Lauraine’s blog
28 October 2013
I was asked to judge the annual NZ bacon and ham awards this year. Held in Wellington, it is a full-on day where judging teams of four, comprosed of chefs, butchers, food technologists and food experts (that's me) eat through anywhere from 20-40 entries in any given category.
The most important point about the competition is that entries must be hams and bacon made from 100% New Zeaalnd raised pork - a pretty important point if you appreciate local artisan products.
On the day I judged the cured sliced and smoked bacon, and a lovely sweet, smoky bacon that had been cured with maple syrup and smoked over manuka was a clear winner in our category. Whenever I do something like that I like to learn and the butcher on our judging panel pointed out the rather marked difference between male and female pork - it's a sensory strong aroma that pervades the male pork which is not always as sweet as the female variety!
Back in Auckland I was invited to speak at the ceremony for awarding a gold medal to the Pokeno Bacon Company at their retail butcher shop in Mt Eden Village for their sliced ham. The owners, Helen and John Clotworthy, pictured above, were delighted to receive their gold plaque.
Their ham was an absolutely beautiful sliced ham with a great balance of flavours; sweet and salty. It was very visually appealing with a lovely dark rind and great meaty texture.
Only two other golds were awarded in the country for ham; to Waitaki Bacon and Ham for their succulent sliced ham(buy it in Oamaru or at the Dunedin farmers market) and to Christchurch company, Cattermoles of Kaiapoi for their ham on the bone.
I took some ham and egg sandwiches with me to the prizegiving and have posted the recipe in the recipe section of this blog.
12 October 2013
I did not expect to find poutine here in Auckland. But I did, I ate it and the verdict: Delicious! I’ve been to Quebec, the home of poutine, where the dish is practically eaten daily by the locals. It is a specialty of the French Canadians (Acadian) and is slang for a mushy mess. They also claim it’s a heart attack in a bowl. But I certainly didn’t see any in Montreal as tasty as the bowl we ate for brunch at Al Brown’s new gig on Federal St, Sky City.
Federal Delicatessen is a winner. After the success of Depot, Al’s quintessential kiwi diner next door, any new venture of his making was going to be superb. And it is. It has Al’s big personality all over it, helped by head chef Kyle Street and master of hospitality Joe Williams.
We had Saturday brunch and a line had formed at 11am on a freezing windy Spring morning. But once inside and settled at the counter I couldn’t have felt more happy. The sodas are masterful; creaming soda just the ticket for brunch, and to accompany the Montreal/New York inspired fit out, décor, and menu. But it was the attention to detail that realty impressed. Right down to brewed, rather than espresso coffee, and those cute uniforms you see in diners in the movies.
We shared house cured lox on crisp potato latkes with crème fraiche and dill. Next a shared portion of fabulous toasted Reuben sandwich, complete with sauerkraut, heavy with mustard and the essential ingredient, generous slices of amazingly tender pastrami thickly cut, and a side bowl of delicate cole slaw and some briny pickles. Then of course that bowl of poutine; crisp hand-cut fries smothered in a tasty gravy that was not too thick, and the cheese curd that slowly melted over the bowl.
And to finish a slice of sublime lemon meringue pie with whipped cream and freeze dried raspberries. I can’t wait to get back and try the matzo ball chicken soup and a few cocktails one evening. Thanks Al and team!
Federal Delicatessen, Federal St, Auckland no bookings but open all day.
7 October 2013
My palate has been truly seasoned over the past month. But not in Auckland. To celebrate a significant birthday that my husband marked up in early September, we have been gallivanting around the globe, tasting, sipping our way through a variety of restaurant experiences. And I am very excited and heartened about the major shift I encountered on menus.
The husband has always been in love with Brasserie Bofinger, the very first authentic Parisienne brasserie he ever visited. It’s a spectacular place with an art deco glass dome in the central dining room, and can be found in a little side road just a pebble’s throw from the madness that is the continual traffic circling around the Bastille monument. It was always going to be first choice to eat at for his birthday dinner.
A serious white burgundy was ordered to accompany a vast tray of freshly shucked oysters, and then we enjoyed various fresh fish dishes. I splurged on an order of sole for my main course and I can’t think of any waiter in Ponsonby who could deftly bone the cooked fish like mine was, leaving it pristine and as if no hand had ever touched it. With lashings of lemon butter it was utter perfection.
The grand thing about the historic brasseries of Paris, which all fall under the ownership of the Flo Group these days, is the menus offer very traditional French cooking. They may not have the touch of genius that smart young and upcoming chefs around the city show, but you can always rely on seriously good tucker. Fish, meat or chicken are the stars but if you want your greens, you must order side plates.
