it through years of practice and passion. My Oupa, with his Chinese and Afrikaans background, brought his own mix of flavours and traditions to our meals. Together, they created a mix of foods and family traditions that made our gatherings special and filled my childhood with great memories and incredible tastes.

When I was in school, I dreamed of becoming a chef and proudly earned my National Diploma in Hospitality and Catering from West Kent College in 2005. However, I soon discovered my true calling was in front of house, where I could combine my love for food with my joy for hosting unforgettable dinner parties.

Fast forward the years, and my greatest passion now lies in creating memorable food and drink experiences. These events are not just about the flavours but about forging connections and, hopefully, alleviating loneliness.

Potluck Cornwall will always hold a special place in my heart as my first baby, a testament to my dedication and love for bringing people together through the universal language of food.

I moved to Cornwall in 2012 and through the powers of what was Twitter in 2013, I came across a gentleman that my family and I had seen on TV as we are huge fans of Australian Masterchef. Kumar Pereira and I got in to a discussion over Twitter and then emails were sent. To cut the long story short, basically in 5 days we (my family and I) got in touch with his publishers, had his recipe books delivered to us, I picked Kumar, his wife and Mother-in-Law up from Fowey and put on a Cooking demonstration and dining event for 14 people at the wonderful Philleigh Way Cookery School on the Roseland with former owners George and James, I sold tickets for £20 per head and had Shane Soloman of the Cornwall Channel come and film it and he put it up on his then Cornwall TV channel. Guests dined on Curried Mussels which were hand-dived at the time by the wonderful Matt Vernon of the then Cornish Mussel Shack (now Cornish Wild Food), Seared Salmon with a coconut and tamarind sauce and Kumar's version of Sri Lankan sweet and sour prawns with young coconut and coconut rice.
​It was a pinch your self moment, event. It was fantastic.

In 2013 I also tried to do my own version of Come Dine with Me but for business networking and called it 'The Cornish Cook Around', I found 5 people all in different businesses, I had some Falmouth uni students film each night, and we each cooked, judged each other and there was a winner. I only did that first round and didn't take it further as a lot of effort went into it.

Potluck Cornwall began in 2014 with the help of Peter Hadfield of Roselidden Farm and has solely been run by me since the end of 2014.
​We started with 'Chat and Nibble' nights, this was to get people to enjoy different foods in the company of new friends and to help local start-up businesses in their quieter seasons in Cornwall to get a return on investment. This has now grown to 'Chat and Eat' nights so people enjoy dinner now rather than a snack after work.

The group meets at least twice a month. ‘Chat and Eat Nights’ are at new and interesting restaurants and cafes around the county, and ‘Potlucks’ when we each prepare and bring along a dish on a common theme to share. I also arrange talks by food and drink experts, visits to producers and food festivals, and provide information on the Cornish food scene on my social media platforms.

Day trips out are also favoured by my members.
These include foraging, cookery classes, food related movie nights, family days, gin tastings and more..

So far we have been lucky to taste some wonderful delights at an array of different establishments around Cornwall and have also enjoyed some wonderful Potluck evenings and eaten some fantastic homemade dishes, made by our wonderful members.

I possess a strong enthusiasm for event organisation, and there's a genuine thrill in witnessing people converge, forging new connections while collectively sharing in unique experiences.