The Dialogue: Carter Were

30.26.2026

What's your first memory of cooking in the kitchen?

My sister, Harry, and I used to love making pikelets and cupcakes when we were little. My mum doesn’t really enjoy cooking, but one of her friends taught us how to make them. We must have been about nine or ten. I remember we had a blue kitchen with the stove right in the middle of the room. It’s funny, I can picture the kitchen almost more clearly than I can remember what we made.

You're innately creative, and it comes through in everything you make, from the food you cook to the objects you collect for your home to the clothes you sew for your children. How do you think that creative eye was honed during your childhood?

I think everyone is born creative! I grew up in Birkenhead, Auckland, and my parents are pretty straight. My mum is extremely artistic, but when she left school she studied teaching, and my dad is a computer engineer. I still don’t really know what that means.

When we were young, Mum was always cleaning the house and we basically had to play outside unless it was raining. Luckily, we became so close with our neighbours that eventually we put a hole in the hedge between our houses, so we were always outside in the garden, making things up and entertaining ourselves.

I’ve never studied anything and I didn’t really apply myself at school. I don’t know if my creative eye was ever consciously honed. I think it’s probably come more from following what interests me and doing what makes me happy, rather than what other people think I should be doing.

You live on a remote farm in Federal, Australia. How do you think living in the country has shaped the way you've raised your family?

It’s actually not so remote. I feel like living in the countryside in New Zealand can be remote, but here there are lots of young families and people around. Two minutes down the road we have an excellent Japanese cafe, a coffee roaster and cafe, and a general store that has pretty much everything we need.

I haven’t really thought about how living here has shaped the way I’ve raised my family, because my family came along very fast! It is a really special place to raise children, but not just because it’s beautiful. It’s the community here that I really enjoy, and we’ve made such great friends.

In saying that, I do miss living in the city. Living here can feel a bit like a bubble sometimes. I miss all the different cultures and people you come across in a city, and I miss my family, so we try to get away as much as we can too. I had a great childhood growing up in suburbia, so I don’t think children need to grow up in the countryside to have a wonderful childhood.

You've recently released your third cookbook. What have you learnt since your first one that's changed how you approach making each cookbook?

I don’t know if I’ve learnt how to make a cookbook better, but after each one I’ve had another child, and my sister now has two. For us, the cookbooks aren’t just books of recipes, they’re documents of different parts of our lives that involve a lot of cooking and a lot of little people.

We started making them because we wanted a project we could work on together, and something tangible we could keep forever and eventually pass on to our families. I think with each book I’ve realised more how special that is.

I’ve also learnt how hard it is to juggle children and work. I’m in awe of every parent who manages to do both!

What's your earliest memory of falling in love with clothes or objects?

I’ve loved clothes since I was about 11, when we started shopping at op shops. I loved finding things that nobody else had, and I think that’s probably where my love of clothes really started.

Objects came a bit later. I think once I had a family and started making a home, I became much more attached to the things we live with. I love finding old things that have already had a life, handmade things or interesting objects and slowly collecting things that mean something to us rather than buying everything at once.

How has becoming a mother changed the way you approach your work and creativity?

It hasn’t really changed the way I approach my work because my children have always been a part of it. When I left New Zealand, after having my own shop for a few years, I was single and free and had no plans or any idea what I was going to do next. I met my partner, Jack, while I was overseas, everything moved very fast, and I had a baby a year later and another a year later.

So I’ve really had to figure out how to be a mother and work at the same time. Being a mother has definitely inspired me and pushed me to be creative, but I have also needed to make an income! I think having children has probably made me more motivated to make a life where I can be creative and work while still being around them a lot.

What's the best piece of advice about taste that's stuck with you?

Even though my parents would have loved me to go to university, they never really pushed me to do anything. They probably learnt pretty quickly that when they did, I wouldn’t listen anyway. Haha.

When I left school, Harry and I were both working in hospitality at this huge seafood restaurant. We were washing dishes and the angry chefs would throw these giant hot pots at us. When we got a break, we’d stand out the back and watch the rats running along the bank. We finished late, and sometimes we’d miss the last bus so Dad would have to come and pick us up.

I remember crying to him one night because I was so confused and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing he said was, “do what makes you happy.”

It’s simple advice, but I think it’s probably shaped my taste more than anything else. I’ve always tried to follow the things I genuinely like rather than what I think I’m supposed to like.

While you were living in New Zealand, you and Sophie Wolanski of Muck Floral used to famously sell your toast and cookies, alongside Sophie’s flowers in Grey Lynn, Auckland. Even back then, you were cooking in a way that no one else was, which felt quite nostalgic and homely. This same approach comes through in your food today. What is it about those kinds of recipes that you are drawn to?

Again, I’ve never really tried to do what other people are doing, and I think it worked because I genuinely loved it. I love simple food and I love food made with love. It just tastes better.

My love for this way of eating definitely started when I first visited Greece when I was 19. I was blown away by how simple the food was and how delicious it tasted. It made me realise that great food doesn’t have to be complicated. I think a great meal is as much about the people you’re eating with and how you feel as it is about what’s on the plate.

Some of my best memories about spending time with people I love are around the kitchen table. What is your favourite memory of bringing people together over food?

We often have dinner parties here when the weather is good because we love bringing people together, and we’re lucky to have the space outside for lots of friends and lots of kids. I don’t think I have one favourite memory because every time we do it feels special.

It’s not really about the food either, it’s just about everyone being together. Now that so many of our friends have children, it can be harder to see each other, but having everyone over for a long lunch or dinner means the adults can hang out and the kids can run around.

Finally, one of our favourite questions we love to ask guests on The Dialogue: What's the one meal you always make when you're hosting people you love?

It always changes, but I love making one-pot meals that are nearly ready, or just need heating up, when everyone arrives. That way I can spend less time in the kitchen and more time sitting around talking.

The other night we had a one-pot chicken dish with capsicum and olives, a simple salad and a pear torte for dessert, which I’ll share with you. Nothing was complicated and it could be made mostly of it ahead of time, which is my favourite way to have people over.

The Dialogue: Laszlo Marie Badet

07.50.2026