Emiko Davies

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Emiko Davies, is half Japanese, half Australian but has spent 2/3 of her life living in other countries. From growing up in Beijing to studying on Rhode Island, she eventually found herself in Florence and never looked back. She currently lives in Tuscany with her Italian husband and three year old daughter, and is surrounded daily by the delights of authentic Florentine cuisine.

A talented cook, food writer and photographer, I found Emiko through her beautiful blog full of heart-warming regional Italian dishes (that immediately reminded me of my own Nonna’s cooking!) and from then on have followed her endeavours via Instagram and beyond. Her recipes and accompanying photos never fail to evoke a sense of warmth and conviviality within me, and I simply want to reach out a take a bite. She also writes regular columns for Food 52 and Italian newspaper Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera.

Her first cookbook, Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence, published by Hardie Grant Books is due for release next week and I couldn’t be more excited to get my hands on a copy. Many of the photos taken below are straight from the book, and if they don’t make you want to book a trip to Florence (RIGHT NOW!) I don’t know what will.

My passport is well and truly at the ready!

Luckily! A passport is not needed if you would like to meet Emiko as she is currently in Australia on her cookbook tour, so if you are passionate about wholesome Italian food (like me) now’s your chance to join her for a Florentine inspired feast… and then you can give her a big hug too!

Now…it is with the greatest pleasure that I introduce you to Emiko Davies.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you spend your days?

The easiest way to answer this is to say that I cook and write recipes, photograph my food and run around after a three year old, sometimes all at once! Most days I’m testing recipes or writing articles for my blog or my regular columns with Food52 or Corriere della Sera. I’m also researching and working on a second cookbook right now so it’s a busy time which means the oven is always on or a pot is always bubbling away on the stove and I’m always looking for family and friends who are willing to take away all the food that’s pumping out of the kitchen lately!

2. What inspired you to start blogging and writing about food? How did your passion for regional Italian food (and its roots) come about?

I had been living in Florence for about five years when I decided to start my blog, which has a focus on regional Italian cuisine (with a rather biased curve towards Tuscan food). It was the food habits and traditions of my new home that entirely inspired the blog. What really struck me when I moved to Florence was how the food that Florentines like to eat when they go out is the same food that mamma or nonna serves on Sundays to the whole family (and probably does better) — they don’t go out to try something different, or a different type of cuisine. They go out for their all time favourites. Look at the menus from trattoria to trattoria and they are essentially an identical list of dishes! Then when I discovered the Italian cookbook that has probably the biggest influence on my cooking, Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, which was written in 1891, I realised that these dishes have also barely changed for centuries. This has (and will continue to) always fascinated me.

3. Can you share with us a little about ‘Florentine’ and who/what inspired the recipes in your debut cookbook?

Florentine is basically an ode to the city that I consider my second home. When I was approached to write a cookbook and asked to come up with a pitch, it came easily — it had to be about Florence. There are thousands of Tuscan cookbooks out there but barely anything that actually speaks just of Florence — and anyone who knows regional Italian food knows that the dishes and the traditions change from town to town, not only region to region. The book is entirely made up of Florentine recipes, dishes that tell a story of the city or that are inspired by my favourite places to eat in the city, from pastry shops, trattorie and wine bars to gelaterie. Artusi gets mentioned quite a bit there too (although not Florentine, he was from Emilia-Romagna but lived in Florence for many years and wrote his cookbook while living there so it is tinged with Florentine recipes and anecdotes).

4. Do you have a current food or ingredient ‘love’?

My current food love is bottarga. We had a 7 month stint living in southern Tuscany on Monte Argentario last year – a beautiful area of hills, sparkling seaside and lagoons. The neighbouring lagoon town of Orbetello is famous for its bottarga, which is still only artisan-made, the same way it’s been made for centuries, from local mullet eggs. It’s a softer style of bottarga compared to Sardinian bottarga, and delicious eaten in thin slices with lemon juice and olive oil as antipasto, or grated over pasta with a squeeze of lemon juice for the fastest dinner ever!

