Helen Leach. Photo: Government HouseFormer University of Otago food anthropology professor emerita Helen Leach (ONZM) has died in Christchurch, aged 80. Prof Leach studied food, eating, cooking, associated equipment and paraphernalia in New Zealand. She is famed for writing a book about the origins of the Pavlova, entitled The Pavlova Story — A slice of New Zealand’s culinary history. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2004, and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018, for services to culinary anthropology.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 28, 2026 01:10 UTC