I found myself standing in a field Staring into English countryside, ankle-deep in cold mud, beside a man covered in soot. Matt Williams, founder of Whittle & Flame. There was something quietly extraordinary about him, calm, articulate, with a deep respect for the land.

We were preparing to cook for two thousand people on a Lang smoker the size of a train, a steel-clad beast I barely understood, let alone cooked on. While I cooked, we talked for hours about wood, heat, and the unseen craft behind fuel. Then Matt turned to me and asked, “Do you know where your charcoal comes from?”

I didn’t. For decades I’d obsessed over the origins of my food, the farms, the growers, the sea, but never the fuel that gave it purpose. Matt smiled and said, “If you care about what you cook, you should care about what you cook with.” That hit hard.

Now, in 2026, I stand as an advocate for British-made, sustainable charcoal. Not because it is fashionable, or that conversation I had with Matt, but because it is necessary. In Māori culture, we honour Papatūānuku, the earth mother, who gives us the bounty’s we enjoy. Fire is sacred to us, not only as heat but as life, a living connection between air, trees and soil. To burn responsibly, to cook with awareness, is an act of deep respect. It is how we protect the land for our children and theirs.