Last word

Jane Lyons.

“True to the project’s name, we’re always thinking about, writing about, cooking, eating or photographing the next meal.”

In the past 18 months, my partner Will Bowman and I have lived in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Italy, Greece and Christchurch, in tents, Airbnbs, our family members’ homes and a couple of housesits, so we haven’t really had a fixed abode. In a way, it’s helped to define what home really means to us, and we’ve realised it’s where food can be made and shared – with each other, friends, whanau and, in some cases, complete strangers. It can be such a powerful tool to connect with ourselves and our surroundings.

We’ve carried a few things with us during this transient period: our little Bialetti coffee pot, a set of knives, a couple of our favourite cookbooks, an aluminium pan Will gave me for my birthday a few years ago, and our Japanese coal barbecue, which travelled to Europe and back! As well as having these special objects around, I find little things like putting fruit and eggs in bowls on the kitchen bench, baking bread and having a nice candle to light at dinner time makes things feel homely. I think I get these habits from my amazing mum, who has the ability to make a cardboard box feel cosy.