Lauraine’s blog
20 December 2011
New Zealand’s pork farmers have taken a hammering in the media in recent times and the industry is all the better for the inquisition. Regular audits and an endorsement programme run by the SPCA Blue Tick campaign means that much of our locally raised pork can now be relied upon to be disease-free and from animals that live on “happy farms.” I like to think I am eating ham from an animal that has been humanely treated, with none of those crates, cages or pens, nor with growth hormones, antibiotics or tricky chemicals in the feed. This year look carefully at the labelling before purchasing your ham.
A few weeks ago, before the onslaught of the party season, I was invited to Nosh, a specialist food retailer in Auckland, to taste and evaluate ham. The Nosh chef sliced into a selection of hams, purchased from various supermarkets around the city, and we all read the labels carefully to check the origin and processing of each. There was no doubt in my mind, and in the opinion of other food writers present, that there were vast differences in the hams we tasted. Some were watery, some very fatty, and some with labels that read “contains imported and local products.” One imported ham actually stated it was 90% ham. What, I wondered, made up the other 10%? Those who know me recognize I’d never buy imported product if I can eat locally grown and raised food.
The two locally grown hams we tried, one the Black Rock brand (Nosh’s own), the other from Freedom Farms, were all agreed to be superior in flavour and texture to the imported hams. Luckily for us, local hams are widely available and those two are not the only fine quality locally produced pork. For many years I have ordered my ham from Holly Bacon in Hawke’s Bay, and I’m also aware of the many small butchers and pork companies throughout New Zealand who do an excellent job of growing and marketing pork products. I love the free-range Havoc products and brought some Waitaki pork back from the Food Show in Christchurch that my appreciative mother is still talking about.
Click on the RECIPES section of my website list opposite the photo of the ham (taken by Elizabeth Clarkson) and that will take you to recipes for a fantastic ham glaze and a recipe for a ham salad for the leftovers.
14 December 2011
Over the past weeks I have been busy and a couple of things I did have reached out to assist others.
Above is a photo that proves I do more than just eat and drink and I do get to exercise occasionally. (I'm the tallest golfer in the group in case you didn't recognise me!) I played in the Malaghan Intitute charity golf day and our team finished with the best girl's team score. With the help of Random House I donated a set of six cookbooks I have written or edited for the dinner auction that followed the golf. After fierce bidding a generous soul paid $600 for them for the Malaghan Instutute's wonderful research work.
Yesterday I received a letter to say the Dargaville Combined Churches Food Bank and The City Mission are grateful for a donation of 100kg of kumara in my name, to be used in the City Mission's Christmas Celebration Dinner. This is a result of Delta Produce Co-op in northern Kaipara appreciating an article I wrote in the Listener about kumara, complete with a couple of delicious recipes.
I feel good!
13 December 2011
Click on RECIPES in the list above on the right opposite for my most fantastic favourite Christmas recipes.
A complete menu that's all you will need this year, made with love for my family and yours!
7 December 2011
I spotted this billboard near my home and thought it very clever. We so often hear, 'you are what you eat', but not many of us ponder beyond that. So the diet of the animals we devour should concern us.
Corn, of course, as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser have informed us is probably the curse of the American diet. Not when it is fed to chickens, but when it is converted into corn syrup and finds it way into cereals, soft drinks and almost every processed food in the USA.
Here in New Zealand feeding corn to chickens is probably quite smart. Birds naturally choose to eat seeds and grains if they get a choice. These 'free-range' birds devour lots of corn and the carotene often turns the birds quite yellow, just like the Mexican chickens I first saw about 20 years ago in the Oaxaca market. They, like these birds, were delicious! Certainly the discerning NZ cook pays a premium for Rangitikei corn fed chicken with its rich corny, almost buttery taste.
Feeding corn to our New Zealand grass raised beef is a different story however. Just why those animals are 'finished' for their last 90 or 180 days in a feedlot on a diet of corn defeats me. The thing New Zealand grows best is grass (the short green plant that grows in the paddocks, not the other illegal kind that's hidden away.) We have an enviable advantage over most other beef producing countries as our animals graze year round on lush grasses and are healthy and delicious. Cattle naturally choose to eat grass, not corn!
