How is dish created? Maddie Ballard chats to each member of the team to find out how the magic happens.

Sarah Tuck - Editor

Editor extraordinaire Sarah sets the editorial vision and tone for dish, oversees everything from design to digital strategy, creates recipes for every issue and is somehow always full of beans. She tells us about her remarkable journey since taking the helm in 2019.

How long have you worked for dish?

Sarah: I started at the end of May 2019. I’d been doing freelance recipe development, styling and photography for dish, Cuisine, Stuff and a few other places for a few years before that, and I loved the creative side of freelancing – but my background is a bit more corporate and I missed using that part of me in my work. Also, working freelance was lonely! My kids had left home and my ex had also left, so it was quite a solo thing. I really wanted to be part of a team again.

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Sarah: There is no typical day for me. It can involve anything from planning content for the next issue or working on our cookbook FAST, to styling a shoot or checking the colour proofs for an issue about to go out – and I bloody love that. I love doing all sorts of different things and developing an overarching strategy to keep dish evolving.

What has been your vision for dish so far?

Sarah: I really wanted people to be able to open dish at any page and know which magazine they’re looking at. I always consider a couple of my girlfriends – who would buy the magazine but aren’t necessarily subscribers. They’re not wildly confident cooks, but they like to entertain. I’m always thinking of what we can do to entice people like them to discover dish, as well as catering to our beloved subscribers!

I’ve also been working to broaden our audience – that’s one reason I do things like appearances on TV’s Breakfast, or why we have a recurring feature, “The Plating Game”, where we talk to celebrities about the food they love. Once those celebrities share the article, other people hear of dish who might not otherwise pick it up – and discover what they’ve been missing! (And those stories are a fab read too.)

We’re also growing our digital presence. A year after I started at dish, I took over writing the emails that go to readers for a while. I felt the old emails were too commercially driven and I wanted to make them more personal. Liam [Carr, Digital Editor] writes the emails now but we’re still really committed to sustaining that close relationship with our readers through our eDM, with integrity and authenticity.

How do you and Claire [Aldous, Food Editor] come up with the food?

Sarah: It’s difficult to describe, but when we’re planning each issue, I try to get a sense of the country’s vibe or mood. That’s the starting point and informs everything else. Then Claire does all the heavy lifting, thinking about seasonal produce and food that would be easy to share with friends, whether that’s winter curries or a summer barbecue. Plus, we’ve always got Food Fast, our section of speedy, low-fuss recipes.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Sarah: I find it ridiculously pleasing to come up with practical strategies for the mag. I love having the freedom to change things. I also really love shoot days, because they’re one of the times I still get to be hands-on with food. It’s kind of where dish all started for me – with food and photography – and I love still being able to get amongst it.

And your least favourite?

Sarah: I have a huge amount of freedom with the magazine, which I’m really grateful for, but every once in a while, I come up against financial constraints and that can be a wee bit frustrating!

Any stand-out memories of dish to share?

Sarah: One of my favourite memories is of the first recipe shoot I ever went on as editor. It was my first week in the job and when I got there, everyone who was normally on a shoot was there and they were just looking at me for direction, like, f*ck! And then they started doing things the way they had always been done – there were all sorts of self-imposed rules, like you had to have certain content in particular places, you could only do a layout with an overhead next to a three-quarter shot… that sort of thing. I loved being able to say, no, let’s just do what we want!

I also love the dynamic that Josh [Griggs, photographer] and Claire and I have on shoot days. It’s such a mutually respectful and enjoyable day – each of us has our own thing that we’re good at, and we all work together to accentuate each other’s talents. It’s bloody awesome.

We also just have lots of laughs. On one of our early shoots, we were styling up a shot and I said, “Just shove it up the noodles”, and “shove it up the noodles” has become a catchphrase ever since.

My other favourite memory is winning Webstar Supreme Magazine of the Year last year. We entered a whole lot of categories, including Best Editor and Best Covid Response, and I worked really hard on our entries, but when the finalists were released, we hadn’t come through in anything except Best Magazine (home, food and lifestyle category). I was feeling really bummed about the whole thing, thinking I hadn’t done a good enough job – so to win People’s Choice and Supreme Magazine as well as Best Magazine (home food and lifestyle category) was a total surprise. It was bloody fantastic.

