Lauraine’s blog
7 August 2012
I have always thought food writers, cookbook authors and television cooks have a big responsibility as we are paid to encourage people to cook. And the better we can make that food, the better and more healthy our readers and watchers will be. So it annoys me that some writers look for gimmicky stuff, rather than what I'd be so bold as to call real cooking.
Food prepared in a minute with cans, frozen packages and not a skerrick of fresh stuff in sight? NO! A whole book of meals with three ingredients? NO! What about meals under $5? Maybe. Four ingredients? NO! - Well, er, um, in the last case, I have just had to eat my words.
I have just finished my lunch and it was the silkiest, tastiest soup I have eaten in ages. I wanted something warm and filling, and I found a potato in the larder and from the fridge a leek, some duck stock I had made over the weekend, and the remains of a carton of creme fraiche I had needed last week for a photoshoot.
Four ingredients (plus condiments), a little chopping, half an hour simmering and hey, presto, my soup. Here you go:
- 1 large leek, chopped into small dice
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 500mls duck stock
- 2 tbsps creme fraiche
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy pan, add the leeks and potato and cook gently until wilted. Add the stock, bring to a simmer and leave over the heat for 20 minutes. finally add the creme fraiche, stirring in well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 2. Utterly delicious!
4 August 2012
I’m recovering from two fantastic days at The Food Show. If I may say so myself my Duck & Pinot masterclass was a knockout success....two delicious Saveur duck recipes, about 90 people who now know how to bone and twice roast a duck, three divine Sacred Hill pinot noirs (we’re having the Prospector tonight to toast NZ’s gold medals) and the best goodie bag at the show, thanks to New World Remuera and Lucy Meek of Saveur duck.
The Show itself is always filled with surprises and being the veritable showcase of all that’s good, new or trusted, it's an endless feast of great food. Here are just some of the exciting products that caught my attention:
Lewis Road Butter – the standout new product. I have been waiting all my life for this superbly smooth creamy butter. It’s made with a hint of culture so now I will never need to buy Lurpak again...I can rejoice in a pure, artisan butter, made with milk from the Bay of Plenty.
Little Paddock’s Captain Vanilla Ice cream. This company that uses Green Valley milk has some whacky flavours (baby cup cake) but their vanilla is the best.
Butlers Chocolates. Gorgeous European chocolate and they are opening a chocolate café at Sylvia Park next week.
Zany Zeus’s new range of smoked products. I was the privileged recipient of a preview of smoked Brinza, smoked ricotta and smoked yogurt. All coming to a store near you soon. The mind boggles at the new recipes we will come up with.
The Original Kumara Chips from Temptations of Kerikeri. Fabulously crisp, a real kumara taste and quite healthy. Yum!
Tomette single meal portions that are made by real French men (quite dishy they are too). Love the lamb Provencale with creamy mashed potato, the coq au vin (who could resist that?) and the fragrant saumon l’aneth (salmon with dill sauce and pilau rice.) www.tomette.co.nz
Granpa BB’s toasted muesli. Absolutely the best muesli I have had and the only problem is it’s only available on line. www.granpabbs.co.nz But it’s worth the trouble!
Cloudy Bay chilled diamond clams and surf clams. Simply the freshest and most briny shellfish imaginable. Blanched so they open easily and I am going to love my clams with pasta for my dinner tonight!
Mahana Red apples & Angelys pears. Two new fruits make the entrée to the market. The apples are crisp and sweet, and the juicy pears are great keepers with amazing fragrance.
Hungry Bin. This is the other product I have been waiting for all my life. An easy care, economical compost bin that creates an ideal environment for worms to use up my scraps, turning them into fertiliser for my garden. Love it!
And I can’t explain how proud I felt when I saw the clever section where Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development had gathered together so many of my artisan food producing friends. A smart, snappy alley filled with the likes of Mahurangi Oysters, Clevedon Buffalo products, Salumeria Fontana sausages, Heron’s Flight grape juice, the Mustard Makers, Perfect Produce, Wild Wheat and more. So many great local stories.
