Th e f r e e- r a n g e co o k

wo r d s ly n b a r n e s P H oTo G r A P H s t e s s a c h r i s p

annabel langbein is hoping her

13-part teleVision series might put

new Zealand food – and central

otago – onto the world stage

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joyful & triumphant/a star in the kitchen

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ASK TED HEWETSON to describe his wife Annabel Langbein in three words and without hesitation he proudly states: “Blonde, beautiful and… driven”. But ask Annabel to describe Ted and she simply says he’s her “rock”, for without Ted this whirling dervish of energy and inexhaustible ideas would probably self-combust.

From the moment they met (a story in itself – see overleaf) Annabel has been running at full throttle, according to Ted. Although she has a naturally warm, nurturing disposition, it’s obvious – without sounding corny or clichéd – that her man keeps her on track and never lets her doubt herself. He’s her biggest fan… and she his.

“Best of all, Ted makes sure we have fun,” says Annabel, who is about to take on the world with her TV series The Free Range Cook. It’s her latest project and she’s had loads, from running her own catering company to becoming an international cookbook queen. This is her most challenging yet which, remarkably, has taken just over two years to come to fruition. “Now we’re starting to empty-nest, we decided it was time to make a concerted effort. We were too busy with children up until now,” says Ted, who has progressively become more involved in the business. Eighteen-year-old son Sean is ensconced at Trinity College in Melbourne and 16-year-old daughter Rose lives in each week at Auckland’s King’s College.

Annabel admits she’s always been career focused and, like many women, has had to juggle home and work. In the early days Ted ran businesses which often required him to be out of Auckland so they would “play tag” with their projects, making sure that someone was always at home with the children.

the tV series is all about having fun cooking for family and friends. each episode takes viewers on one of annabel’s adventures which include catching crayfish and collecting honey. once she has gathered all the fresh, seasonal ingredients, she whips up a feast in the cabin. annabel has relished the opportunity to co-produce her own series as she has learned to “relax and perform” for the camera.

“ ... iT’s AbouT sHArinG A simPler wAy of livinG wiTH food THAT’s eAsy To PrePAre And looks wonderful, brouGHT ToGeTHer wiTH AmAzinG scenery And THAT reAl kiwi Give-iT-A- Go lifesTyle fAcTor

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Over the years, as Annabel’s workload has become more hectic, Ted has held the fort, quietly making money as an investor. He says his primary role is to care and provide for his family. And when Annabel has headed overseas three or four times a year to promote her burgeoning book-publishing business, Ted has stayed at home and looked after the children. “Now we’re at the starting line,” he says. “We’re building a global brand.”

Annabel has always wanted her own gig, rather than being a presenter on someone else’s show. “I’m a big-picture person but timing was everything.” So it’s been non-stop for the past eight months, working 12 to 15-hour days, putting together the 13-part series which launches with a prime-time slot on Channel One in the spring. “I can’t believe all that time and effort comes down to 13 episodes, each 22 minutes long,” says Annabel who admits that, even for an Energizer bunny, the shooting schedule was gruelling.

It doesn’t show; she’s still buzzing with excitement as she cooks breakfast for guests. She chats away, her teenage-like figure dressed

in tight-fitting jeans, with no make-up and bare feet on a cold, wintry day. Ted, more than two metres tall, hovers and picks up every cue when help is needed without so much as a word or even a look. He can almost read her mind. This is very much the Annabel and Ted show, on and off screen. But Ted’s role in the series is behind the scenes; he’s the business brains.

The end result impressed Fremantle, the distribution company which discovered Annabel via her YouTube clips, created as an interactive element for her Eat Fresh cookbook. Fremantle is the company which spotted the potential in Jamie Oliver and took him to the world stage. Huge billboards of the two stood side by side at the recent Cannes television fair where buyers from around the globe stocked up on footage.

The focus of The Free Range Cook is on fresh, wholesome food (home-smoked salmon, home-baked bread, fresh cheeses), most of it gathered locally or grown on the couple’s property on the shores of Lake Wanaka, cooked simply and served with panache.

always a hunter-gathererit was on his Gisborne family farm that Ted first encountered the woman who was to become his wife, although he had to ask her three times before she finally accepted his marriage proposal. in those days Annabel was a possum trapper. she made enough money from her hunting pursuits to buy her first home. However, on this par ticular day she had to hide up a tree as Ted came by with his dogs, cursing about “bloody trappers”. “i looked down and saw this guy on a horse and thought, ‘he’s cute!’ ”some months later Annabel was flatting with (unbeknown to her) Ted’s sister and cousin when he came to visit one day and she recognized him. “but it was two years before i confessed,” she laughs. finally, after five years of seeing each other only a couple of times a year – Annabel was based in new york and Ted was working as a ski instructor in the united states and europe – he proposed in buenos Aires in 1987 and she accepted.Annabel has always loved gathering food. Ted recalls early on in their relationship when she called out after the car ahead of them hit a pheasant. He thought

something was wrong but no, it was just Annabel wanting him to pull over so she could salvage the carcass to cook. something else the couple has in common is their love of the outdoors. on walks they come up with ideas and plan projects. “At one stage we had to limit our walks because of the number of ideas we’d come up with.” both admit they’re determined which is why they know the Tv series will do well and that audiences will appreciate our country and our food. “we’ll make sure they bloody well get it. it’s shot so beautifully it’s impossible to resist.” They try not to fight with each other because they know neither will back down. They ensure they have quality time together as well as time for themselves. “we are like two pillars,” explains Ted, who loves his clichés. “we’re a tag team.” He likes to escape to his newmarket office. “i go to work because this house is always full of people,” he says. Along with the six staff (including a full-time designer and an accountant) who work on site, there are often photographers and recipe testers in the test kitchen/studio at their ever-expanding remuera home.

