Emma Galloway on My Darling Lemon Thyme:Recipes from my Real Food Kitchen

Emma Galloway

Successful New Zealand food writer Emma Galloway learned to love fresh, healthy and delicious food growing up in a creative wholefood-loving family. Emma's passion shines through in her book, My Darling Lemon Thyme. I talked to Emma about food, life and her new book.

WHAT A FABULOUS TITLE FOR YOUR BOOK ... WHO CAME UP WITH IT? Thank you! The title is taken from my food blog, mydarlinglemonthyme.com, which I started back in 2010. It is actually my daughter, Ada, who should be thanked for the name, though. I used to call her "my darling Clementine" (after that funny little childhood song), but as she was only about 3 at the time, she got confused one day and called me my darling "lemon thyme". I started my food blog a couple of months later and the name seemed just too perfect not to use.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR UPBRINGING I grew up in the tiny surf town of Raglan on the west coast of the North Island. At a time when many families were buying their first microwave ovens and tucking into ready made meals, we were living an altogether different life. My family lived in a wooden house my Dad built, we collected rain water for drinking, grew our own fruit and vegetables and made things like yoghurt from freshly collected goat's milk from a farm at the end of the winding gravel road. My parents provided us with food as it's supposed to be - fresh from the earth to the kitchen, seasonal, nourishing and delicious. It is this philosophy that natural, whole food should also be flavoursome, fun and easy to prepare that I've carried through to my own little family's life, since we first learnt of our food intolerances.

WHO WAS YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN YOUR LOVE OF COOKING? My parents for sure. Seeing them grow the fruit and vegetables we ate, and watching Mum prepare the most beautiful vegetarian feasts out of the produce, is definitely what sparked my love of cooking. We were very blessed to always have beautiful food on our table. The time and energy my mother put into preparing nourishing food made from scratch is what drives me to do the same for my own two children.

DID YOU EVER WANT TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A CHEF? There was a brief moment during my last few years of high school where the plan was to go to art school, but I got a job working in a local cafe the summer before that last year at school ... and the cooking bug took hold! I have entertained the idea of studying Ayurvedic medicine on more than one occasion, too. One day I would like to learn more, even if only for my own personal growth.

WHAT LED YOU TO LOOK AT FOOD INTOLERANCES? It was suggested to me by my wonderful midwife after our daughter was born kicking and screaming in pain. I halfheartedly tried my best to eat gluten-free for a year or so, but it wasn't until our son arrived two years later, kicking and screaming, too, that I took things more seriously. We were all allergy tested and we completely cut out all gluten, dairy and cane sugar from our diets. After a few years of eating a very strict diet, we've successfully reintroduced a little dairy and unrefined sugars back into our diets.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL OF THE DAY? Breakfast. I'm usually starving as I wake up, so getting that first mouthful of food into my body is always a rather lovely experience. Also, it's the only meal of the day where it's totally acceptable to eat sweet or savoury, which is fun.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE RECIPE IN THIS BOOK? Quinoa crepes with orange maple syrup, nut porridge, kale slaw with honey mustard dressing, chewy cranberry, millet and pistachio bars, ginger kisses, dark chocolate coconut bites, banh xeo, chickpea, pumpkin and kale stew with chimichurri and quinoa, pizza with chilli greens, bocconcini and olive salsa, strawberry and Thai basil sorbet, chocolate chills, chocolate avocado tart, strawberry lemon thyme tarts with honey labneh, brown rice, millet and chia sourdough bread. You did say recipes, not recipe, right?

WHAT THREE INGREDIENTS COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT? Avocados, coconut and dark chocolate.

AND THREE NECESSARY PIECES OF EQUIPMENT? A sharp knife, a chopping board and a blender.

TELL US FIVE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SUPERFOODS. While I do use and adore many hyped-up "superfoods" such as chia, mesquite and quinoa, it's the humble, affordable ones such as berries, eggs, nuts, broccoli and home-made kefir that I really love. Not only are they cheap, but they are easily accessible to the average Joe (you can find milk or water kefir grains online, often for free) which I think is really important.

WHAT IS THE BEST AND EASIEST WAY FOR SOMEONE TO CHANGE THEIR LIFESTYLE TO HEALTHY? Eat real food. Buy local produce - or even better grow your own - and start cooking from scratch. No one is perfect but if we stopped eating so many processed foods and instead ate real foods like our grandparents did, I think we'd all live much happier, healthier lives.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU COOKED? Not that you can really call it "cooking", but my earliest memory of making something in the kitchen was when I prepared a huge bowl of salad to accompany our family meal. I was super proud!

TELL US THREE THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WOULD SURPRISE I'm nearly six feet tall, and have been since I was 11 years old. I could happily live in Vietnam. I ran my first kitchen at 18 yearsold.