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An interview with Carter Were
All Nice Things Are Good For You
We spoke to Carter Were about food, cooking with kids, and a holistic look at nourishment.
Your cooking is wonderfully whole and nourishing in the most rounded, simple and uncomplicated way. It doesn’t seem to have any sense of restriction or exclusion, which is refreshing in a world where these things are hard to avoid.
What is your food philosophy, and what has shaped it?
I don’t think I really have a food philosophy. I just love good, simple food and I don’t like restricting myself or my family from eating things. We eat everything! Butter, bread, pasta, vegetables, meat and cake. I think if you cook mostly from scratch with good ingredients you don’t need to think about it too much.
Going to Greece for the first time when I was 19 definitely changed the way I thought about food. I couldn’t believe how something so simple could taste so good. Most restaurants serve a variation of the same dishes, and lemon, olive oil and salt can make great produce even more delicious. I think I’ve cooked that way ever since.
Carter’s Cookbook 3 is simply written and designed for cooking with kids, which is a really special concept. What do you think kids gain from being involved in cooking?
I think kids gain so much from cooking, but I also don’t think it needs to be turned into a lesson every time.
My kids like being involved because it’s fun and they get to make something and then eat it.
They learn where their food comes from, how ingredients change when you cook them and how to make things for themselves without really realising they’re learning. It can also be chaotic and they make a huge mess, so I don’t cook with them all the time and enjoy being alone in the kitchen too.
"I don’t think I really have a food philosophy. I just love good, simple food"
What does nourishment mean to you beyond food?
For me it’s probably being around the people I love. Having friends over, being outside, swimming, travelling, making things and having time where there isn’t too much planned.
I love the Moomin books by Tove Jansson, and there’s a quote from Moominmamma that I always think about: “All nice things are good for you.” I think that sums up what nourishment means to me better than I could.
"Eating somewhere you’ve never been before and talking to people you don’t know is a good reminder that there’s a whole world happening outside of your phone."
A lot of us live so much of our lives online. Do you find cooking and growing food make you feel more grounded? How else do you keep yourself rooted in the real world whilst also balancing an online presence
Yes it does although I don’t consciously cook or garden to feel grounded. They’re just things I enjoy doing and have been part of my life for a while now.
I actually find having an online presence quite strange sometimes because it’s such a small part of my real life, even though from the outside it might look like a big part of it. I have three kids, a garden, animals, a house we’re always working on or a project, exercise, friends and family, so there’s generally something in front of me that needs doing!
I also love travelling and getting away. I think being somewhere different, walking around, eating somewhere you’ve never been before and talking to people you don’t know is a good reminder that there’s a whole world happening outside of your phone.
Passion Fruit Cake Recipe (makes 1 cake)
For the passion fruit syrup:
Passionfruit, 8
Sugar, 3/4 cup
Water 1/4 cup
For the cake:
Sugar, 1 cup
Eggs, 3
Butter, 100g melted
Greek yoghurt, 1 cup
Olive oil, 1/4 cup
Fine polenta, 1/2 cup
Salt, pinch
Flour, 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder, 2 1/2 tsp
Heat the oven to 160C with a fan or 180C without and line and grease a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
Scoop the passionfruit pulp from the passionfruits and combine it with sugar and water in a small pot. Bring it to the boil and simmer for five minutes, then set aside to cool while you prepare the cake.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. This should take about five minutes. You can use a cake mixer for this, but if you’re whisking by hand, it might take a bit longer. This step is important for creating a light cake.
Add the melted butter, yoghurt and olive oil to the bowl and whisk until combined.
Next, add the fine polenta and a pinch of salt to the same bowl. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture and fold them in until just combined. Then, pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
Bake the cake for 35 minutes or until a sharp knife comes out clean. Once baked, leave the cake in the tin and prick the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork.
Pour the passionfruit syrup over the cake and leave it to cool in the tin before serving with fresh cream or crème fraiche.
