Food has always been an important part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are related to cooking and food…
When I was young the kitchen was the heart of our home. It was where my family and I saw each other most and where my mother instilled in my sister and I the importance of knowing how to cook. It started off simple…helping her to bake cakes or simple meals, and eventually extending on to lessons on homemade bread and large roast meals. When I think of my childhood I think of the smell of yeasty bread rising before the fire, the sound of the ding of the oven as a cake announces it is cooked and the bubbling pots of homemade soup. It is the numerous heart-to-hearts with my mother in front of the fire as she prepares a meal, setting the table when dinner was ready and calling out to my father to come inside from the farm. Food was important to us. We all sat at the table and ate, discussing the day and watching the news. I grew up watching food shows with my family, scouring through copious food magazines and disappearing into the glossy photos of cookbooks.
Even from a young age I knew that the quality of ingredients was important. My parents had moved from England to New Zealand to experience the ‘Good Life’: a common dream of ex-pats in the new country of Aotearoa. As a result, we grew our own vegetables and fruit, preserved jams and jellies, chutneys and pickles, and even experimented with home-made wines and beers. Our pets were sheep, cattle beasts, pigs and hens…all destined to be eaten one day of course, but given the absolute best life possible in our little 2 1/2 acre plot. I understood very quickly that food that was nurtured during its developing stages always tasted better in the end.
I grew up in a very lucky situation…but of course when I left home to further studies I rebelled…living in a city meant fast food, quick access and less knowledge of where my food came from (as a result…well you can imagine the scales were not incredibly happy). It was not a healthy lifestyle and most certainly not a satisfying one. Living in a new land with a diverse and interesting range of foods and ingredients has helped me rediscover my passion for good food and cooking and I hope to share this with you…
tabemoto... 