THIS MUCH I KNOW
Anne Thorpe
TV food presenter
It’s Saturday and I am preparing you
breakfast. What are you having? It’s a no-brainer. No cooking. Open the chilliest bot of French Champagne you can get your mitts on and relax. Serve oysters and thin Vogel’s, with a butter smear. Leaves plenty of room for a spot of lunch. Mauri ora!
The philosophy of kai is communal-together nessman a a kit anga. Sharing is caring. It’s a universal concept.
The most important or significant thing that happens when people share a meal - is the vino and the glad eye.
My heart rest is in Pakiri with a blazing fire, pork belly crackling away in the oven, the sound of a lovely bottle being uncorked and all the while listening to groovy music… with close mates and whanau galore!
The greatest discovery I’ve had is what an enlightenment, a pleasure, a joy, the discovery of food. It was when I cooked the famous fruit sponge in Betty Cuthbert’s home economics class when I was 9 years old. RIP Betty who passed last month 95 years young. Betty was an icon in Auckland and further afield.
What can I never let pass my lips? Firstly I would say, close your eyes and open your mouth. With a bit of wishful thinking anything can taste how you want it to. It’s all in the mind of the beholder.
The best way to cook muttonbird is naked. Nah, not anymore. There was a time, though.
I have to embrace sustainable food and cooking. So do you. I believe in it.
If I were a cocktail, well, I love a martini! Like my food it’s clean as a cucumber. Instant hit, too.
The worst cooking experience — a war story — was when it pissed down with unexpected rain. It was deluge. I was gratefully saved by the brothers recruited for their expertise in manaakitanga, dedication, energy and wisdom.
If I were to define culinary decadence it would be in one word: perfection.
The restaurant that changed my life? Home when I was 9 years old.
For the best place to harvest native plants for cooking — the ngahere. Nah. Check out the farmers’ markets.
The thing that’s doing my head in right now is that winter’s here and summer’s coming.
My advice on the Auckland restaurant scene is to stick to the hood, the devil you know and support your local businesses.
The most beautiful work in te reo is Tatoutatou —what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.
ANNE THORPE, OF NGATI AWA-NGAITI RANGI DESCENT, IS A PRESENTER KAI ORA ON MAORI TV.