5. Is there a special recipe (which means more than just the ingredients) that you would be willing to share with us?

I love this pear and chocolate cake. It’s not exactly one of the most traditional desserts (Tuscans don’t have much of a sweet tooth so this is a newcomer compared to some of the other sweet recipes in the cookbook which are much more rustic), but it is certainly a popular combination that you’ll find in elegant pastry shops. This recipe I particularly love because the base of the cake — the crisp-edged, fudgy, dark chocolate cake — is inspired by one of my all-time favourite cake recipes, a flourless chocolate cake of Elizabeth David’s. I have always been a fan of the pear and chocolate combination, so one day it just seemed quite perfect to simply push some still-firm poached pears into the cake, which help cut the richness of the dark chocolate. I discovered Elizabeth David’s books late; well after I had started my blog and once I found her, I couldn’t get enough. She wrote about Italy in the 50s and most of what she talks about is still spot on and totally relevant today. Her recipes are always unforgivably authentic and to say her writing has been an inspiration is an understatement. They’re the sort of cookbooks I take on holiday to read like novels.

Torta di Pera e Cioccolato (Pear and Chocolate Cake)

For the poached pears:

50 grams sugar

500 ml water

2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into 8

For the cake:

150 grams dark chocolate
90 grams unsalted butter, cubed
90 grams caster sugar
90 grams almond meal
3 eggs, separated

butter for greasing
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder for dusting
icing sugar, optional

To poach the pears, combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and set over a medium heat. When boiling, poach the pear slices for 10-15 minutes or until tender but not too soft (a knife should easily penetrate the flesh without any resistance). Drain and let the pear cool.

Melt the chocolate over a double broiler. When melted, remove from heat, add butter and stir until the butter has melted. Add the sugar, almond meal, stirring to combine. When the mixture is cool, add the egg yolks.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 22cm cake tin with butter and dust with cocoa powder, tipping out any excess.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to peaks, then fold in to the chocolate batter. Pour into the prepared tin. Arrange the pear slices on the top of the batter, pushing them slightly in. Bake at 180ºC for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

When cool, remove cake from cake tin and dust liberally with icing sugar, if desired. Place on a plate and serve in modest slices – this is a rather rich cake.

This recipe is an edited extract from Florentine by Emiko Davies published by Hardie Grant Books. Food photography by Lauren Bamford, author portraits by Hana Davies and Lenny Pellico, location photography by Emiko Davies.

Belinda Jeffery

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Belinda Jeffery is my cooking hero and has become a beautiful mentor, despite the fact we have yet to meet in person (we shall soon!). Her warmth, authenticity and generosity of spirit is palpable even through the screens of social media, and you can’t help but want to reach out and give her a big, great hug. I know I do!

She’s the author of too many award-winning cookbooks to count (my personal favourite ‘Mix and Bake‘ is a MUST for any baker!), and she regularly contributes to print magazines such as Delicious and the like. She also adds chef, cafe proprietor, TV food presenter, radio personality and cooking teacher to her big bag of talents. Yep, you may recognise Belinda from her telly days as the cook on ‘Better Homes and Gardens’.

She is one powerhouse lady, but yet remains humble and dedicated to the simple acts of cooking hearty, wholesome food and sharing it with others.

Please outstretch a hand (or basket of figs?!) to Belinda and say hello…oh and make sure to try her to-die-for ‘Blueberry Crumble Cake’ recipe below, it’s on my ‘to bake’ list for this weekend!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you spend your days?

I grew up on the northern beaches of Sydney, so I’m a bit of a surfie chick at heart! Much of my childhood was spent in, on and around the sea, and I find it hard to be far from it for too long. I swim most days in summer, and in winter we take long walks on the beach – for me, there is just something about the ocean that restores body and spirit like nothing else.

My love of cooking began with my mum. She was a really good home cook – nothing fancy, but food that was always fresh and full of flavour – and remember as a little girl insisting that I ‘help’ her cook. There was just something about the whole process that I loved. I would stand on a stool beside her, and make my version of whatever it was she was cooking. Thank heavens she was incredibly patient, as I’m sure everything took twice as long when I insisted on taking part!