Claire Aldous - Food Editor

Superstar Food Editor Claire has been with dish since day one and created literally thousands of recipes for the magazine. Here she shares how she comes up with recipe ideas, her fondest memories of dish and the cookbooks she finds herself always returning to.

How long have you worked for dish?

Claire: Since day one – 17 years all together!

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Claire: I develop recipes for each issue of the magazine. Once Sarah and I have sat down to plan what sort of sections we’d like in the next issue, we give a section to Olivia, Sarah chooses what she wants to do and I cover the rest, which is about 80%.

Then I go home and get started. Somehow, I get inspired – I couldn’t tell you exactly how, but my brain just sort of clicks into ingredients and flavours and I start coming up with ideas. Mostly, I just think of all the things I’d like to eat.

Then I run my ideas past Sarah, which is one of my favourite parts of the process. She’ll say, ooh I love that, or how about putting this in? – and having that sounding board is invaluable. Once we’ve settled on the ideas, I start recipe testing and writing. And quite often, the final dish will evolve into something quite different from where it started and that’s part of the process.

The last section I develop recipes for is Food Fast. I use it as a balancing section for the rest of the magazine – for example, if I haven’t got much chicken in the rest of the mag, I’ll put a couple of chicken dishes in Food Fast, or I’ll put some vegetarian recipes in if we’re short on those.

After developing and testing the recipes at home, the next step is to cook the final recipes at Sarah’s house where Josh takes the photos and Sarah does the styling. Photoshoot days are always lots of fun and very collaborative.

Where do you get your ideas for recipes from?

Claire: Eating out! I get a lot of inspiration from that. I do miss eating overseas, especially in Melbourne – I’ve been going to the Melbourne Food and Wine Masterclass for 20 years. That’s my ultimate place to get ideas and see what overseas chefs are doing.

I don’t tend to eat a lot of high-end restaurant food. I much prefer more relaxed dining, and that’s reflected in the food in the magazine. I want people to open dish and be inspired and think, “that looks delicious”, but also “I could cook that at home!”

I read lots of food magazines – and of course, I get ideas from the internet, Instagram, that sort of thing. I also still buy cookbooks.

Do you have a favourite cookbook of all time?

Claire: I’d have to pick authors, not books. All of Nigel Slater’s books are incredibly inspiring. His writing is so evocative and I frequently find myself perusing the pages then heading to the kitchen filled with ideas that his words have sparked for me.

Also, Diana Henry – I’ve got all her books and like Nigel, she cooks the type of food I want to sit down and eat at every meal.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Claire: Cooking! I literally cook every single day. Even when I don’t have to, I cook and give it away – I just love to cook. It’s absolutely my dream job. I’ve got a photograph of me when I was 11 in the New Zealand Herald [see inset above] doing a Mother’s Day spread with a girlfriend – that was my first “in print” moment. My next-door neighbour at the time was the food editor of the Herald and my mum was an amazing cook – that’s how I got started and I’ve been going ever since.

What’s your least favourite part of your job?

Claire: The dishes. Because we’re a small team, I don’t have an assistant, so I do my own dishes, clean up, pack up, wash the floor, all that. I know lots of food editors would be appalled at that, but I’ve always done it. I don’t even have a dishwasher at home. On the plus side, that means I’m incredibly tidy and organised whenever I’m in the kitchen.

Any favourite dish moments to share?

Claire: When Sarah said she’d be the editor! At that time, I was coming to a crossroads about continuing with dish. I still loved cooking, but I was tired and I knew that if I lost enthusiasm, I needed to go right away. Sarah really put the spring back in my step.

I also really love it when the new issue goes out and people get excited. Our covers now really reflect dish just as I always hoped they would. They’re vibrant and tempting and you just want to lick the cover! I love seeing what people think of them.

Conor Fox - Art Director

dish is partly known for how sensational it looks: how the colours pop, how mouth-watering the food looks, how sleek and characteristic the design is. Conor tells us about making dish look good enough to eat.

How long have you worked for dish?

Conor: I’ve been working for dish on and off for about three years, in between other jobs. I was an intern at ICG [dish’s parent company] working on lots of things and then I had a job interview and spent about six months contracting. Eventually I got hired and was bouncing around, working on lots of different things. But I took over designing dish full-time in June or July last year, which has been really good!

