■ QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS

Complete this sentence. It’s embarrassing just how much I love ...

Karena: Carbs.

Kasey: I thought you were going to say cats.

Karena: No, I’m not embarrassed about my cat ownership, Kasey. I’m a proud, proud cat lady. [As a sidenote, she has three cats — Abraham, Robert and Amanda].

Kasey: Mine is Celine Dion.

Karena: Are you embarrassed about that?

Kasey: I’m actually not, but I can’t think of anything.

What’s a dish that you have to order when you see it on a menu?

Karena: Fries.

Kasey: Clams.

What’s the worst kitchen disaster you’ve ever had? Karena: When we were cooking for Hugh Jackman (in 2019), we had slow-cooked some pork, packed it up in Maketu¯ , and put it in the chilly bin to take it up to Auckland. Then, when we got to this private lodge, I opened the chilly bin, and it wasn’t in there. It was 45 minutes before the guests were arriving. We were 15 minutes out of town and the pork takes three hours.

I was calling around all of the local restaurants asking if they sold cooked, pork belly, and this one restaurant did, so I’m driving hands-free, while they say: ‘You have to buy the whole meals’. So, I had all these sides too.

We got the pork, sneaked it in, smoked it in the oven with wood chips that we had for smoked fish, then served it to Hugh Jackman, and he goes: ‘Man, this pork is amazing’, but it wasn’t from us, it was someone from a barbecue steakhouse who cooked the pork belly.

Kasey: Yeah, so you’ve got to be a problem-solver.

Buffet or sit-down dinner? Both: Sit-down dinner.

Edible gold or wearable gold?

Both: Wearable.

Kumara or potato? Both: Potato.

Butter or olive oil? Both: Butter.

Baked or fried?

Kasey: It depends on the situation.

Karena: I’m going for fried. Breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast?

Both: Dinner for breakfast.

Fish or steak? Karena: Fish. Kasey: Steak.

Cake or pie? Karena: Pie. Kasey: Both.