Happily most other meals we encountered showed new direction. Vegetables are finally having their day in the restaurants of London, Edinburgh, Paris and Tokyo. On previous travel adventures I have always craved more salads, more vegies and they have been so hard to find.
My initiation into this new wave began with our very first meal after we’d flown into London at a new restaurant, Grain Store, in the newly constructed Granary Square behind Kings Cross station. There, in a cavernous space where the kitchen was integrated into the dining area we were offered what was a revolutionary menu. I am so used to seeing protein being given star billing with vegetables mentioned as if they were the garnish. Grain Store’s menu read like a seed catalogue. Every item listed the vegetables and fruit of each dish and added the fish/chicken/meat as if it was an afterthought. Brilliant!
The food really delivered, too. I ordered three plates and each was fresh interesting and vegetable-driven. Salted watermelon, marinated fresh peach, microgreens and salmon confit; baby beets with onions, dill oil and fresh goat curd; and salty marinated grilled aubergines slices topped with a tangle of herbs and leaves. Move over meat, I was convinced by this fresh and exciting approach.
After this promising start, our fresh vegetable odyssey continued unabated. We spent time in Edinburgh and the wilds of Scotland, then moved on to anchor ourselves in Paris and Tokyo. Vegetarians we are not but we could well have been on this trip as there was surfeit of vegetable dishes on the menu to tempt us in almost all the restaurants and bistros we ate in.
We ate a stunning meal, straight from the garden at The Gardener’s Cottage in Edinburgh. There were seven courses for £30, including a fragrant tomato and fennel soup with cheddar breadstick, some tender green beans with Shetland Blue potatoes and a soft free range egg, and a most unusual gooseberry jelly with hyssop cream, tiny meringues and borage flowers. Like so many places we ate, the chefs were young people who had worked alongside starry chefs in grand places and then moved away to start their own places with brand new initiative. These chefs can always tell you who grew their food and of course they always emphasise the best of seasonal bounty.
In Paris we were wowed by the menus at some of the hottest tickets in town, Septime, Mon Viel Ami, Semilla and Parisien Terroir. Their menus were dictated by the kitchen (you have to trust these chefs!) and the courses were dominated by fresh vegetables. I was completely captivated by their freshness and innovation. In other bistros, the dishes of yester-year had disappeared and chefs were cooking up light fresh ingredients and seemed to have abandoned the heavy fare they were known for.
In Tokyo the revolution continued. We ate at Roppongi Nouen, feasting on a menu that was entirely sourced from small farmers. We ordered their ‘Farmers’ Welcome Vegetable Platter’. The freshest raw vegetables ever were served to us on in the base a bed of crisp miso flavoured crumbs (they even provided a miniature rake so we could ‘ do the gardening’) and accompanied by a dish of tasty pumpkin and ginger dipping sauce. And in our final meal at the very, very upmarket Takazawa, we encountered the ultimate vegetable dish. Simply entitled World Heritage, our plates were filled with more than thirty tiny vegetables, herbs and leaves each individually cooked, beautifully arranged and all sourced from small famers or from their own rooftop garden. Amazing.
Often I have spoken about my food adventures at events, and always pose this perennially constant question to the audience. Given the time spent selecting flights, hotels and travel arrangements, how many people carefully book their meals before they leave home? Very few, it would seem, and yet that is the thing that makes or breaks the success of any trip for travellers.
It may take a little time to do the research but anyone with computer skills can do it and it is well worth booking ahead at good restaurants. Most places around the world offer online bookings. For as sure as hell, popular places will be booked out by the time you find them on the road. You’ll be destined to eat with a bunch of other undiscerning tourists in random places where inferior ingredients are fashioned into smudgy food that will not make you feel great.
This was first published in Ponsonby News, October Issue.
26 September 2013
The grand foyer of Raffles Hotel, Singapore.
More to come later....
18 August 2013
My brother and his wife live near a charming little restaurant, Topsail, which sits above a yacht club on the edge of the Whangarei Harbour, not far from the Onerahi airport. I have long had intentions of eating there but the timing is never right as it only opens Wednesday to Saturday nights.
Now I have a taste of the restaurant at home, as Topsail's kitchen there has busied itself making some fabulous artisan bottled products under the label "The Lanky Chef's Mis En Place."