Full marks to Tegel for bringing our attention to the chicken's diet and let's all think hard about just what animals eat. Maybe the feed should be on the labelling, just as the country of origin for all our food should be too.
5 December 2011
Last week I attended the Random House Christmas party. There's no doubt in my mind that the head honchos at the New Zealand branch of this international publishing house have some of the highest publishing values in the industry. Al Brown, Michael van de Elzen and Judith Tabron's restaurant books have all been stunning (last year's Martin Bosley takes the cake however for presentation) and Wanaka - the book from Whare Kea is outstanding. The party was great as there are always so many interesting authors and writers there from every sector of NZ life. My favourite chat is always with Ken Ring (we went to college together and he's rather misunderstood!)
After the party I went with my co-authors of the NZ Vegetable Cookbook - still selling well - to Cru. Nick Honeyman, pictured above is the chef there. He's amazing, a young South African-born boy who has cooked with some of the best chefs Europe and Japan including Pascal Barbot of the highly acclaimed L'Astrance in Paris. He cooks a five or eight degustation menu that is intricate, indulgent and incredibly delicious. (There is a la carte too.)
Cru is tucked into the back of Sale Street. Luke Dallow, a seasoned and successful operator set the place up as a bar, hired Nick Honeyman to cook for both the extensive bar (and it's huge and noisy) and in an exclusive little restaurant at the back. Those in the know love it, as we did. The quail was exceptional; tender, beautifully seasoned and presented and we love Nick's playful approach to desserts.
But there's a big But. It's impossible to completely shut out the relentless, mindless thud of the bar music. DB ( a large NZ brewery company for those who don't follow beer) has bought the place. No doubt they see the upside in the bar trade. I hope they also see the incredible talented Nick Honeyman who they have in their kitchen and do something about sound proofing that incredible little space at the back.
Don't let me put you off. Go early and experience the food of one of the fastest rising chefs we have in Auckland (the young maitre'd is superb too) and let's hope DB can see this team for more than just bottom line profit. Nick Honeyman deserves recognition.
4 December 2011
Pictured here; Gingernut tea being poured for morning tea, accompanied by an Earl Grey biscuit. Yes, you read that right! An innovative twist by an innovative company.
The Guild of Food Writers were invited to Fisher & Paykel's head office and factory in East Tamaki for a visit and update on their product development. Fascinating. The way products seem to be developing is in the SMART direction, and it occurred to me some machines may already be smarter then me. I had no idea a washing machine could sense when I put delicate undergarments in the wash and adjust the cycle to look after them. Or when dirty jeans are flung in the washer senses exactly that and turns on a rigorous performance to get them clean!
And turning to cooking, the 'Roast' function on the latest ovens means you can fling in a leg of lamb, and for the initial cooking period the temperature will be high to seal the meat, then adjust down to a lower heat to gently roast the meat through. Wow.
So, I expect there are a ton of people out there who will be relieved to know all this, and may cook and wash better than ever. For me it's bit scary as I have spent my life writing recipes and trying to explain techniques. Will this mean less work for me or a change in direction in the future?
What I discovered to my delight however, was that there's a team of employees at F&P who run a fabulous little kitchen blog. Lots of great recipes. Have a look. http://ourkitchen.fisherpaykel.com/
9 November 2011
Over the past weekend I attended a stunning conference for the NZ Guild of Food Writers in Nelson. Suffice to say Nelson turned it on and you can read about it in the blog I posted following this one.
Conferences can be tenuously useful. But this year we had outstanding plenary sessions alongside some worthwhile networking social occasions and our ‘forum-on-wheels’ afternoons that gave us the opportunity to get around the region and really meet the food, beer and wine movers and shakers. It was a learning opportunity for all food writers and some of the big NZ names attended.
