A Tandoor oven from Clay Living with a log burner as our main source of heat in our home, we would often (and still do) hang a piece of meat or some vegetables inside to save fuel while cooking and heating the house during winter. I once travelled to Nepal, which was one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences. Coming from New Zealand, it was a place full of rich smells, colours, and textures. I still vividly remember the tea made with yak’s milk that we drank in the cold from street vendors. One day, while drinking tea, we sat near a tandoor restaurant. Inside, the clay floor had a series of mounds, which were tandoor ovens, with cooks placing and pulling food from them. I’ve always loved the idea of these cooking tools being part of the environment, built into the structure itself. Somehow, this concept merged with my experiences back home in London. The top surface of the tandoor had a texture—a series of holes. I had just completed the overall shape of the tandoor when my daughter, Lea, without me noticing, started pressing her fingers into the clay, making small holes. After she’d done this four or five times, I noticed and gasped, asking why she was doing that and telling her to stop. She loved the feeling of squishing her fingers into the soft clay. Then, when I looked closer, the pattern she had created was so pleasing that I asked her to help me cover the rest of the tandoor with holes.