Ian Garner, aka The Lanky Chef, takes seasonal produce sourced from the Whangarei area and is making antipasto sauces and condiments, poached fruits and vegetables and some absolutely delicious goodies that will make a great gift or add a fabulous touch to your own table at home. You can order them and have them sent directly as a thoughful surprise to friends.
I loved the poached strawberries, spiced limes, sweet and spice tomato sauce, tamarillo chutney and tomato relish. And there's lots more I want to try.
Topsail Restaurant, 206 Beach Rd, Onerahi, T 09 4362985 Open Wed-Sat Order on line at www.topsail.co.nz
26 July 2013
I recently went on a voyage of food discovery around Wellington. That city stands out above all others in New Zealand for its passion for food, as witnessed by the annual Wellington on a Plate.
Above, three of my new food heroes, from left: Rachel Priestley, Vicky Ha and Nikki Chung. Here's record of my visit, the artisan producers and food warehouses I loved:
Mediterranean Food Warehouse, 42 Constable St, Newtown, Wellington
www.medifoods.co.nz for a range of imported Italian specialties and takeout treats.
Espresso Rescue Coffee Cart, 399 Hutt Rd, near the Kelson off-ramp, Conrad Adams Fair Trade coffee made with organic milk and passion.
Prodigal Pig and Prodigal Daughter www.prodigaldaughter.co.nz
Rachel Priestley’s top class pancetta, porchetta and salumi is made in a kitchen at 37 Waterloo Rd, behind commonsense organics and can be ordered via her website.
Ontrays Food Emporium, Fitzherbert St, Petone www.ontrays.co.nz
Cheese specialists, South African food and everything else edible. Where the chefs shop.alists
House of Dumplings www.houseofdumplings.co.nz
Vicky Ha, “The Queen of Dumplings” is at the city market every Sunday or contact her for wholesale and private catering.
Nam, 122 Willis St Village, Central Wellington www.restaurant-nam.co.nz
Nikki Chung’s smart Vietnamese restaurant serving authentic cuisine, inspired by her mother’s recipes, with an adjacent hole in the wall café and delicatessen.
Mount Vic Chippery, 5 Marjoribanks St, Wellington www.mtvicchippery.co.nz
Fresh fish with hand cut fries make traditional fish ‘n chips pale into insignificance.
Moore Wilsons, 93 Tory St, www.moorewilson.co.nz
For absolutely everything that’s fabulous about New Zealand food. Don’t miss their Chook Wagon for hot chicken cooked French rotisserie style.
Merkato Fresh, Shop 2, 37 Miramar Ave, Miramar
Robert Giorgioni’s store where for light crunchy Roman pizza by the slice and some of the best freshly hand-crafted pasta and sauces money can buy.
Elysian Foods, 12 Park Rd, Miramar www.elysianfoods.co.nz
A Greek food specialty shop where the Yiannoutsos make pastries, terrific taramasalata and some stunning tzaziki, and stock all manner of traditional Greek specialties
La Boca Loca, 19 Park Rd, Miramar www.labocaloca.co.nz
A cheerful restuarnt to grab a fix of genuine Mexican food and some refreshing margaritas which transported me back to Mexico City.
A long delicious day and I’d merely scratched the surface of the city’s thriving food scene. Love Wellington.
11 July 2013
Why on earth am I wearing red socks? Well, yesterday I went wearing those Red Socks, as part of the Dream Team for the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Trust week, to speak to some Yr 13 Girls at St Dominic’s in Henderson. It’s years since I was in a class room and I was impressed with the knowledge, sassiness, wit and vision that some of those young women have.
I was there to speak about leadership and to encourage the students to have dreams. I was surprised that every single girl in the room had been overseas. I was 21 before I left New Zealand. And I was glad to hear so many of them are part time players already in the workforce.
There were some interesting answers about personal dreams. I loved the young woman who is planning to do midwifery next year and has a dream to open an orphanage in West Africa or India. I was amused by the young lady who wants to make tons of money but has no idea what to study next year. And I was surprised how many want to enter the health industry as doctors or health professionals. The country will be in good hands.
Near the end of the session I shared my own dream for our country, New Zealand. This sparked much discussion. My dream is that New Zealanders everywhere will fall in love with the freshness and taste of the amazing healthy food that’s available from our farms, gardens, orchards and supermarkets and start cooking for themselves every day instead of buying takeaways and prepared meals.
That prompted one young woman to say if that happened she’d be out of a job. So guess where she works? McD’s of course. Good on them for providing jobs for young people and for offering healthy options I said. But here’s the crunch; “Nobody,” she said, “just nobody ever orders those!”