In my teens, mum went to cooking classes, which at that time was quite an unusual thing to do, and for us it opened up a world of food that we had never experienced before, and which was truly wonderful. However, that said, it was never just about cooking; from ever since I can remember there were always lots of people sharing our table. Our friends were always welcome, and somehow mum seemed to effortlessly cope with this. I think for me that was the final hook, for I not only loved cooking, but I loved the way it brought people together to talk and laugh and tell stories, and to this day, there is nothing I would rather do than break bread around a table with friends and loved ones.

How my days are spent…

How my day pans out depends on where I’m at in my cycle of writing, photographing and teaching. I must admit, I do love the times when I have quiet days of cooking and fiddling about with recipes. I usually cook in the mornings, then in the afternoon try and decipher the zillions of notes I have made!

When we’re shooting a book, for weeks on end our rather small house is turned upside down into a studio. Rodney Weidland, my dear friend and photographer, stays with us and the two of us muddle along in our rather eccentric way until the book is done. There are trestles and tables piled with props everywhere (including our dining table so all three of us are forced to huddle at one end to eat!). Backgrounds lean against doors, cameras and lens get lost and found constantly, and I cook…a lot! My very patient husband helps out with the mountains of washing up that ensues, and also learns to deal with a fridge full of food with stickers on it saying ‘don’t eat this, or I might have to kill you!’.

Teaching is a totally different kettle of fish. More often than not, I teach away from home, so I can be travelling, working out the ins and outs of a kitchen I’ve never cooked in before, meeting new people, and discovering different produce. It’s the other side of the coin to the more solitary work of writing.

2. What inspired you to start making a living from cooking? How did your first cookbook come about?

From when I was very young I would say to my mum that “When I grow up, I’m going to be a ‘cooka’ in the kitchen”. I can’t remember a time of not having this thought, so it was no surprise to anyone when in my early twenties I started working in restaurants.

My first cookbook came about when I had just finished doing six years on television as the Better Homes & Gardens cooking presenter. Even prior to deciding to leave television, Rodney and I had discussed working on a book, as we loved working together and it was something that was close to both our hearts, so when I did finally leave – and knowing I wouldn’t find the transition easy – it was a natural thing to do.

In fact, we were both absolutely clueless when it came to publishing, and went about it all the wrong way, so it was more by luck than judgement that my first book was taken up by my wonderful publisher of many years now, Julie Gibbs. I had basically written the book, and we had shot it, without really thinking if anybody may be interested! Thank goodness Julie was!

3. Who/what inspires your love of seasonal cooking and/or where do you look for inspiration with every successive book?

For the last 14 years we have lived on the beautiful far north coast of NSW and have access all year around to fantastic local produce. We are blessed to have four farmers markets a week within 20 minutes drive of home, and each week I find myself at one, two, or even three of those markets. I love everything about them – the just-picked beauty and vivid flavours of the produce, and the wonderful farmers, cheesemakers, butchers, artisan bakers, pasta makers, and cooks, who are there every week come rain or shine with a welcoming smile, a story, a recipe, a laugh to be had, and, more often than not, a treat to be tasted.

We have known many of these hardworking people for years now, and I respect them so much, and I’m always inspired by what they do. With all of this, I have a constant cauldron of ideas bubbling away in my head!

4. Current food or ingredient ‘love’?

I’m afraid I’m rather fickle, as my current ingredient ‘love’ is a constantly changing thing depending on whatever happens to be in season. Right now, I can’t get enough mangoes, white nectarines, and beautiful jammy little green figs. I find I use lots of harissa at present, and tarragon (always tarragon) as it grows like a weed here.

5. Do you have a special recipe you can share with us? What is the story behind it?

I’m descended from a long line of home bakers and dessert makers. My strongest memories are of my mum enveloped in a cloud of flour, as she whipped up a cake or batch of biscuits to refill our rather battered old aluminium cake tin.

Actually, this tin seemed magical to me as it was never empty – just as that last morsel of cake was removed, another would appear! The cakes weren’t fancy, more often than not there would be a simple buttery teacake topped with sliced apples and cinnamon, or a pound cake studded with mulberries we had picked from the tree down the road. And these are the cakes that I love to this day, their warm cinnamon-y fragrance immediately takes me back to my childhood and special times baking with my mum.

This leads me to my Blueberry Crumble ‘Cake’.

