About Me

I have been fortunate enough over the years to have the opportunity to travel to a number of countries, all of which use chillies and spices in daily life.
In my kitchen before the planned renovation in '08

Places such as China, Fiji and a number of locations in Indonesia presented me with a wealth of new ingredients and techniques that just aren't seen in our westernised books.

For example, you can go to any of many restaurants in Urumqi in the middle of China and order a whole, deep fried dove or stir-fried rat, yet I've never seen a recipe book with those dishes in.

Crappy photo, but 8 of us went through 3 of
those serves of my BBQ ribs in an hour and a half !

In 2003 I made the decision to change careers and get into the food industry full time. I started up a spicy food production, marketing and distribution business which added significantly to my knowledge by exposing me to;

• International and national health and safety standards involved in the production of food, and


• The high standards required by chefs regarding freshness and quality as I was producing ingredients for them. one of our products was cooked prickly pear leaves for a Mexican restaurant (they call them napolitas) !

I can tell you that you certainly need to know what you're doing and get it right every time when you're cooking in front of people who are waiting to try it as soon as you are finished!

In 2005 I held the world's only Chilli Sauce Appreciation Course at the University of Western Australia to and received fantastic feedback, some of which is below;

• Mate, I loved the course and will be there again next time you hold it! - Peter Bennet, Perth, Western Australia
• Nigel, please extend it to more than 8 hours next time - Sonia Harris, Perth, Western Australia
• It was great having the opportunity to sample so many products as part of the course. And the opportunity to buy some of them. Many thanks to Nigel - Melanie Anderson, Perth, Western Australia

A beautiful big estuary cod that I released after the shot - they have a maximum size as well as a minimum.

OK, to the present. My plans for the revived and now greatly expanded chillies-down-under.com site in 2008 are probably a great example of biting off more than I can chew, but with your support I'm confident it can be done;

• Holding a bigger and more in-depth Chilli Sauce Appreciation course, with the goal of being the one of the premiere chilli events on the globe;
• Introducing a new level of membership (paid subscription) that monthly reviews a chilli sauce and, along with a bottle of the sauce, provides a detailed review including discussing the style of the sauce and the origins of that style, history of the producer, an overall quality assessment, recommended uses and, of course, a few recipes incorporating the sauce.
• introducing a number of information products (e.g. eBooks, DVDs, MP3 audio files) on chillies, their history, how they have been adopted into many cultures, and how best to use them.
• I will of course maintain the current newsletter and regular page updates to the site.

Can it all be done? Time will tell but I can guarantee that I'll give it my best. Three thing keep me going when I'm tired and I think I haven't got the energy to do it all;

• The over-riding passion to be involved in food and cooking in a meaningful way, other than cooking dinner for the family at night
• This great quote by Mark Twain;
  "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
• The fact that building, expanding and maintaining chillies-down-under.com couldn't be easier and more successful than it is with Site Build It

That's enough about me for now.

If you have a passion or hobby and would like to take it further, you can learn more about the options offered by Site Build It, here.

Wishing you a life full of flavour,

Nigel Laubsch