Photos: Emily Chalk.
Te Radar is well known for his love of the unusual. His hilarious docu-comedies on history and travel have entertained Kiwis for more than 30 years, but his latest obsession has taken him down a bizarre rabbit hole – old cookbooks and some of the unique recipes we used to make, for his upcoming live show Cookbookery.
“It started a couple of years ago when a guy asked me to do a show at Wellington on a Plate in 2023,” explains Radar, 53, from the gorgeous rural West Auckland home he shares with his co-writer and wife of 14 years, comedian, cabaret performer and magician Ruth, 48, and their nine-year-old daughter Audrey.
“Ruth is brilliant at finding quirky little stories and we’d discussed doing something about food through New Zealand literature. That sounded fun, so we started scouring op shops and found a wealth of material.”
For our Weekly photoshoot, Ruth whipped up a few specialities from some of Radar’s book collection, including the “savlova” – a pavlova topped with whipped cream and saveloy sausages created as a tribute to Kiwi celebrity chef Graham Kerr’s loathing of both foods, Jan Bilton’s kiwifruit caviar (complete with gherkin garnish in place of Jan’s original prawn skewer) and that perennial 1960s favourite, vegetables in gelatin.
“I don’t have to make anything up for the show – I just look in these old cookbooks,” says Radar. “Every time I go to a little town now, I find another one tucked away. Ruth has banned me from buying any more. She kept finding little brown paper bags of books, unopened, like a hoarder!”
In keeping with his love of history, researching Cookbookery has led Radar to some savoury discoveries.
“I found one last week called Galley Cooking, which is solely dedicated to cooking on small boats. It also has the longest section on first aid I’ve ever seen, plus a chapter on how to please the captain with little treats you can take him while he’s driving the boat!”
Another favourite is Norma McCullough, who wrote one of the early books about how to deep freeze food.
“She invented the original hand vacuum pump to extract air from freezer bags. The idea came after she watched her daughter pumping up her bike tyres outside,” he enthuses. “And Hilda Phillips created some incredible recipes using canned food.”
Radar’s show bursts with tales gleaned from his ever-increasing mountain of books.
“A lot of the great matriarchs of cookbooks have a lot of ‘reckons’, and they’re not afraid to express them,” he grins. “Thanks to them, I now have handy hints on how to dye my ostrich feathers or waterproof a tent, or how to take a chicken on a long journey by filling it with charcoal and wrapping it in vinegar cloth.”
However, while Radar undoubtedly has plenty of fun with the culinary relics, Cookbookery is a tribute rather than a mockery.
“We are very conscious of not punching down – we celebrate the absurd in a joyous way,” he explains. “It’s also a trip down memory lane. The first time I did the show, I put a montage of cookbooks up on the screen and people were moving forward in their seats, pointing and going, ‘Oh, Mum had that one,’ and, ‘That one was in Auntie May’s kitchen!’
“When I started the show, I hadn’t anticipated how it would pull at the heartstrings. Cookbooks are deeply personal and people become quite emotional when someone or something reminds them of food.
“One guy got triggered by a steamed kūmara pudding that was doused in alcohol and set on fire. It brought back memories of his dad. I get quite emotional thinking about it myself.”
While Radar isn’t a cook himself – “some people think I’m a TV chef because they saw Off the Radar years ago, but they clearly weren’t watching very closely!” – he and Ruth enjoy whipping up some of the more unique recipes at home, even if they don’t necessarily get eaten.
“It’s so fun!” he laughs. “I’m not sure they all translate that well, though. Audrey saw the saveloys going into the savlova this morning and wanted one, but I explained what they were for. I think she’s a bit traumatised now.”
Radar loves audience participation at his shows.
“I encourage people to bring their own cookbooks along and we chat about them – you can tell a good cookbook by the number of pages with splatters on them,” he says. “And you never know, you might find a recipe you want to make.
“Hilda Phillips’ lime salad, for example, which is essentially a firm yoghurt coleslaw. I’m sure you could bring that back into the modern age if you give it a bit of a tweak!”
To buy tickets to Te Radar’s Cookbookery shows, visit the Wānaka Festival of Colour and Dunedin Arts Festival at dunedinartsfestival.co.nz
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