2 July 2013
Words are not enough to convey the majesty of Wharekauhau on rugged farmland overlooking Palliser Bay. We spent a night there last week en route to the Martinborough Olive Harvest Festival and it was so remote and so relaxing I could hardly bear leaving.
I first visited the property when it was really raw and it is really impressive to see how it has grown into the surroundings. A working farm, Wharekauhau offers 13 luxurious cottages which nestle into the land, hunkering down so they withstand the frequent amazing storms that roll in from the ocean. The view in every direction is dramatic. You feel you are on the edge of the earth!
We ate well, with delicious food at dinner and breakfast, and drank local wines from Te Kairanga in Martinborough, (especially loved the chardonnay.) Best of all we took my car onto the dark broody beach below the cliff that marks the edge of the property and spent time walking on the black sands of the windswept shoreline. We also used the gym, the indoor heated pool and walked in the paddocks and the garden. We had no time to avail ourselves of offered activities, sadly.
Right now Wharekauhau is offering a special winter rate, a great opportunity for locals to stay and play. Do not miss this for a very special treat!
Wharekauhau, Western Arm Lake Rd, Palliser Bay, T +64 6 307 7799 www.wharekauhau.co.nz
2 July 2013
I spent two nights in Napier last week as I hadn’t been in the Bay for almost two years. Not a lot of changes and the same oldies are the same goodies. But here is my Hawke’s Bay experience in a nutshell if you want to enjoy yourself;
- The Crown, Cnr Bridge & Tennyson St, Ahuriri T: +64 6 833 8300
Right smack overlooking the waterfront between Ahuriri and the port, this hotel is comfortable and modern, and a huge notch above the plethora of motels that seem to be everywhere through out the Bay. One of the best room layouts I have seen in a hotel and I loved the sound of waves lapping the shore to lull me asleep.
- F G Smith Eatery, 9A Ossian St, Ahuriri T +64 6 834 0404
Another winner from talented chef Jennifer Le Comte. Similar to her Opera Kitchen in Hastings, this si the place to stop off just near Ahuriri for great coffee, fresh food and of course, those amazing berry and cream cheese brioche buns, warm from the oven that may be the BEST baked goodies in New Zealand. (That’s the FG Smith kitchen garden pictured above.)
- Mister D, 47 Tennyson St, Napier T +64 6 835 5022
As I tweeted immediately I entered this light airy joint surrounded by superb Art Deco buildings a respectable distance from Napier’s ugly mall, “This is the restaurant the Bay has been waiting for – I want it to move to Auckland.” David Griffiths in the kitchen, Pru Barton front of house, fresh Hawkes Bay produce and an all day invitation to eat (dinner Thurs to Sat.) I resisted those now famous donuts with a syringe to inject jelly, custard or chocolate and went straight for the light refreshing snacks (loved the sardines on crispy bruschetta), a sashimi salad, lovely veal and excellent fresh fish. Do not miss this place!
- Pipi, 16 Joll St, Havelock North T +64 6 877 8993
Pipi is one of those places that you have to visit to understand what it is all about. With a brilliant colour scheme that involves plenty of pink and red paint, an artful casualness, and a menu that reeks simplicity and yet is carefully thought through, this is one of my all time favourites for relaxation. The soft pizza bread is to die for, the flounder is compulsory, and all the pizzas are terrific. No bookings but there is a little P{ipi bar across the road and behind a shed!
- Black Barn, Black Barn Rd, off Te Mata Rd, Havelock North T +64 6 877 7985
If you only lunch at one Hawkes Bay winery, this should be it. Terry Lowe’s food is great, but what’s really special is the amazing view of the Bay, the outdoor courtyard under the vines for summer lunches and the constant attention to detail that keeps this place out in front. Love the new floral perspex panels that hang in the dining room, love the Hawkes Bay lamb dishes and love the wine there.
21 June 2013
I was privileged to get a sneaky peep of the next big thing that will hit Ponsonby. Kit Pereira, Chef for A Night, is to open Kit's Kitchen for three nights a week (Thursday to Saturday) in Ponsonby Central.
With a stunning little demonstration kitchen installed by Fisher & Paykel in the midst of the smart retail area at the back of the building, Kit will cook intimate dinners for groups of up to 12 people.
His food is lovely; he specialises in riffing on Sri Lankan and Indian menus, but can also cook French cuisine and almost anything else you might want. This is going to be a very special experience by arrangment. I loved the innovative roti breads, simple chutnetys and lovely heart warming spicy curries he served us last week!
If you want Kit's number contact me nby email; lauraine@laurainejacobs.co.nz