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constitutional chef With 96 years of trial and error behind her Auckland foodie, Natalie Oldfield has found the recipe for success WHAT CONSTITUTES A CHEF? With no formal training and over a decade of experience in hospitality Natalie Oldfield's love of food and people – a bug caught from her grandmother – keeps her sharing recipes simple enough for anyone to try. Sifting through nearly a century of collected cookbooks, handwritten notes and trialled scribbles Natalie's latest book, Dulcie May Kitchen: Everyday is a visual celebration of everyday, fuss-free dishes with a modern twist. Natalie's family has always been prize foodies – but none more so than the family matriarch, Dulcie May Booker. Born in 1913, Dulcie lived all her 96 years in Weymouth, Auckland where she became a local star and inspiration. "She never sold a thing she made," her 13th grandchild tells. "Things were always made to give away. About a year before she passed she was still making jams because she got tremendous satisfaction from giving. She had a lot happen in her life so was someone who could grasp that others need some kindness in their day too. She never kept a lot of things for herself – she had such a giving heart – she gave to others for them to be able to have the things they wanted." First donning an apron as a child on her family's coal range, Dulcie became an active member of the Weymouth Country Women's Institute from age 18; earning notoriety for her prize-winning scones. With the help of husband, Fred (or 'Pop' to those closest) she raised four children, as well as owning a fish shop and tending a prize garden. "My gran was never a meat and three 'veg' type person. She'd have lunch or dinner, which might be a roast or cold meats, but they'd always be coleslaw, tomato/cucumber salads then you'd have your bottled beetroot or grated carrots. It would be all on the table. She'd never make just a sandwich. It would always be a variety of what was happening in the garden. It's these things that have made my childhood what I loved." Fred was a fisherman, and on stormy days when he couldn't go out to sea Dulcie sewed wedding dresses while Fred looked after the children. At harvest time Dulcie stayed up all night bottling fruit; a talent her offspring perpetually envied. "We'd say to her 'Oh Gran, we're so tired'," Natalie tells. "She'd ask what we'd been doing and when we told her she'd start retelling the days when she'd stay up until 4.00 a.m. bottling fruit, and then get up at 6.00 a.m. to start the day. I understand we have different issues today but I think their lives would have been just as busy. The demands were different but the strain on time was much the same. But she still found the time to bottle fruit to perfection. She wasn't rough, she treated the food like it was special. These days we think it's such a hassle and rush through it. "Her tiny kitchen was always so busy. My strongest memories weren't the one-on-one www.hermagazine.co.nz | 103