Wild blackberries : recipes and memories from a New Zealand table / Rosie Belton ; foreword by Margaret Mahy.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Childhood down-under -- The times, they are a changin' -- Idealism is in the air -- Self-sufficiency and the daily grind -- Living in Australia -- The return home -- First taste of Europe -- A taste of Italy at home -- Flavours of the Pacific -- Hungry for life -- Turkish delights -- Travel at all costs -- Jam -- Cora Lynn -- Winter and summer solstice -- Celebration -- Grandchildren arrive -- Forestry tour and a long lunch -- A new millennium -- Fish and forest -- Morocco bound -- At home with friends -- Beef, beef, glorious beef -- The art of cooking -- Fungi fever -- Autumn harvest at Ribbonwood -- Comfort food -- En Provence -- Going gastronomique -- Return to Paris -- Keeping it simple -- It's nearly Christmas -- Fruit de la mer -- Sheer delight -- When all else fails, cook -- Basic esentials -- Rosie's reading list.

The preparation of food, the smells and tastes and textures, have accompanied me throughout the journeys of my life. In fact looking back the food memories have become the marker posts - defining boundaries in the years, demarcating the challenges and the changes...'In times of joy, food has enhanced the celebration, in times of sadness, it has coloured and comforted. And in times of anxiety and emptiness its preparation has given rhythm and meaning to the day, and its offering to others continues to bring a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment...'When all else fails - cook!''. In Wild Blackberries Rosie Belton has written not only her own story but also a social history of food in New Zealand. Decade by decade, era by era, she looks at what we ate, and how that food defined us.