Tui Flower, inspirational cook and long-time food editor, dies

Former NZ Woman's Weekly food editor Tui Flower, 91, has died. Photo / Michelle Hyslop

A long-time food editor of the NZ Woman's Weekly, known for sharing her passion for cooking and giving commonsense advice, has died.

Tui Flower, 92, who was the food editor for the Weekly for 20 years died last week. She is remembered for inspiring Kiwi woman to try new recipes and to not be scared of using garlic and wine in their cooking.

In a death notice in today's Herald, Flower was described as a "multi-talented woman of substance and character".

Flower worked for the Woman's Weekly between 1965 until her retirement in 1984.

She graduated from the University of Otago's School of Home Science and started her career as a teacher where she was awarded a scholarship to study cooking in Paris before eventually venturing into food journalism.

She spent her early years in Matamata and her later years at a property in Auckland where her family had lived for 100 years.

Flower was instrumental in setting up the NZ Women's Weekly first magazine-based test kitchen and also opening a cooking school.

Once retired, Flower continued mentoring food writers, including Allyson Gofton, and sharing her passion for cooking with other well-known New Zealand writers.

Kiwi chef Peter Gordon wrote in Bite Magazine earlier this year that she was his "food hero" who encouraged housewives to cook better and move with technology. He said she used simple commonsense advice, always instructing people to read the recipes first.

She was the founding chair and a life member of Food Writers New Zealand.