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Conor: I design the whole magazine, so I lay out how the pages look – putting the text and images in the right place. My role involves a lot of retouching and colour-correcting images for the mag, creating visuals for Liam [Carr, Digital Editor] to use online and for Karrin [MacLeod, Business Development Manager] to use in ad proposals and lots of other bitsy things.

Do you use a template? How do you know where everything should go on a page?!

Conor: I look at the images and the amount of copy we have and try to make it all fit. I put in the copy first, and then Sarah tells me what her favourite shots and I’ll use them if I can. Sarah comes up with the order that she wants the photos in for a food section, but depending on how long the recipes are, we sometimes have to fiddle around. In general, I try to get the images nice and big, because we tend to have really beautiful images.

How would you describe the design of dish?

Conor: I would say it’s really sleek and fun, with beautiful imagery. I feel like sometimes other food magazines can be a bit too homey, or on the other hand, too sophisticated and out of reach. But I think dish is in a sweet spot where it’s really beautiful, but not unattainable.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Conor: Oh my God, when it’s finished! That sounds really bad, but it’s cool seeing the finished magazine in store and getting the new issue off the press is always really exciting. Although, I am always a bit scared I’m going to flip through to a horrific design mistake. That’s never happened on dish yet, but the fear is there, so sometimes I don’t look through the mag straightaway.

And your least favourite part?

Conor: When I’m really hungry and I’m laying out photos of food. And also, when we get a colour proof and something looks weird even though I’ve edited it heaps. That’s frustrating.

What’s the best thing about working for dish?

Conor: The camaraderie of the team! And also, eating all the food that Claire brings in after shoots. I’ll scurry over and grab huge bits of food. Sometimes I feel like a menace… like when I’ve been over four times already and I’m like, “hello, it’s me again! I’m here to take another bit of cake, thank you”.

Emily Nicholas - Digital Product Manager

When I asked Emily to do this interview, she said, very modestly, “Are you sure you want to interview me? I’m only a peripheral support person.” In fact, she’s one of our key digital gurus, as well as supporting several other ICG titles. Here, she offers the inside scoop on dish’s tech.

How long have you worked for dish?

Emily: I’ve been involved since May 2020.

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Emily: It’s the old cliché, no two days are the same. I provide a bit of technical support and troubleshooting for the team. I work closely with our developers to make sure the dish website is running properly. I can also be on-boarding and testing new digital products and platforms that will help improve the digital offering of dish so ultimately, we can increase engagement and provide a great digital user experience.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Emily: On a personal level, getting to taste all the treats that feature in dish each month – I’m constantly blown away by Claire and Sarah’s creations! On a professional level, being able to contribute to and be part of a passionate and kick-ass team who are always striving for the best.

And your least favourite?

Emily: They are few and far between, but sometimes you just have those days, especially when working with technology, where nothing seems to go right.

Any stand-out dish memories so far?

Emily: It felt pretty good to finally launch the new dish website after a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Yvonne Lorkin - Drinks Editor

dish’s scintillating regular drinks features are the work of our effervescent Drinks Editor Yvonne. She tells us about the joys of the drinks scene and her tasting process.

How long have you worked for dish?

Yvonne: I wrote my first dish piece back in 2007. A story on a couple who were farming snails in Hawke’s Bay. I called it “Smooth Snailing” – great title, right? I wrote food stories for years and was on deadline to submit a piece about ham curing and sausage making when the 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck. Everything went tits up, but thankfully my editor was very understanding and gave me an extension. I’ve been focusing on drinks for the last 10 years and was excited to introduce our “Tasting Panel” features back in 2012. We also started hosted “dish Drinks” events back in 2014 and began actively supporting our local craft beer, cider and distilling industries too.

What does your day-to-day job at dish involve, and how do you juggle it with other work?

Yvonne: Every day I’m delivered samples of new beverages, so I’m constantly unpacking, cataloguing and trying to disguise all the recycling so my neighbours don’t assume I’m a total soak. I’m also the co-founder and chief tasting officer of winefriend.co.nz and I write the wine reviews for the NZ Herald every week. Each day I’m looking at products to assess whether they’re delicious, decide where they could fit on those different platforms and then write up tasting notes. All my jobs are deadline-oriented, so I literally lurch from week to week. It’s a lot and it don’t stop.

