BRENT MCGILVARY
Margaret McHugh at her deli trailer at the Marlborough Farmer’s Market in Blenheim.
Bringing traditional cooking back with a twist of spice Margaret McHugh has had an entertaining life as a chef, deputy mayor in Queenstown and, most recently, as an author. Amy Russ catches up with Margaret at her Picton home.
B
orn to a dairy farming family in the deep south, vivacious chef, Margaret McHugh's passion for food harks back to an era when life, she says, was much simpler. Her father, Hugh, was a hardworking man, ‘tough as nails but soft as butter’ who, along with six of his other siblings, served their country during the second world war. Her mother Tina, “one of nine redheads” and “a truly great woman”, instilled in Margaret a lifelong passion for cooking using fresh wholesome ingredients and using a large coal range that burned 24 hours a day in winter to cater to most of the family's needs. Margaret’s flair for the culinary married well with her love of travel and passion for life, taking her on a fascinating journey around the world, with a myriad of stories to tell.
Her new lifestyle cookbook, ‘The Real McHugh’, dedicated to her mother Tina, tells the tales of a life well-lived. “From a young three-year-old girl growing up on a dairy farm in Winton to now,” - and all the fascinating bits in between. Hard work and discipline were instilled into Margaret and her siblings from a very young age and she says her no-nonsense attitude to life and cheeky persona has served her in good stead. “You can get away with anything as long as you have a smile on your face.” Being raised in a farming environment in the 1950s, the family never wanted for anything. “Mum would always make us cakes because we always had work to do on the farm after school. That was part of the motivation behind the cook book, that simplicity. We had all the food and provisions we
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