A Quick Word With Erik Thomson

The New Zealand-Australian actor on growing up in Scotland, ’70s delicacies, and his new role as a disgraced celebrity chef.

- Karlie Verkerk

I was born in Scotland and my family left the country when I was seven to move to New Zealand. My mother is from the Shetland Islands, way up in the North Sea. Every summer we would go up there and stay with my grandparents for about a month. My grandfather and uncles were fishermen and we’d head out on their boats in the evening and go fishing for trout in the lochs or dredge for scallops. We’d have these long summer evenings surrounded by lots of food.

My Scottish grandmother used to make a thing called reestit mutton, which is dried mutton. The Norwegian and Russian whalers would come to shore and they had lots of whale, but they didn’t have any mutton, so my grandmother would trade the mutton for whale. As a kid I ate whale. I often drop that into dinner party conversation for effect.