I must admit that I’m not too sure whether I should be calling this recipe a pudding, a cake, or a slice, as it pretty much fits into all three categories! Maybe I should just say that it’s very scrumptious and works equally well as a dessert, or as something to have with a cup of tea or coffee. It’s a lovely combination of gently spicy cake, slightly sharp berries, and the crunchy topping is completely irresistible.

It’s a straightforward cake, homely and comforting in all the best possible ways, and although I’ve made it with other berries (blackberries are very good too) I feel it’s at its best when it’s full to bursting with these dusky blueberries.

Blueberry Crumble ‘Cake’

Serves 6-8.

240g plain flour

½ cup (120g) caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

100g cold unsalted butter, in small (approx. 1cm) chunks

1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra

20g cold unsalted butter, extra, in tiny cubes,

1 extra-large egg (about 70g)

½ cup (125ml) sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Icing sugar, for dusting

Softly whipped cream, thick Greek-style yoghurt, or good quality vanilla bean ice cream, to serve

Method

Preheat your oven to 175C. Butter a 20cm square cake tin, line the base with buttered baking paper, then dust the tin with flour. Set the tin aside.

Tip the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Whiz them together for 15 seconds until they’re thoroughly combined. Now add the butter, and pulse it in until the mixture resembles fine-ish breadcrumbs.

Scoop 1½ cups of the crumb mixture into a bowl (this is for the crumble topping). Stir the extra tablespoon of caster sugar into this, then scatter the extra 20g of cold butter over the top and use your fingers to lightly rub it into the flour mixture. What you’re after is a mixture of big and little crumbs. When it’s done, cover the crumble and pop it in the fridge.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg lightly, then add the sour cream and vanilla and whisk until they’re well combined. Tip the flour mixture left in the processor into the egg mixture, and stir them together. Now, gently but thoroughly mix in the blueberries – the batter will be quite stiff. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin, then carefully spread it out as best you can, trying not to squash the berries – it’s a bit awkward to do this as the batter is thick, but it does spread, promise! Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the top, then shake the tin gently to settle it.

Pop the tin in the oven and bake the cake for 55-60 minutes, or until the top is pale golden and a fine skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. It puffs up a bit, but sinks as it cools.

When the cake is ready, transfer it to a wire rack and leave it to cool in the tin. After 20 minutes carefully run a fine palette knife, or blunt knife, around the sides of the tin to loosen the cake. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper over the tin (this helps stop damaging the top when you flip the cake over) then sit a flat plate on top of this. Carefully invert the cake, then gently remove the tin and lining paper. Now sit a serving plate on the cake and invert it again so the cake is crumble-side up (the first time I did this I flipped it a little too enthusiastically and ended up with crumble mixture all over the kitchen, so I’ve learned to be a bit more circumspect now!).

Although you could eat the cake straight away as a pudding, I think the flavour is best when it’s barely warm or at room temperature. When you’re ready to serve it, just dust the top lightly with icing sugar and serve it with softly whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

P.S. This is probably best eaten on the day it’s made, however on the odd occasion I’ve had leftover cake, I’ve stored it in the fridge and brought it back to room temperature or warmed it gently to eat the following day, and it was still very good, if a bit firmer – it actually freezes well for a few weeks too.

Have a peak at all of Belinda’s books and read more about journey here.

Martyna Angell

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She is the cookbook author, recipe developer, blogger, stylist, photographer and brains behind The Wholesome Cook blog – she is none other than Martyna Angell (or simply ‘Marty’ to many!). Phew! I need to take a breath.

Yep. She’s most certainly one very talented and creative lady to whom I’m lucky enough to call a ‘real-life’ foodie friend…AND she’s also just released her debut cookbook, ‘The Wholesome Cook‘. Kicking goals lady!

Although, we should here-forth refer to it as a cooking ‘bible’, as it’s a one-stop-shop kind of book that will teach you everything from making your own sourdough bread and yoghurt from scratch…to icing and assembling a three-tiered, gold leaf covered, fairy bread flavoured layer cake! Okay, I am kidding about that last bit (it’s late and I am delirious), but you get my drift…the book covers every meal, every occasion PLUS a whole load of tutorial-style basics recipes too (the BASICS chapter is actually ridiculously comprehensive, and by far my favourite section!)

