03 Magazine: September 01, 2023

Feature | Magazine 31
“She knows the
appeal of her
cooking is because
it’s easy and homely
and in her words, ‘is
never pretty’.”
And her curried mince is inspired by one of her Kiwi Insta
friends who lives in Australia and works in the live animal
export trade.
“She’s a big advocate for the stock’s wellbeing, she
shows people behind the scenes, and that it’s not as bad as
everyone thinks.”
When this woman isn’t on the live export boats, she’s
cooking for farm staff, and she once reached out to Philippa
from a station in Northern Queensland where she was
making a big pot of eighties curried mince.
“She contacted me and said ‘I have cried so much today,
the smell reminds me so much of my mum’. Her mum has
Alzheimer’s disease. She said ‘I remember my dad and all his
workmates sitting down after mum had been cooking away
all day’.”
Philippa also says the photography is a huge part of the
appeal of the book and she’s at pains to point out the talent
and warmth of the photographer, Lottie Hedley. Pip says
she is an inspiring and incredibly talented photographer to
work with.
“We really work well together and I think part of the
reason the book is such a success is because of the gorgeous
photographs. People will find something in this book they love
whether it’s the stories, the recipes or the photographs.”
Lottie is Raglan-based but Philippa remembers suggesting
she come down to photograph the autumn muster.
“You know, to get some good shots of cooking on a coal
range and the boys, the hills, the romance. She arrived and
I said, ‘So, we’re going out here, there’s no cell reception,
there’s no toilet and we won’t be back for five days’ and she
took it like a bloody champ and said, ‘yep let’s go!’”
Philippa feels proud of what she’s achieved and she’s
thoroughly enjoying it.
“If it’s able to bring a positive light to farming then that’s
pretty cool. And if it’s helping bring people in a similar
situation to me to be successful, then that’s also really good.”