Emma Galloway
Growing up in peaceful Waikato coastal town Raglan, vegetarian chef Emma Galloway’s passion for cooking started from a young age. Raised by “food-loving parents”, she would watch in wonder as her mum created delicious creations from their homegrown produce.
“My parents grew much of what we ate, using organic principles,” the 40-year-old says. “My mum is the most amazing intuitive cook, who puts health and wellbeing at the fore of everything she does.”
Husband Si, 45, introduced her to a whole new world of culinary creations through his Vietnamese family. But it was having her two children, Ada,
14, and Kye, 13, that has had the biggest influence on the way she cooks.
After having kids, Emma discovered that along with her daughter, she is gluten intolerant, and she and her son lactose intolerant. This kicked off a total transformation of the family’s diet.
“Over a couple of years,
I went about changing all my recipes to suit our new lifestyle and started sharing them on my food blog My Darling Lemon Thyme in 2010,” Emma says.
Now, 11 years on, her blog has won multiple prestigious awards, she has written three best-selling cookbooks and her recipes have even been featured on Oprah Winfrey’s website!
Fans of her blog will know all the mouth-watering ways Emma can make vegetables tasty, but she admits she thinks people still seriously underestimate just how versatile they can be.
“There’s so much variety in flavour and texture in the wonderful world of vegetables. For far too long people have looked at them as merely a side dish, but with a little love and care they can shine as the main event.”
In her latest cookbook,
Every Day, Emma set out to create a collection of simple recipes and share her ingenious ways to reduce food waste. While working on the book, the country went into level 4 lockdown and the need to create magic from what’s in the pantry became essential as trips to the supermarket were infrequent.
“I’ve always cooked with the seasons, utilised leftovers, cooked simple pantry meals, cooked from my vegetable garden and tried to reduce food waste as much as possible,” Emma explains.
She says the best way to do this is for people to have a better understanding of how to use their food in their fridge.
“I think it would be a game-changer if everyone learnt just a handful of dependable base recipes that they could adapt to suit whatever produce/flavourings they have at hand,” she tells. “This would increase confidence in the kitchen, reduce food waste and have people cooking at home more often.”
‘With a little love and care, vegetables can shine as the main event’
In her impressive career, Annabelle White has done it all. She’s written 11 cookbooks, is a longtime food columnist and has been a food editor for multiple magazines, including the Weekly.
So, what is her secret to creating delicious dishes?
“I have a serious commitment to searching out great recipes.”
If she’s not travelling the world and working alongside other renowned chefs, she’s at home scouring recipe books, with no length too great for the next great meal. She even admits, “I will drive eight hours to search out a recipe that
I have heard is fantastic for a baked item or dish that is incredible!”
With no formal chef’s training, Annabelle developed her skills watching her mother in the kitchen. Because of this wholesome introduction to food, the 63-year-old’s ethos around cooking has always been about keeping dishes simple but packed with flavour. And after going through multiple lockdowns in the past year that belief has only been reinforced.
“Less is more,” she says. “If a recipe is too complicated or fussy, I don’t have the energy after 2020. It’s the joy of something straightforward when everything around you is complicated.”
She adds that food should be more about the time spent together than trying to impress with an overcomplicated dish.
“To cook is to love and to love is to cook,” she enthuses. “Every day is better for sitting down together around the table and having a simple meal and talking about your news.”
That’s why her number-one cooking tip is all about getting back to basics. According to Annabelle, the most important skill in a home cook’s arsenal is the ability to make a solid sauce.
“It’s easy to cook a piece of fish or steak, but the basic roux, if mastered properly, will help everyone. Plus, the basic onion, garlic, celery and carrot base for a stew.”
Annabelle has eaten some of the best food the world has to offer on her travels, including the deadly but delicious pufferfish. But closer to home, the one place that calls her back is The Fisherman’s Wharf Café in Bay of Plenty’s O¯ hope. Not only for patron Tom Maguire’s scrumptious delights, but for the unbeatable Kiwi ambience.
“The luscious seafood with the sunset and view of Ohiwa Harbour, the backdrop sound of the surf crashing on the other side. And the people are lovely!”
‘If a recipe is too fussy, I don’t have the energy after 2020’