Amanda Laird: Mother's lessons last a lifetime

Amanda Laird has been sharing food for many years now, not only at her cafe, Red Ruby, but through the weekly Viva magazine in the New Zealand Herald. She says being a cook is a life-long journey and offers the following tip to wannabe cooks: investigate your local suppliers, asks questions and be nosy. I asked Amanda a few nosy questions of our own:

WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF FOOD?

I used to spend school holidays with Grandma and she would make tiny fried cheese sandwiches in a little butter, the smell was so delicious. Also she would tuck me into bed and read me a story while I would eat slices of cold Granny Smith apples. Thirty-five years later, Granny Smiths are always in the fridge at our house.

WHO WAS THE MAJOR INFLUENCE IN YOUR LOVE OF COOKING?

Jenny, my mother. Always experimenting, always growing herbs, fruit and vegetables regardless of the space available, always trying to make the most nutritious food, always shopping at farmers' markets and always encouraging her children and grandchildren in the kitchen.

DO YOUR CHILDREN FOLLOW IN MUM'S FOOTSTEPS?

My children love food and ask questions about how and where ingredients come from. Fighting convenience foods can be rather challenging especially when I am short of time. Si'alei, who is 2, was very keen to help Dad whisk eggs for an omelette last night - very encouraging.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DISH?

Very hard to choose ... it would either be a Vietnamese chicken salad with plenty of crushed peanuts and Vietnamese mint, or lamb neck chops cooked slowly in milk with fresh bay leaves and whole garlic cloves, soft enough to only need a spoon and some delicious crusty bread to soak up the juices - or, on a chilly Sunday night, bring me a perfectly creamy macaroni cheese with bacon, mustard, onions and freshly made breadcrumb topping with a little parsley and paprika - happy indeed!

AT RESTAURANTS WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO EAT?

It is a rare treat with children to go out for dinner but when I get the chance, I order a dish I have no idea how to cook. I want to be swept away by the mystery of flavours I'm not familiar with.

IN THE COOKING WORLD, WHO DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?

Michael Meredith for bringing Pacific ingredients into such a sophisticated but comfortable environment; Stephanie Alexander for her knowledge; Peta Mathias for her sense of adventure, sauciness and fun involved in all she has to do with food.

WHAT INGREDIENT COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?

Just one? Very unfair question for a cook! Butter, lemons, tomatoes and garlic.

WHAT WERE ON SANDWICHES AT SCHOOL?

Not Marmite and chippies like my friends whom I envied! I had tinned salmon and lettuce which can be okay but not when the bones are left in for 'extra calcium'. One Christmas holidays I left my lunchbox under the bed so Mum didn't know ... oh lord, the smell when she found it! Surprising that I can still eat tinned salmon but meticulously pick out the bones first.

ARE THERE ANY FOODS YOU DON'T EAT?

Kidney and liver, the smell and texture make me gag, though if cooked for me I would give it a go.

WHAT IS YOUR SECRET INGREDIENT?

A little sugar, a little salt, a little butter.

AND YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?

Cream cheese.

IF NOT COOKING WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO?

Reading, walking, movies, gardening or fossicking through markets.

IF YOU WERE THE GOVERNMENT'S MINISTER OF FOOD WHAT WOULD BE YOUR FIRST RULING?

Ban fizzy drinks, foods with palm oil and ensure all meat is free range - hah, if only!

WHAT NEW ZEALAND INGREDIENTS ARE TOP OF YOUR LIST?

All kai moana, indigenous herbs, Goat and buffalo cheeses, free-range pork.

NAME TWO THINGS PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW OR BE SURPRISED BY ...

Any spare time I spend in op shops and church shops finding crockery and old cooking implements; and no matter how good my baking can be, I cannot make a decent brownie - now I leave it up to my younger brother.