But the biggest names were on the speaking programme. Lyndey Milan of Sydney kicked off with her take on the ever changing world of the food writer. She’s sassy, opinionated and clever. She has continued to evolve her career and pointed out the not-so-obvious; "Walk away from a job you are doing really well, even though it may be the hardest thing you have ever contemplated." (I wish she’d given me that advice two years ago.) Lyndey is real life evidence that seizing, or making, new opportunities is achievable and possible. She had opinions I could identify with, especially “Masterchef is merely a game show.” We all loved her.
Following that illuminating talk, three Christchurch food heroes shared their food stories of their terrible past year. Chef Jonny Schwass, caterer Tina Duncan and TV celebrity Richard Till all entertained and enthralled us and I know it was not only me weeping quietly into my hanky at their stories. It was a well received session and our continuing sympathy goes with them all.
Next day it was the turn of the seafood industry and with Ropata Taylor of Wakatu Inc talking on the history of the region and his tribe's relationship to the land and sea, Rachel Taulelei of Yellow Brick Road who is a fish broker in Welleington whose office is a phone, and Danette Olsen of the Cawthron Institute, heading the research team for the aquaculture industry. We were stimulated and informed. I hadn’t thought about the supposed well meaning so-called guardians of our fishing resources who constantly advise us to only eat certain fish because of their sustainability. In fact our strict fishing quotas are managing the resources nicely thank you. What we should be considering when we buy our fish is the way they have been caught and how they have been treated.
And finally the impressive Chief Judge of the Culinary Quills Awards, Rita Erlich from Melbourne. Rita is experienced, respected and a really thorough food writer. She noted that the standard of food writing in New Zealand is excellent in many cases and was quite honest in her appraisal of the work she’d seen. But, she said, the singular most important focus in our food writing should be to convey a sense of place. I could not agree with her more. It is such a pity more editors, the ones who make the decisions about just what is published were not there to hear Rita. Experience is everything and the relationship of the food writer to an audience and how they can be influenced on their eating habits is crucial. Local, fresh and simple are not just buzz words for food. These trends are central to our economy, and should be the very first consideration for good health and enjoyment. So why do we have to suffer food columns and recipes here in New Zealand that are syndicated from papers and magazines written elsewhere for a different market?
Thanks Rita and all our other speakers for your food for thought. Literally.
Pic. Rita Erlich, me and Lyndey Milan at the WOW Museum
6 November 2011
I’m back from a stimulating and delicious weekend in Nelson. The occasion was the NZ Guild of Food Writers’ conference and Culinary Quills Awards, and my swansong as President. Nelson turned on sunny but chilly weather, the awards were well received at a splendid dinner (venison, salmon, beef, lamb and sweet treats accompanied by Tohu wines) in the WOW museum, the conference programme provided plenty of food for thought...more on that in a later posting...and we indulged in fabulous local produce.
Above is my lunch this afternoon on my return home. A simple but perfect plate; chunky sweet Motueka asparagus, creamy Mt Crusader fresh sheep’s cheese, and a drizzle of Kakariki olive oil. All bought fresh at the wonderful Nelson Market where the food writers all headed on Saturday morning. Nita Knight has run the market for more than 30 years, pre-dating all NZ farmer’s markets. The market is a wonderful eclectic mix of fresh produce, meats and Doris’ sausages, artisan products, ready-to-eat treats, and local arts and crafts.
I came home with bags bursting with goodies and wishing I could get another helping of Nana’s Maori bread which at $2 is the best money I have spent in ages. Light puffy shallow fried bread, split open and filled with butter and golden syrup and made from a secret recipe that local chef Cheryl Gillooly was given by her nana just before she died recently.
We ate at four fabulous restaurants; SACHI where the aga-dashi tofu was so good we had three helpings, BOUTEREYS where we were wowed by Matt Bouterey’s fabulous fresh fish and crisp squid with avocado and chilli, HOPGOOD’S in the main street where the fresh cheese stuffed zucchini flowers with Doris’s tangy ham, asparagus and broad beans signalled spring had arrived on our plates, and the ‘iconic’ BOAT SHED. Iconic it is, as the shed sits beautifully out over the water and chef Dan Monopoli’s fresh, original cuisine has finally returned this much loved spot to its former glory. Pan fried whitebait, fresh spring salads, sweet Golden Bay cockles and thick crusty bread. Heaven!
