Author and cook Philippa Cameron lives on Otematata Station, a North Otago sheep and beef farm, with her husband and two young children.
As the station cook, Cameron plays a pivotal role in daily life on the farm. Her Instagram page, @whats_for_smoko, shares musings about remote high-country life and recipes that feed her family and farm workers. Her latest book, Winter Warmers, contains 70 recipes, along with stories about farm life.
Philippa Cameron, Joe, Evelyn and Flora Photo: Lottie Hedley
When Cameron spoke to Nine to Noon she had just sent seven packed lunches out of the door: “There was Belgium biscuits, some little coffee muffins, they had pork sandwiches and mousetraps.”
Cameron is a great believer in waste minimisation.
“You should be able to use leftovers in an inventive way to make a new meal," she says.
“In the book I've got how to make a large pot of potatoes, which I know most people might think is quite simple.
“But I've then got how to make a pastry for sausage rolls out of it, how to make a Sally Lunn cake… do you turn it into bubble and squeak for breakfast?
“So those are my favourite recipes, the ones that you can invent a new meal so that there's no food waste”
Philippa Cameron Photo: Lottie Hedley
She also swears by her magic pot AKA the multi-cooker.
"It's a pressure cooker, a multi-cooker... it reduces time and that's what I do love about it the most.
“I say in the book that my husband Joe never enjoyed corned beef or silverside because of terrible boarding school memories of being rubbery and awful, but he enjoys a bit of corned beef out of the magic pot because it just is beautiful when it falls apart.”
picnic Photo: Lottie Hedley
Cameron is lucky to have a freezer full of duck once the shooting season is over, she says, and a yellow curry is a good way of using it up.
"It's just a different way to use up duck, most people would just cook up the breasts and some people roast it until it turns into a dry, terrible mess.
“But this is a really nice way and it keeps moisture in the duck and I find that more people actually enjoy it and say gosh, I've never had duck like this before and it's a crowd winner.”
The spices dial down the gamey flavours too, she says.
Otematata Station in North Otago Photo: Lottie Hedley
Her crimble crumble is a another-crowd pleaser.
"There is a British comedy show called Friday Night Dinners and it's about two young guys that go home to their parents’ house for dinner every Friday night and the mum makes a famous crimble crumble and it's a like a family joke
“Now whenever I make crumble I find myself saying crimble crumble so that's how it got its name, but the best thing about this crumble Is it of course you can put it on top of any type of fruit.
“If fruit in your fruit bowl might be starting to lose its life or if you've got fruit trees or someone gives you a whole heap of feijoas, this is what you can make to go on top to make a really delicious dessert.”
Philippa Cameron, Evelyn and Flora Photo: Lottie Headley
The book also claims to have the best-ever pikelet recipe.
“I’ve been a long time searching for the perfect pikelet recipe. And for me, it has to be one that is light and airy. It's going to get a nice even texture around the whole pikelet. So this is the winning recipe, I think.
“It's got both baking soda and cream of tartar in it. And the warm milk is just to activate the baking soda and that, of course, makes a little bit lighter and fluffier.”
The recipe is robust enough to handle inexpert flipping, she says.
“Around here, it could be a six-year-old flipping the pikelets it could be me, so this is a good one. And it doesn't matter if they're sort of slapped down or flipped gently.”
Pikelets Photo: Charlotte Hedley www.lottiehedle
After her first book people got in touch with her to share their memories of working on the station and those stories have formed a basis for Winter Warmers, she says.
“When that book went out, I started receiving the most beautiful handwritten cards or letters, there were messages on the home phone, and they were all from people who had worked here over the years.
“And they all had a story, and they all had a wee moment. But one thing I found most of all, was that they all had a really strong connection to the station. And I wanted to put that in print.
“When they came to me for the second book and said, you know, we'll do more recipes, but we'd still like a story. I thought, well, actually, I think I already know what I want to write. I want to write about the people that that were here before us.”