Marty’s approach to food and life is rooted in a deep sense of balance…and could be summarised as ‘mostly sensible with a little bit of decadence here and there, BUT always tasty and delicious nonetheless’! I LOVE THAT and it’s one of the reasons that attracted me to The Wholesome Cook all those years ago.

Today we are going down the decadent route (the sweet tooth in me is Toyota-jumping!) as she shares with us a wicked recipe for a Chocolate Rocher Cake, which reminds her of her childhood and all things festive fare. Get your drool bibs ready people.

Read on for the recipe and more…

Photos above by Michele Froidevaux.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you spend your days?

I was born and raised in Poland. I grew up in and around Warsaw – the capital, but despite living in the city, real food was always a part of my upbringing, my mum was, and still is, a creative whole food cook that instilled in me the love of cooking and eating seasonally. Food has always been my true passion – the blog, the almost natural interest in food styling and photography followed suit as the creative aspect of what I do now. The book is no different.

My days? Each day is like no other before it, I love that about working for myself. They do seem fragmented sometimes, as anyone who wears many hats will attest to – as an author, blogger, stylist, columnist, photographer, busy step-mum with two almost-teen kids, a husband, a full-of-beans-doglet, as well as the primary grocery shopper, cook, chauffeur and laundry lady – I’m seldom bored!

My days are busy – sometimes I write, sometimes I shoot for clients, other days I stay up night-owling, editing photos, into the wee hours of the morning. I have no real set schedule, except for Fridays… On Fridays I try to get on top of my emails. Sure, my days might seem a little crazy but I find what I do utterly satisfying, fun and always varied.

PS. For a while I didn’t mind doing some work on the weekends, but I found that despite the fact I love what I do, I needed some space. Time off to clear my head, to read, to go outside and enjoy simple moments with my family so that’s what I tend to do now. I think being self-employed carries a lot of reward, but the risk of over-committing and neglecting the other important things in life is the price I am no longer willing to pay.

2. What does food mean to you? What’s your food philosophy?

Cooking real food from scratch has always been a big part of my upbringing – it was an integral part of any celebration, family gatherings and the everyday life. It was seasonal, homemade, and eating leftovers for lunch was the norm. The focus on eating real food that’s best for our bodies, with an occasional indulgence, is a philosophy I’ve adopted after completing studies with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, New York, two years ago. It’s also a philosophy I now live with my family, and share in The Wholesome Cook book. My approach to a healthy and balanced diet is exactly that.

I also like the flexibility of the 90/10 rule for eating well 90 percent of the time – avoiding additives, preservatives and excess sugar, and indulging a little. This allows for an occasional indulgence – whether it’s chocolate cake at a party, ice cream after a hot day or enjoying some savouries, like crisps, when you really feel like it or fish and hot chips at the beach.

3. Who/what inspires your love of food and cooking?

Since we try to eat a meat-less meal 2-3 times a week, I am always inspired by vegetarian chefs, bloggers and cooks. I absolutely adore how Yotam Ottolenghi has elevated vegetables to a whole new level and have a lot of respect for Emma Galloway for her gluten-free vegetarian recipes, which are incredible. I’ve also loved connecting with Belinda Jeffery on Instagram, she is such a beautiful person and wonderful seasonal cook providing plenty of inspiration.

I am also inspired by my mum who instilled in me the passion for cooking from scratch and experimenting with food outside of my own cuisine, with my likes and with ingredients. She used to cook Chinese-style dishes from scratch from travel stories and descriptions my told from his travels to China. And they were so good, once she was asked for her cashew chicken recipe by our Chinese guests!

Now, watching my own family actively seeking to be in the kitchen, helping out and experimenting with their own cooking skills and flavours, and being open to trying new things when we travel, is so rewarding. It inspires me even more to keep tasting, cooking and loving all things food.

4. Current food or ingredient ‘love’?

Sea bass. On our recent trip to Italy and France I fell in love, head over heels, fork, knife and all, for sea bass. No amount of this beautiful, flakey fish was able to satisfy my appetite for it completely, even though most days I had the whole fish twice a day. So far I’ve found that the texture and flavour of Barramundi is the closest equivalent here in Australia. I also can’t get enough of omega-3 rich mackerel – it is such an underrated fish because everyone is too busy raving about sardines.