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It’s filmed on location around and at the “cabin” where Annabel cooks with two gas rings and a small, basic oven. “Mind you,” says Ted, “give Annabel a broken knife and a fire and she’ll create something delicious.”

Fremantle initially asked her to make a pilot two years ago and put up most of the money for it. When she asked the directors’ advice on how they wanted her to do it, they simply said, “Just be you”. Annabel couldn’t have been happier. As the recipient of a marketing development grant from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, she relished the opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s food, wine and lifestyle, using the backdrop and local delicacies of Central Otago. TVNZ was as impressed as Fremantle was and came on board as the production company for the series, filming for which was completed just in time for the annual MIPTV Television Fair in Cannes.

It will be a couple of months before they know exactly which channels around the globe will screen The Free Range Cook but already Fremantle has said the reception to the programme has exceeded their expectations and things are looking good for Europe and parts of Asia. Although many thought Jamie Oliver was a “fly-by-night”, through Fremantle he now screens in 126 countries.

annabel is filmed gathering ingredients in her trusty Jeep and catching salmon from her boat. ted loves the fact that the seasons are so distinct in central otago – you can grow walnuts and cherries and enjoy a fire in winter but it’s not dark until 10.00pm in summer.

in touch with the landAnnabel believes there’s something inherent in us that makes us need to get our hands dir ty, to take time out and be outdoors. The wanaka cabin is at the end of a gravel road. she and Ted describe it as an “intimate space” when the whole family is there. They have planted thousands of trees on their 9.3 hectares and established two huge vegetable gardens. Annabel found out she was not superwoman the hard way. she says she “hit the wall” when daughter rose was two. That was when she closed down the culinary institute, with its staff of 12, and began producing cookbooks from home. The first, The Best of Annabel Langbein published in 1997, sold half a million copies after she launched it herself in frankfur t. it continues to be on the best-seller lists here. she’s now written and published 15 books which are sold in nine countries and published in eight languages. “you have to nourish yourself,” she stresses. Her daily yoga regime went by the wayside during filming but throughout the series she made sure she swam a kilometre every day, even if it was at 9.00pm. “The greatest luxury is having time for yourself,” she says.

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Annabel knows that although she doesn’t belong to the young-chef genre that’s currently popular on TV, she understands that it’s her knowledge and energy which have impressed the bigwigs at Fremantle. “The show is not just recipes… it’s about sharing a simpler way of living with food that’s easy to prepare and looks wonderful, brought together with amazing scenery and that real Kiwi give-it-a-go lifestyle factor,” she explains. “I’ve always had a thing about putting New Zealand on the map and establishing our culinary identity. We have such high-quality food and wine, with increasing artisan production and this very sociable lifestyle that we kind of take for granted.”

The self-confessed gypsy has travelled “forever” and, inspired by what she learned, she launched the New Zealand Culinary Institute almost 23 years ago. One of her first projects was the “Fresh” supermarket campaign. She also worked with TradeNZ and has organized the New Zealand food for world expos in Seville and Taejon. For seven years she was a company director for Kapiti Cheese. Currently she is a director on the Sustainability Council of New Zealand.

For years Annabel has been a guest on NewstalkZB, answering food queries, and has written for New Zealand’s top magazines including NZ Life & Leisure since the first issue, the New Zealand Listener and Cuisine. She wrote for every issue of Cuisine from its launch in 1987 until 1997. Former owner and publisher Julie Dalzell says Annabel always had “a star quality” about her. “She has a voracious appetite for life, is extremely bright both intellectually and socially, is ambitious and driven and exudes charm. I think it’s also her love of adventure and exploration that makes her a darned good cook,” says Julie.

So where to from here? There was certainly no plan for just one series; Annabel and Ted are hoping for more like five, eight or maybe even 10. “If anyone raises the bar, it will be Annabel; she always wants to jump higher,” says Ted with a smile.

making a meal of a mealno matter what the meal, eating in the Hewetson-langbein household is always an occasion, accompanied with candles. earlier on the morning of this interview Ted had cooked porridge for rose, who had stayed at home for the night after Annabel had been to watch her play hockey, something she rarely has a chance to do. candles are de rigueur, even at breakfast. Annabel, who grew up in wellington, has kept up this ritual which her mother began. “mother always set a beautiful table,” she says fondly.“for me, even after a God-awful day, the high point is cooking dinner. [when the children are around] we all have different tasks and we chat while we do them; it’s a chance to be creative.” Ted has always encouraged conversation at the table. “The table is the safe place where you can say what you like. There is a duty to contribute to the conversation, to have a point of view,” he adds.

annabel can spend all day on the water, going into a trance while fly-fishing, says ted. he bought her Frog and Toad, a 1950s-style boat, for christmas last year.