What’s your favourite bit of the job?

Yvonne: As a freelancer, the rush I get when I see an email saying “Remittance Advice” is pretty awesome. My other favourite thing is discovering something that absolutely shivers my timbers. Something that makes me roar “Whoa!” I love it when readers say they tried something because of a review I wrote and that they loved it. Or when I rate a wine highly and it goes on to win gold medals and 5-star ratings, that’s pretty great.

What’s your least favourite bit of the job?

Yvonne: Wine writing might sound glamourous, but you can end up kissing a lot of frogs before a prince appears. Not all drinks are delicious. At the end of a long day of wine tasting, sometimes my teeth hurt from all the acid. I’m also hopeless at dealing with criticism, so when I receive negative feedback about something I’ve written, I just want the ground to swallow me up, but I try to learn from it.

What’s the best thing about working for dish?

Yvonne: There are SO many best things. When I say “I write for dish” and the person I’m talking to goes “I LOVE that magazine!” That feeling of intense pride is something I’ll never tire of. It’s given me an amazing work family and taught me so much about the changing tastes of our nation. I honestly felt like one of my dreams had come true when I was asked to join the team.

Any favourite dish memories?

Yvonne: One of my favourite moments was seeing Issue #90 arrive in my letterbox when the March 2020 lockdown threatened to stop the presses. Everything was grinding to a halt, so it was really exciting to see it get through! Hosting the Tasting Panel evenings is a huge buzz – it’s so fun meeting readers over a goblet of something gorgeous.

Julie Biuso - Contributor

Julie Biuso, well-known New Zealand cook, the author of 17 cookbooks and former editor of Taste magazine, has been a valued contributor to dish for many years. She tells us about her changing role over time.

How long have you worked for dish?

Julie: I’ve been writing for dish since 2015.

What does your day-to-day job at dish involve?

Julie: Right now, I write the “In Season” column, which takes an in-depth look at seasonal produce or products. There is always something to focus on, as long as you’re able to think outside the box. The trick is to condense the facts down to fit the word count while keeping the copy palatable – and like all pieces of writing, it has a beginning, middle and end, and words have to carry the reader on that journey.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Julie: Writing! I love starting with a blank page, getting my facts sorted then just writing from the top of my head. I’m my best editor. Slash and burn!

And your least favourite?

Julie: The feeling that I have so much more to say about a topic, stuff that is relevant, but there’s just not the space.

What’s the best thing about working for dish?

Julie: I like working remotely and being left to my own devices, and I like contributing to a respected and successful magazine.

Liam Carr - Digital Editor

One of people’s favourite parts of the dish brand is our emails, strewn with puns and pumped full of delectable recipes. Those emails are Liam’s work – and reading them over before they’re sent is one of the dish team’s highlights of the week. But Liam is responsible for lots else, as he reveals below.

How long have you worked for dish?

Liam: I started full-time in May this year.

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Liam: I manage all the digital content for the dish website. I upload the magazine content to the website – and I work closely with Karrin [MacLeod, Business Development Manager], who brings in external clients who buy a digital feature or social media content. They provide us with images and sometimes copy, but sometimes I need to come up with copy myself. We might also need Claire to write a recipe using a particular product. Then I put the feature together and upload it.

I also manage our social media and highlight recipes from past issues of dish. I pick from a very particular timeframe and aesthetic so the content is consistent with dish’s branding – so that’s usually the last two to three years and the photo is usually shot by Josh, Olivia or Sarah herself.

I’m also responsible for our twice-weekly eDM [email to dish.co.nz subscribers]. Usually, I choose a themed recipe round-up,  informed by recent or upcoming events, or my mood!

What other projects do you work on?

Liam: We’ve just started a podcast, “Drinks with dish”, which I would call my baby. I’ve always been a huge podcast fan so I jumped on the opportunity to produce one.

We have a brand partner come on board to promote a drinks product. Yvonne creates tasting notes beforehand, then shares her notes with Sarah, who comes up with food matches. Then we record them discussing it. Those two get along like a house on fire so I knew instantly it would be a good match.