Don’t worry, I’m not all about fish. I also love dill pickles and share that recipe in the book, raw almonds – soaked in water overnight they become plum and young again, green coconuts – especially the flesh which makes a wonderful yogo-style dessert (that’s in the book) and turmeric. Oh, and chipotle on anything!

5. Do you have a special recipe you can share with us? What is the story behind it?

Yes! The Chocolate and Rocher Icing Cake from the book.

If you’re after quite an indulgent cake this recipe combines a moist chocolate cake and an irresistibly good rocher-like chocolate and hazelnut butter frosting. A perfect celebration cake and one to impress your dinner quests with. The frosting doubles as, you guessed it, nutella!

I think the Rocher Cake is one of my favourites because whole-hazelnut chocolate was always part of our Christmas celebrations when I was a child. Every bit evokes such wonderful and warm memories.

Now, we make the cake for most family celebrations…and for neighbours in the form of these cute-as-a-button baked donuts. So versatile!

Chocolate and Rocher Icing Cake

Serves 10-12.

1 cup water

1⁄2 cup unrefined demerara sugar or granulated stevia

1⁄2 cup rice malt syrup or honey

120g butter, chopped, or 100g coconut oil

3 tablespoons raw cacao powder

3⁄4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons vanilla powder or natural vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup wholemeal plain flour or teff flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

For the icing

1⁄2 cup hazelnut butter (there’s a recipe for it in the book as well!)

40g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate or dairy-free chocolate, roughly chopped and melted

10 extra hazelnuts, chopped

1 ice cream waffle cone or gluten-free ice cream cone, crushed finely, OR 2 tablespoons buckinis

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 22cm spring-form cake tin with baking paper.

Place water, sugar or stevia, rice malt syrup or honey, butter or coconut oil, cacao powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large saucepan over low heat. Heat, stirring, until butter melts. Increase heat to medium and bring to a simmer – the mixture will rise and double in size. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, add vanilla and whisk in eggs. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and add to egg mixture, whisking until just combined. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and allow to cool in the tin.

To prepare the icing, combine hazelnut butter with melted chocolate and half of the crushed waffle cone or buckinis. Mix well. Scoop the icing onto the cooled cake, spread gently over the top and top with hazelnuts and crushed waffle cone or buckinis before serving.

Store cake in the fridge, covered, for up to 7 days. You can freeze any remaining slices for up to 1 month.

Recipe reprinted with permission from The Wholesome Cook book (Harlequin, 2015).

Sarah Coates

Casey Pringle

Lara Miller

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When I first met Lara, in person, I was overcome by her sincere warmth and positivity. She’s a go-getter with wandering feet and an impeccable eye for detail. We hit it off over almond milk hot chocolate and stories of the English countryside, the rest as they say is history. Do yourself a favour and check our Lara’s incredible photography over on her Instagram @lovewalkeatsee after you read her beautiful story below.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you spend your days? How did the @lovewalkeatsee journey start?

I am a resilient optimist who believes in hugs, giggles, family & friends, food, simplicity and being kind to oneself.

Fifteen years ago I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that continues to take more of my sight each year. At this point in our lives, my husband and I have put exploring as an even higher priority in an effort to see as much as we can, while I can. Our longest holiday yet was a 6 ½ month sabbatical to Europe and the UK in winter 2014/2015. I decided to use Instagram as the platform to share our daily snippets with family and friends. My account name represents the way I live my life – Love my people; Walk to discover the smaller details of a place; Eat to experience it via other senses; and photography or pausing to appreciate whatever it is that I do See. In Rome we went on our very first Instameet with some people who convinced me to switch my account from private to public. From that tipping point we experienced an incredible domino effect of meeting the most interesting, kind and talented people who added such depth and affection to our travels. There is not a week that goes by where I don’t pause and ponder the special people who have come into my life through Instagram and our adventures. I feel enveloped by these communities and I love to cheer on others as they chase their goals and dreams.

What does food mean to you? What is your food philosophy?