Well done Dona White of Northport Events and her Food Show team for another successful year.
17 July 2012
I really love yum char. The concept of sitting and watching as the carts go past, laden with dim sum treats so you can choose exactly what you desire is high on my list of favourite meals.
I've been to Hong Kong and eaten at that amazing yum char restaurant near the Financial Centre on Hong Kong island where the food was varied and wonderful, especially after a wait of 90 minutes on a Sunday morning. Here in Auckland my favourite has been Grand Park, the large chaotic restaurant under the grandstand at Alexandra Raceway where anything with fish is particularly good.
But yesterday I ate dim sum at Sun World under the York St Carpark on Khyber Pass and I was very impressed. The variety of different fried, steamed, baked and roasted dim sum was impressive. It's a typically large sprawling place, that's not particularly smart or flash, but it's very busy, even at 11.50am on a Monday and that is a good sign. There were only about two tables where the diners were not Asian, and that's a second really good sign.
I loved the little dumplings, neatly pleated and filled with soup, and the siu mai were deliciously porky and prawny at once. Baked rice, wrapped in lotus leaf is always on my list of choices and Sun World's is generously filled with the rich pork mixture. Their rice noodle dishes are properly slipery and tasty, and we loved the slightly spicy crumbed and fried cubes of tofu.
Then I spied what I thought were perfect white bread chicken sandwiches. How wrong could I be? Three cheers for William Chen as he not only introduced me to this sweet, fluffy snack; Pak Thong Ko, which was one of the more unusual but wonderful dessert treats I have eaten in years, but he also took the photo posted above. Only the world's best magazine art director (formerly) could manage to capture the essence of this white rice flour, sugar and yeasty treat and make it look beautiful. White food on a white plate on a white backgrounnd. Thanks William, and I hope we'll be back at Sun World, very, very soon.
Sun World, 2A York St, off Khyber Pass Rd, Newmarket T 09 520 3218 Open 7 days
15 July 2012
If I had been better organised we may have booked and eaten at one of the many good restaurants around the city which had special menus in honour of Bastille Day. However, I think we hit the jackpot!
Last week in my Listener column I wrote about oysters. For years food writers like me have banged on about how poor it is that restaurants do not shuck oysters so they can be enjoyed as they should be; right out of the shell, still complete with briny seawater within minutes of shucking - No plastic pottles of oysters, ever!
I also wrote that I would be celebrating Bastille Day with fond memories of my visits to Paris. Whenever we visit Paris our first stop is Brasserie Bofinger near the Place de Bastille, or a little specialty oyster bistro, Huîtrerie Regis, just off the Blvd St Germaine. It’s mandatory we order a very large platter of freshly shucked oysters with a glass each of Sancerre white wine. Briny oysters arrive on a bed of seaweed and ice, with accompanying lemon wedges and brown bread. Heaven.
But things have improved here lately.
The goods news is that Pacific oysters, part of our vital aquaculture industry, are cultivated in many sheltered harbours around New Zealand and shipped to restaurant in the shell, unopened. So we can enjoy fresh oysters the way the French do. And, they’re at their best right now in this colder weather.
Here at home, we did exactly that too. Our feast was just as I imagined. Fresh oysters from Mahurangi Oysters (Andrew and Lisa Hay put them in the cute little wooden crate and sell them at La Cigale French market. Their oyster fritters are legendary.) And my friend Barbara brought around a bottle of Puligny Montrachet which we sipped while I shucked. And then we opened a bottle of Felton Road chardy which may be almost as good as the Burgundy. A prefect night and three cheers for La France!