I also get to go to some special events. Earlier this year, I went on a helicopter ride with Wither Hills, which was my first real experience of being “treated” by brands. Before the lockdown, I also went to Waiheke to preview a walking tour of various vineyards, which was very nice.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Liam: Probably the people. The likes of Sarah and Claire and Karrin have welcomed me with open arms from the very beginning and I feel very comfortable here. It’s almost like a little family that we have.

And your least favourite?

Liam: Waiting on other people. I’m constantly waiting for approvals on things, and though it’s not necessarily anybody’s fault, that can be frustrating.

Any favourite dish memories to share?

Liam: I can’t pinpoint an exact moment, but the barbs I’ve shared with Karrin have been quite memorable. And I’ve heard many a laugh around the office due to my quirky sense of humour and that’s always fun.

Karrin MacLeod - Business Development Manager

No magazine functions without money – and Karrin is the sales whiz who keeps advertising spend rolling in for dish. So how does she do it?

How long have you worked for dish?

Karrin: I’ve been, left and come back and it’s been about 10 years altogether.

Has it changed much over the years?

Karrin: Yes definitely. But although it’s evolved as it’s passed through the hands of different editors, it still focuses on the home cook. In terms of advertising, a lot has changed in 10 years, because of the rise of out of home and digital marketing – it’s much harder to chase those dollars for print.

What does your day-to-day job at dish involve?

Karrin: Finding money for the magazine – it’s a crude way of putting it, but it’s as simple as that. My work involves talking to businesses and finding out what they need. Ultimately, our reader is potentially their client, so for them, it’s about getting more sales by paying for ad space in the magazine. And if I feel [an ad in dish] isn’t going to help their business, I will tell them. I’m not a salesperson who’s into grabbing as much money as I can. It’s got to work for everyone.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Karrin: Having a new client say yes is always a buzz, especially when I’ve worked really hard to get them on board and they love it!

And your least favourite part?

Karrin: Admin. Invoicing is the WORST.

What’s special about selling for dish?

Karrin: All sales work is the same. But I can only sell something I love – and I love everything about dish.

Maddie Ballard - Deputy Editor

The newest member of the dish team, I write most of the copy in the magazine that isn’t recipes or drinks-related and check everything over for spelling and grammar mistakes. I’m also a keen taste-tester.

Maddie: I’m fairly certain I was hired at dish by accident. I applied for the job and got a very kind email back saying I probably wasn’t the right fit, but would I be up for some freelance work? Reader, I would. I turned up with a notebook full of story ideas – and Sarah, clearly in the full fluster of a busy day, just interviewed me for the job. I went with it, and here I am, four months in, still not quite believing it.

My job involves writing a wide range of stories – mostly for the print magazine and a few for online – and then sub-editing the magazine before it goes to print. Each month, I put together a couple of long features, like the one you’re reading now, and a bunch of shorter ones about food products, local producers and all things hospitality. I also write all the bitsy stuff in the magazine: the contents page, the index and much of the advertorial text.

Almost all my writing comes out of interviews, which are probably my favourite part of the job: I have the immense privilege of being paid to chat to interesting people all around the country about food, a topic almost everyone is excited to talk about. In my last journalism job, as a writer for an environmental magazine in London, I mostly interviewed very stressed MPs about why they weren’t doing more to combat climate change – so this makes a nice change. For dish, I’ve spoken to artisan cheesemongers, baking charities and restaurateurs of every stripe. At least one week of every month (at least out of lockdown) is spent flitting around Auckland with my trusty voice recorder, speaking to chefs and producers and the occasional celebrity. It’s ridiculously fun.

After transcribing my interviews, I spend a couple of weeks writing up stories, my other favourite part of the job. This mostly involves sitting at my desk with my headphones in, wrangling words into sentences, choosing the juiciest quotes and musing for far too long on the relative value of a semicolon over a comma – but occasionally, it’s punctuated by Claire offering round a cake she’s baked or Liam telling a so-bad-it’s-good joke, which makes it a pretty great life. Actually, nothing would be as enjoyable as it is without the lovely team around me, all of whom are stars at what they do and nice people to boot.

I finish off the production cycle by sub-editing each page of the magazine – eliminating mistakes and infelicities from copy, fixing grammar and punctuation and making our copy fit within the layouts Conor has created. I read through each recipe multiple times to make sure the method is crystal clear, all the ingredients listed are actually used and everything fits on the page. There’s nothing I really dislike about my job, but checking the recipes through for the fifth time can be a push: by that point, it’s tedious not to skim, but it’s up to me to make sure no detail is missed.