I always enjoyed food, but it was also just a “fuel” for the body. Recently, with my husband also sharing my renewed interest, food provides a strong reference point to our travels, triggering vivid memories and interesting conversations around the stories and processes behind our meals. Food is not only a great thing to form and strengthen relationships around, or gain nutrition and joy, to me it is a way to connect intimately with a destination. We spent seven weeks in Italy, doing photography, hiking, and cooking with the freshest produce we’ve ever tasted – sometimes grown in the very land we walked through! That close connection to the origin of our sustenance and seeing the strong hands of the farmers who grew it was really precious. It also deepened my desire to seek and support the local producers wherever I am. I want these small businesses operated by passionate families to thrive!

Who/what inspires your love of travel, food and of course furry animals?

My love of long lunches and Italian food started in my teens on glorious dates with my mum! My husband is my teammate and I treasure experiencing the ordinary and extraordinary moments with him. Our partnership and the knowledge that I am losing my sight drives us to keep learning, experiencing and growing. Our ideal travel days involve walking without a set time or destination – with pit stops for good food, conversation and photography.

Oh furry animals! I just adore finding a connection with them – I stood in a field in England cuddling a chocolate brown alpaca who snuggled under my chin for the longest time. In Switzerland I bonded with the father sheep who closed his eyes in bliss whenever I massaged his head or gently pulled hay off his face. And discovering funny quirks about dogs we met in Italian towns always made me laugh. These interactions add more giggles and depth to my experience of a place.

Current food or ingredient ‘love’ OR favourite foodie destination/meal you have come across in your travels?

How do I choose? What a delightful problem to have! From the simplest to the grandest meals, they all make me giddy with contentment. Sharing chocolate in a couples’ remote cabin home in the Swiss Alps after we stumbled upon it on a long hike. Sipping rooibos tea in our South African glamping safari tent with vervet monkeys waiting for me to turn my back on them – only to steal the sugar! Walking into our favourite Rome discovery and asking the owner to make us whatever he felt like – we could taste the love in his creations. Devouring Swedish meatballs and lingonberries in Stockholm’s oldest restaurant. Any coffee shop that felt like our local while we stayed in that particular city. The degustation at Story Restaurant in London – the surprises and the stories behind the ingredients had us happily chairbound for 5 oh-too-short hours! Witnessing the hard conditions that farmers face and being so grateful for their perseverance. Picking olives in Tuscany alongside an Italian nonna with whom I shared no English but we found a common bond that left us tearful when we said goodbye a week later.

Can you share with us a special recipe? What’s the story behind it?

A few years ago my husband and I were talking about my desire to expand my cooking skills and continue to come together over food with our loved ones as life pulled us all apart in different directions. We decided that I would set out to make every single recipe in a book so that they could enjoy more feasts around our table. I chose Donna Hay’s Fast, Fresh, Simple and threw myself into the challenge. Those 163 recipes not only brought precious times but a better understanding of flavour combinations and the desired confidence boost. I definitely lean more towards savoury dishes, so the huge number of desserts was a new world for me. The perfection is in the bringing together of loved ones, not necessarily my baking!

To give it a personal touch and a different flavour pairing, I served this pudding with cardamom ice-cream, a sprinkle of cardamom seeds and some orange rind.

A tasty simple recipe if, like us, you are living nomadically and cooking in different kitchens!

I used one big dish and it didn’t set as well as it would have in four single serve bowls – oops!

Australian lemons, mandarins and navel oranges are in season in winter, so perhaps either of these fruits would take your fancy for substitution.

Baked Whole Lemon Pudding by Donna Hay

30g butter

1 thin skinned lemon

1.5 cups / 330g caster sugar

0.75 cup/180ml pouring cream

3 egg yolks

2 Tbsp. cornflour

My optional twist: cardamom ice-cream, cardamom seeds, orange or lemon rind

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Melt the butter. Chop the lemon into wedges and remove all the seeds. Place into the food processor with the caster sugar and blend until there are no lemon chunks and well combined. Add cream, eggs, cornflour and melted butter and process again until smooth. Grease 4 pudding bowls and pour. Bake for approximately 22 minutes until set.

You can find Lara over on Instagram and if you are keen to indulge in more of her beautiful photography – she has self-published a beautiful hard copy book full of breathtaking photos from her travels. Find it here!

*All photos by Lara Miller