If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may be able to tell that I’m a bit of a foodie. It’s not for nothing I have a whole section devoted to “Eating My Way Around… [insert latest and greatest destination here]”. But when it comes to my most memorable meals, well, best not to read this one hungry! 
I remember being very young and dancing along a white sand beach in the Cook Islands, wearing a favourite new flowery dress. On that trip, a family friend dished up ika mata – fresh fish he had caught off the reef that day, dressed in the milk of a coconut he’d chopped down that morning, with a zesty burst of lime. It was so simple and so delicious – it may be the start of my love affair with fresh seafood.
I remember drooling over this sumptuous pasta dish in Rome, red wine and wild boar combining in one perfect tangle on my plate. This unassuming restaurant that we’d stumbled upon by chance became the setting for a perfect night of great food, conversation, shared dreams and hilarity between old friends and new.
I remember being full to bursting after an outstanding Christmas pot-luck dinner, yet still being able to belly-laugh with friends. The different contributions from all may not have matched perfectly, but they all added up to one amazing Christmas dinner far from our New Zealand homes, yet celebrating our London home.
So what makes a truly memorable meal for me? Sure, it is definitely about the food – but it doesn’t have to be Michelin-starred (although I’ll never turn that down!). The people that I share a meal with are equally important in making it truly memorable to me.