And to top it all off our forums –on-wheels took us to meet the producers and growers of the region. The aquaculture industry is in good hands with the research currently being carried out at Cawthron Institute and by Wakatu Inc, there’s loads of exciting food everywhere, and the art and wine scenes are thriving. A wine-down event at Neudorf was like a scene from one of those clever movies with food producers tempting us with their wares, music, and local beer, cider and stunning Neudorf wines to drink.
There’s only one thing missing. Those locals don’t seem to know how good it all is. There’s no food map, no food group and no marketing done around the lovely restaurants and markets. Come on Nelson! You’ve got it all. Shout it loud and clear and entice food tourists to the region.
2 November 2011
You heard it here first. The decline, if not the death of food television, is imminent. It has run its course. Rick, Jamie, Nigella and our own Simon Gault and Al Brown are not completely washed up, but my guess is that there is not much more upside in television’s current obsession with food.
When TV One took the gamble and moved Masterchef Australia into the slot of beloved Coronation Street which has been running since my Warrington-born grandmother was a fan (she died in 1983) and both programmes lost viewers, one has to realise it’s all-over-clover. (Look at next week’s Listener programme listings. The folks at TV One still had not decided at the time of going to press just what to do once the Master Chef is over on Friday. The 4.55pm slot each day and some of the 7.30pm slots state, ”To be advised.” Yeah right!)
Tonight on the five minutes I tried to watch of the final week of the ultra competitive and showy Masterchef Australia I heard one of the final three contestants say, “I have never cooked Japanese before.” She’s vying for becoming a Master Chef? Really? With a book deal? This could be a newly minted celebrity? She can cook? Hello?
I am not alone in reaching this conclusion. I am a Facebook addict and even some of the most respected of my intelligent friends have posted statements like “I will never watch a fucking cooking show or read another cooking column again” ...and ”I will not watch that stuff.” Ouch! But true.
We have witnessed the Dance of the Desperates in the fading twilight. Gradually it is dawning on just not our nation, but the western world, that all this claptrap of cookery shows is there, just as in glossy food magazines, to create revenue through advertising and promotion. It may have been working for a couple of years but viewers are becoming wiser. The 27.25 hours of food TV scheduled for the coming week on One, Three and Prime will be very lucky to draw as many viewers as the past two years, (and that’s not counting chef and food writers’ appearances on the Good Morning show and Breakfast TV on One, or the 24-hour- 7- day-a-week Food TV channel which is mainly dedicated to Americans we will never meet.)
The problem as I see it is that it’s actually not about food but about the Cult of the Celebrity. It’s all about ‘me, me and me.’ Too bad that not one food presenter actually shows their food in a way that will inspire viewers to rush to the kitchen with new found knowledge. (Apologies to Rick Stein and Delia Smith whom I believe are great culinary teachers with down-to-earth simple fare, and Simon Gault and Nici Wickes who win my prize for genuinely nice, believable food personalities on NZ television.)
Too bad that Masterchef makes little kids cook like super-pastry-chef Adriano Zumbo with his years and years of experience getting to the top. Too bad that cookery books only sell if the author is a TV celebrity. And worst of all, too bad that trying to cook can make people squirm and cry. Cooking and the resulting food should be a joyous experience, not trumped up entertainment. Bring on the next Big Thing, pu-leeze.
16 October 2011
What would you serve royalty? Kiwi fare of course. Local Mahurangi oysters and white bait fritters followed by a barbecue of lamb and local Salumeria Fontana sausages with with kumara salad, fresh asparagus and snapper and scallops, and then lamingtons and meringues. All washed down with Brick Bay's Rose, Pinot Gris and Pharos 2005 wines. Food by the lovely Sue Fleischl of The Great Catering Company.
My shot above is taken at Brick Bay today: it's the dessert served to Prince Albert of Monaco at a delightfully casual private lunch for his party of visitors to the RWC semi finals.
We loved the Prince. And he's backing the All Blacks.