By Elizabeth Butler
VALDOSTA — When Andrew Wardle lived in London, England, he and a group of his friends would get together to make metza meals.
“Each person bought a single ingredient which they shared with the others,” he said. “The object was then for everyone to cook their own recipe using all the same ingredients. The end results were often extreme in their differences. Some years later, there was a British TV cooking show that used the same principle, always made me wonder! The idea for Metza comes from a Spanish style of cooking.”
Wardle was born at Royal Air Force Changi, Singapore. His father, Michael Wardle, was a career military man so Andrew grew up in Singapore, England, Wales, Germany and Belgium.
He was educated in the English school system at a boarding school in Pocklington, Yorkshire, England. Later, he would receive a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, with honors, from Magdalene University, Cambridge, England, and a Master of Business Administration in Mathematics and Logistics from St. John’s University, Cambridge.
Wardle is the Divisional Director of Circulation for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., and holds membership in several professional organizations, as well as Leadership Lowndes.
His son, Michael, will turn 10 on Monday, Feb. 15.
Several hobbies occupy his spare time, in addition to cooking.
“I am a certified cross country glider pilot, some would say a ‘geek’ as I like to build, tweak and rebuild my own computers. I am an avid reader and a viewer of classic old movies.”
It was his mother, Francine Wardle of Beverley, England, a classically trained chef in England and France, who taught him to cook. His favorite foods are “anything but baking.”
“I enjoy making anything from the appetizer to the main course, but dessert, for some reason, has never been a passion to create.
Wardle’s recipes are originals or adaptations of those of his mother and sister, Caroline, of Beverley.
“I will follow a recipe but halfway through I will modify it when something occurs to me.”
Today, he offers two of his recipes, MW-Pasta Salad and Plate Cote a la Georgia, for the viewing pleasure of our readers.
“My mother created the original versions of these recipes,” Wardle said. “This was one of those meals that both my sister and I would request on cold winter nights. Now, in effect, there are three versions, my mother’s, my sister’s and mine.”
