16 September 2011

CULINARY CRINGE

I have had my first taste of The Cloud. It was a long walk in windy wet weather to the furthest end of the Queen’s Wharf for a press reception this week. Visitors who manage to find their way there should be impressed. Apparently research shows that the overseas perception of New Zealand food is still “sauvignon blanc, frozen lamb and milk powder.” (In 2011?) So the organisers have brought together a host of generous and excellent suppliers from around the country to address that astonishingly misguided idea.

The space, once you’ve passed through the “We Think Differently Here” exhibits, is divided into four areas; rural, urban, winery/orchard and seaside. Some Clever Bastards (literally) have stylised the surrounds in appropriate splashes of colour, and you can eat and drink your way through each space (at a cost). Portions are tiny but the drinks are generous and at $57 for 8 tastes with matching drinks, it is reasonable value unless you’re a hulking great front- row-forward rugby player.

I especially loved the rosemary marinated beef brioche burger with Whitestone cheddar and beetroot relish (pic above), a Marlborough clam chowder with lemon oil and herbs, and the lamb cutlet with mash and a green olive mint salsa. It’s sophisticated food and the accompanying beverages range from wine matches to local juices, mineral waters and organic fizzy drinks. And unlike the RWC sponsorships, competitors in business sit nicely beside each other, drawn together to promote NZ’s superb bounty.

But. And it’s a big but. The absence of our wonderful New Zealand chefs who have their hands on our amazing produce each and every day as they work away with it in their restaurants and cafés around New Zealand is incredibly noticeable. The organisers have called on three Australian/English restaurateurs, (and Annabel Langbein), to triumph our food. Admittedly Josh Emmett, Justin North and Warren Turnbull were all born here and are all unquestionably fine chefs, but they’ve all fled the coop and live elsewhere now. They don’t work with New Zealand’s best products in the very environment these products are sourced from.

What’s wrong with superstars here like Simon Gault, Al Brown, Michael van de Elzen, who the public know from their fine restaurants and fascinating TV images? Or superb chefs like Martin Bosley, Rex Morgan, Jonny Schwass, Simon Wright, Geoff Scott, Judith Tabron, Michael Meredith, Sid Sarawat, Ben Bayly, Kate Fay and tens of others? Where are they? Why have they not been cajoled into participating? The world visits us and we can’t put these chefs on the one and only chance of a world stage for the curious visitors? It’s no wonder the perception of our food is anchored in the eighties. Once again it seems we suffer from cultural and culinary cringe.