12 July 2012
Last night the NZ Guild of Food Writers held a debate/dinner at the cosy Wintergarden reception centre near the Auckland Museum duck pond. Members and the public attended, feasted on superb tender spiced roast venison, a new cut of pork roast, roast chicken and roast leg of lamb. With all this meaty stuff on the menu, we needed a few veges too, including crushed roast potatoes and large dishes of garlicky roast pumpkin, carrot, and more. To accompany, Sean Armstrong provided his Loaf Volcano bread rolls, and a deliciously cute bread and butter with Dollop custard - yum! And with Selaks NZ Roast Day coming up on the 5 August, we enjoyed a selection of Selaks Reserve wines.
The debate was fun; Martin Bosley actually stole the show as the witty MC, but not before some one who will remain nameless said to him, "I love your restaurant, - Euro." Yikes!
The affirmative team, Sean Armstrong, Ali Leonard and ably led by the Cuddly Cook, Annabelle White put forward a good argument, with several quotes about pretentions in food. But the negative side, led by Metro editor Simon Wilson with the sassy Jude Tabron and the very clever Nici Wickes won the day, as voted by the audience.
Of course, with that audience of food writers, eaters, food-rock-star groupies and other assorted food lovers and cooks, it was always going to be that way. Of course we're not Foodie Pretentious Tossers, not anyone there, ever. But I have met some who could be!
Pic above: Ali Leonard, Fiona Nugent of Eat Your Books (google that) and Simon Wilson feast on the delicious venison at the Wintergarden.
9 July 2012
Just over 24 hours ago I was in the heart of Bangkok's Chinatown. I'd arrived on the overnight train from Chiang Mai. Don't ask, it's long and interesting story, but my advice is Do Not Ever Be Tempted To Take That Train - Ever. The 12 hour trip turned into 15 hours, it was freezing (over-active aircon), boneshaking and rattly, barely clean and I'd have taken my life in my hands if I'd eaten in the dining car.
However, when I arrived in Bangkok, I was whisked to the Shanghai Mansion, a particularly cool hotel in the heart of Chinatown. It was divine - the sort of authentically decorated yet not contrived designer place that makes you go; "Yes! I am so pleased to be here."
Bright cheerful bold colours, a calm atmosphere, luxurious fittings and not too expensive. Hard to find up a set of escalators from the street but a totally welcoming haven.
Best of all, tumble out into the street and eat the amazingly cheap street food of Chinatown, cooked before your eyes, or dive into the dark alleys of the liveliest and steamiest market I have seen in Asia.
Well worth checking out if you're adventurous at 479-481 Yaowaraj Rd, Samphanthawong, Bangkok
www.shanghaimansion.com
1 July 2012
I have known and admired David Thompson for years. Eaten at Darley St Thai when it was in Bayswater Rd Sydney, eaten at Nahm in the Halkin hotel in London, attended several memorable cooking demos he's done in Auckland and Melbourne and even ambitiously cooked for him at a dinner at my house a few years back. So here we were at his Bangkok restaurant Nahm in the cutting edge Metropolitan Hotel and he was not there, sadly.
But his food was. And after all these years I think I finally understand just what Thai food is all about - not one iota like anything I have ever been served in Auckland or any other Thai restaurant that doesn't have David's stamp on it. His amazing staff mentioned David with revered tones as they explained our meal. We began with an array of tiny bites, every single one an intricate and delicate masterpiece. My favourites were airy open roll of airy, thin pastry not unlike a taco shell filled with shards of tender pork, and the soft young betel leaves to be rolled around a complex and fiery minced mixture of meat, nuts, and a thousand other tangy flavours.
But it was the main course, all served at once as Thai food should be, that really inspired me. Probably two large spoons of rice, to be eaten with tiny spoonfuls, one at a time, of a veritable and balanced banquet that was served neither hot nor cold. Very civilised and very, very mind-blowing.
And so I now know that every dish is there for a reason, to complement and contribute to the balance; a clear soup with roast duck, green coconut meat and redolent of Thai basil, the famous crab coconut curry with kalamansi lime, a delicate and ancient recipe of stir-fry of mild pork and yellow beans (not like any other stir-fry in the universe), some chunky marinated and fried grouper which was salty and deliberately bland to provide a little respite from the spices,a scallop salad which was amazingly complex with sweet and sour flavours, and a highly unusual dish of pork and prawn in freshly grated coconut milk that was accompanied by a bowl of fresh Thai greens and some deep fried fish layered with garlic and shallots to dip into. AMAZING!