Despite my short stint at dish so far, I already have plenty of favourite memories. One experience I particularly enjoyed was attending a Wither Hills event in July. For someone who has pretty much never bought wine that costs more than $12, spending an evening sipping perfectly balanced sauvignon blanc alongside exquisite food in great company was pretty magical.

Monique Bulman - Publisher Services Manager

dish old hand Mon is the mastermind behind our scheduling and subscriptions management. She gives us the inside scoop.

How long have you worked for dish?

Monique: I started in September 2014, but before working at ICG [dish’s current parent company], I was at Magazzino when dish launched, and we helped manage their subscriptions. So, in a way, I’ve been with dish since the start.

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Monique: I’m in charge of making sure all the trains run on time for dish. I work out how many copies we need to print and when; I figure out where all the copies are going to go. And then once the magazine is printed, I manage our subscriptions and communicate with subscribers, make sure the issue gets on shelves on time for retail and do things like applying to get dish into reward programmes. It’s a beautiful thing if you love scheduling, and I’m quite a nerd!

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Monique: I love getting everything done on time and seeing the magazine on shelves. I feel a real sense of pride when I tell people who I work for. Also, The Food Show is always a highlight of my year!

And your least favourite?

Monique:  One of my bugbears is when people don’t stick to timings I’ve laid out and I have to reiterate how important it is!

Olivia Galletly - Contributor

Olivia regularly contributes a section of recipes to dish, conceptualising, cooking, styling and photographing them all herself, from her home in Red Beach, Auckland.

How long have you worked for dish?

Olivia: Five years.

What does your day-to-day job for dish involve?

Olivia: I work as a freelancer for dish, and each issue, I recipe-test, cook, style and shoot one of the recipe sections.

I think it’s amazing that you recipe-test, cook, style and shoot all the dishes yourself. How do you do it all on your own?!

Olivia: Thank you! Cooking is something I’ve always loved doing. I really wanted to get into the food industry but studied as a graphic designer. I combined my skills to create what is my job today. I really enjoy thinking about what a dish might look like while I’m planning my recipes.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Olivia: Cooking! It still blows my mind that I spend my days at home in my kitchen concocting delicious meals. I also really enjoy working with Claire and Sarah. They both have so much knowledge in food and styling. It’s great having someone to bounce ideas off who is equally excited about all
the recipes.

And your least favourite?

Olivia: Not super surprising, but the dishes! Food always looks best shot straight away, so the kitchen is always a bombsite until the end of the day.

What’s been your favourite moment of your time at dish so far?

Olivia: When I was younger, working for dish was the dream job. I’d always loved cooking and regretted the path I’d decided to take at university. I was working as a graphic designer for an advertising agency and the only cooking I did was for my flat. My older sister ended up working for dish (which I was insanely envious of) and on her last day, she asked me to make a cake for her to take in. Later that week I was asked if I’d mind sharing that recipe on the dish website [the Rhubarb and Strawberry Layer Cake]. I think I might have cried! My first section in the mag was also very exciting.

Josh Griggs - Photographer

Josh’s lick-the-page photographs bring dish’s recipes to life for readers. He tells us about making food look its best.

How long have you worked for dish?

Josh: I’ve been a freelance photographer for dish since 2015 (Issue #63).

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Josh: Being a freelance photographer, I get the chance to work with all sorts of clients – not just dish – on a wide range of projects. I’m usually working on a mix of shooting, editing, location scouting, pre-production planning, meetings and emails. When photographing for dish, the first thing I like to determine is the type of story we are telling – are we wanting to set the scene of an al fresco dining table on a balmy summer afternoon? Or are we showing a cosy mid-winter meal by the fire? This story helps me determine what kind of lighting and approach I want to take. From there, it’s about determining which angle a dish will look best from and working with Sarah and Claire to determine the plates, props, backgrounds etc. for the scene. There are also some sections, like Food Fast, where we’re going for a consistent look between issues, so I approach these all in the same way when it comes to lighting/composition etc.

What’s your favourite bit of your job?

Josh: The best bits of working on dish are definitely shoot days with Sarah and Claire (as well as all the wonderful previous dish staff) and getting to sample the food after we’ve shot it.

