25 January 2010
My Favourites: Artisan Products and Producers 2010
This list is the first of several “My Favourites” I plan to compile over the next few weeks. Products, restaurants, books, wines, and more to come….
Aromatics “Hamming It Up” ; The talented Noel Crawford hit the jackpot with his fabulous glaze and baste for our Christmas and summer ham. Spicy, sweet and delicious. And so easy!
Mandy’s Horseradish; We couldn’t be without this spicy condiment in our refrigerator. Perfect for roast beef, sausages and smoked salmon
Seasmoke Cold Smoked Salmon; This particular smoked salmon produced by Regal is miles ahead of the pack, and there’s always some in my frig. A Norwegian visitor this summer declared it the best she’d ever tasted and I agree.
Proper Hand Cooked Potato Crisps; I love the way these potato crisps from Nelson are packaged with the name of the person who hand made them, and with the potato that was used. (I hadn’t even heard of Lady Rosetta potatoes!) They’re the most more-ish potato crisp and nothing artificial about them.
Purewasabi; Grown in Canterbury and wonderfully pungent and creamy. Already mixed with a little lemon, oil and salt it has been an essential addition to our sashimi this summer at the beach, and puts the artificially coloured Japanese tubes to shame.
Piako Yogurt; Thank goodness Nosh opened in Matakana in December so I can get my fix of the mango flavoured yogurt, although my friends prefer the passionfruit version.
Waiheke Island Herb Spread; Hand made by Wendy Kendall with 12 different herbs and Waiheke olive oil, this spread has appeared on almost every meat I’ve barbecued this summer and was superb with fresh kingfish.
Diehl’s Breads; We plan our trips north to suit the opening hours of Diehl’s German bakery in Hillside Rd, Glenfield. Dark chewy rye, a lighter caraway seed loaf, yogurt bread and much, much more.
Mahurangi Oysters; These sweet creamy oysters have been fabulous, shucked in front of my eyes in the Matakana farmer’s market each Saturday. They’re spawning right now but as soon as the weather starts to cool, I will be right into them again.
Montebello Sugo di Pomodoro al Basilico; I always thought the absolute best product stocked at Sabato was the Salvagno Pitted Olives in evoo. But now I think this amazing tomato sauce from an organic company in Italy is equally addictive and has a depth of flavour I can hardly produce in my own tomato sauce. A store cupboard essential!