A selection of desserts to follow included gorgeous stinky durian on sweet rice and a host of other treats. If you make it to Bangkok, it's a must. The restaurant itself is sophisticated and stylish, and is one of those places that you say, "Oh yes, I want to be here forever."
And by the way, in case you're thinking she raves too much, Nahm is in the Top 50 in the World San Pelligrino Restaurants.
Nahm at the Metropolitan, 27 South Sathorn Rd, T +66 2 625 3388
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21 June 2012
I attended the Fine Food show in Auckland this week. It’s an event set up exclusively for the hospitality and retail trade to view the latest trends and equipment in food and other products that can impact businesses. It’s a terrific show and because it’s not open to the public there’s none of that grabbing and squeezing to get around in other large food shows.
By walking fairly swiftly through the first time round, I got an overall sense of what was trending and what new food are offering. As I said on Facebook earlier this week, over the last five years the more recent immigrant groups have started to impact on the food market. Ethnic food is big.
The Chinese had taken a large area and although most of their product was display only, they made quite an impression with their eagerness to engage with show visitors. I saw many Indian, Korean, Greek, Middle -eastern, French, Italian and other ethnic food products that were well made, well presented and promising.
Many immigrants who arrive in a new country are not able, for various reasons to find jobs in the field they’re trained in. So, they end up turning to something they know very well. Food. They’ve been eating their own familiar cuisine all their lives, and they no doubt miss authentic fare, so that’s what they do and they do it well. They are having a big impact in supermarkets and small ethnic restaurants and cafes, and the next generation will be eating very different food from the fare their grandparents ate.
Two weeks ago I went to Oamaru in search of food stories in my Listener column, and while there I came across the Hearts of Haukinima Dairy, pictured above. Oamaru has a significant Tongan community, attracted there to fill the local rugby team. Api Fifita’s husband, Tevita is a rugby player, they have four children and Api needed a job. So she used her initiative and with a fair helping of faith, started a dairy. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays she makes take-out Tongan food for the locals and it’s so popular her sister has come to live in Oamaru to help her.
It’s a very heartening and heart warming story. Api comes from a very humble village in Tonga, and has taken her village name for the dairy. She’s doing exactly what many of our new New Zealanders have done, and although I don’t see imagine that her products will get to the Fine Food Show, you never know.
If you pass through Oamaru, call in and see her at 36A Arun St, opposite the school, in most desirable residential district within the town.
16 June 2012
Most weekends year round we head to the beach house where everything about life is almost perfect. My kitchen is a dream - plenty of room, the best equipment and possibly the sunniest spot overlooking a breathtaking view of the ocean.
I head to the Matakana market on Saturday morning and every week I find fresh and interesting produce to whip up a plateful of fresh salad that makes lunch the easiest meal of the week.You don't need too much imagination to do that. I was delighted to find mussels that had been steamed yesteday and bottled in sea water - hooray for no oversweetened marinade!
Watercress sprouts, new hard-boiled eggs, mussels, steamed haricots vertes (From Lum & Co) and some diced tomato. The dressing: local limes and local olive oil. Eating in the warm sunshine and sheltered from the southerly, I almost felt for a minute or two it was summer.
28 May 2012
Today, despite greyish skies, I lunched with three mates on the deck at Fish at The Hilton Auckland. With all those ferries and fishermen whizzing by on three sides, this may be the best sited restaurant in the city.
I'll go there again for Chef Shane Yardley has put together the most delicious Bento Box lunch, complete with an Aperol on ice for $29.50. Four huge crisp tempura prawns, a tasty wagyu slider, some thick slices of fresh rare tuna on mash with grapefruity/lemony garnish and a superb little mango and rice pudding with dried mango crisps. Heaven. Don't miss it!