What’s your least favourite bit of the job?

Josh: Honestly, it’s a job with very few downsides. If I had to pick something, it’s probably when the workload skews too heavily towards admin. A lot of the job is actually spent on emails, calls, planning and prep. It’s of course an important part of making it happen, but I always prefer being out with the camera than stuck at the desk.

Marcus Hawkins-Adams - CEO of ICG Media, dish’s parent company

ICG CEO Marcus collaborates with Sarah on overarching editorial direction – in between supporting several other titles. He tells us about how dish fits into the magazine world.

How long have you worked for dish?

Marcus: I started just a few months before Sarah, so in early 2019.

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Marcus:  I support dish wherever I can and especially by providing strategic input, especially around audiences and insights. When Sarah arrived, she suggested surveying the people who engage with dish and asking them what they liked and what they didn’t like. We found that people wanted content that was just as deliciously tasty but a bit easier to do, which really came down to time. I help the team in whatever way I can to take that insight and run with it – it’s the ethos behind the dish FAST cookbook, for example.

How does dish fit into the magazine landscape more broadly?

Marcus:  I think what differentiates us is that we treat our readers and users as part of our community; as friends. We see dish as a community of people passionate about food and living and we spent lots of time not just on the mag but also on the website and social and events. Also, the personalities that drive our brand – from vivacious Sarah’s to Liam’s quirky sense of humour – are great and just help build that community even more. dish is made by real people for real people and that’s part of its overall charm.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Marcus:  I love when we get feedback from people who say, “I tried this recipe and it was fabulous” or “you pushed me to try something more ambitious”. It’s really nice getting those personal anecdotes about how we’ve made a difference to people’s eating habits and lives.

And your least favourite?

Marcus:  I honestly can’t think of anything!

What’s been your best moment at dish so far?

Marcus:  Obviously, winning the Supreme Magazine award was such a spectacular way for the team to get rewarded for all the hard work they’ve put in. But on a daily basis, it’s really nice working with a team that you have to hold back a bit as opposed to push.

What’s your favourite dish recipe?

The dish team choose their go-tos.

Sarah: I love Claire’s Baked Coconut and Chilli Sambal Chicken [from Issue #92]: it’s pure alchemy when you put a couple of things in a pan and stick it in the oven and it comes out beautifully.

Liam: Our Crowd-Pleasing Meat and 3 Veg Lasagne. If I had friends or family coming over and I wasn’t sure what to make, that would be my go-to.

Claire: One I really love is the Chicken, Herb and Ricotta-Filled Pasta Shells [from Issue #71]. That recipe went ballistic – all the pasta shells basically in New Zealand were sold out and people were ringing us to complain!

Josh: The Tequila and Lime Pickled Pineapple and Fennel [from Issue #74]. It’s a complete crowd pleaser and perfect for summer potlucks.

Karrin: Impossible… every issue there is a new favourite. However, I have made Claire’s Semolina Gnocchi with Crispy Sage, Hazelnuts and Soft Cheese A LOT!!!

Monique: I love the Spiced Apple Cake (Gluten Free) [from Issue #72]!

Maddie: Claire’s Glazed Cardamom Buns [from Issue #90] are one of my des(s)ert island dishes. The fragrance as they bake is pure joy.

Emily: For Christmas 2020, I did our Zucchini Crostini with Feta Whip and Cuminy Currant Dressing paired with the banging Christmas Champagne Cocktail. My cousin also made the cover recipe from the same issue, Spice Rubbed Salmon, and that was to die for. [All Issue #94.]

Yvonne: Let’s just say that when I busted out Claire’s Baked Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Cheesecake [from Issue #81] on Christmas Day 2018, I was catapulted to celebrity status by my extended family.

Olivia: The Baked Coconut and Chilli Sambal Chicken [from Issue #92] is a firm favourite in our house. Claire’s Roasted Almond and Hokey Pokey Shortbreads are also an absolute favourite of mine.

Conor: The Moroccan Lamb Burgers, Grilled Haloumi and Pistachio Salsa
and the Baked Tomatoes and Spaghetti are my current favourites. Quick, easy and delicious.

Marcus: The Prawn, Chorizo and Chilli Pasta [from Issue #91]!