Lauraine’s blog
26 May 2011
Tetsuya. He’s an old friend as we met at a private dinner party about twelve years ago here in Auckland...he didn’t have to cook. He was there, like me, to taste some exquisite Japanese food and even more importantly drink some very special wines including Providence from Matakana and Cheval Blanc from Bordeaux. I have eaten at his restaurants, first in Rozelle and then in Sydney’s central city area, and run into Tetsuya in a few unlikely places, including one spectacular dinner in Minneapolis a few years ago.
So I was thrilled to emcee his Electrolux Masterclass last night at the Seafood School in Auckland’s Fish Market for an audience of food and design editors. Tetsuya now has two restaurants; his flagship in Sydney, and Waku Ghin, just named best restaurant in Singapore. But we weren’t there to observe the complexity and work that goes into the food of those temples of dining. Rather we were treated to two hours of incredibly simple cookery that we could all replicate at home. (Well, some might!)
He cooked eggs, and there’s no connection at all to the scrambled eggs we usually think of. These were ever so gently moved over heat and served with butter, ricotta, cream and chives. Yum! He cooked crab, simply flavoured and stirred. A paua, writhing and live one minute, then placed over the lowest possible heat from the induction cooktop until it gently cooked for two hours, was the most tender thing you can imagine. As for the thick wagyu steaks, seared over high heat (no salt and pepper) and then placed in a very low oven for at least 90 minutes; tasty , juicy and meltingly tender.
The final act was a tagine of chicken. Spices, raisins, dates, vegetables, tomatoes, well marinated chicken thighs and more, served over couscous. Inspiring!
And then dinner at the French Café. I did not really need that, as delicious as it was, but who would give up the chance to dine with the Master?
Pic: Tetsuya with his head chef Luke, originally from Wellington, and assistant Nicole.
26 May 2011
What a privilege. Madhur Jaffrey made her first visit to New Zealand and I spent ten days accompanying her at a host of events. Many will be familiar with Madhur’s book, Climbing the Mango Trees, the account of her childhood in Delhi. She lived in large house where more than 30 people sat down to meals everyday and enjoyed a carefree life. Until the partition of India in 1947 that tore a nation in two. It’s interesting that she still thinks of the Indian sub-continent as her homeland and enjoys the culture and foodways of the total region.
She’s an eloquent and elegant actress and food writer, captivating the large attendance that listened to her at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival. She spoke at a session chaired by Alexa Johnston at the Aotea Centre and at a fabulous Curry Lunch at The Langham Hotel. The NZ Guild of Food Writers had a private dinner with Madhur at Satya restaurant in Great North Rd, where the Authoka family cooked a banquet that was truly delicious, and included some fabulous new dishes for the occasion. (Loved that lamb gongura and their famous dahi puri.)
It was then Wellington to Ruth Pretty for Indian High Tea, followed by my idea of bliss; dinner in the kitchen with Ruth and Paul feasting on scampi and lamb. See the ‘Wines to Drink’ section of my Blog for Paul’s cellar treats. The final engagement was a lovely six course dinner at the James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel for over 100 people. A huge success!
But the real fun began for me when we drove to my beach house at Omaha and Madhur and I cooked together. We shared simple food; preparing a feast for friends that included spiced lamb, braised chokos, eggplant cooked in a tamarillo sauce (a creative first), Madhur’s special potatoes and a divinely creamy mango pudding. For me it was a master class in using spices!
Madhur wrote to me in an email I received this morning, “I am deliriously happy about everything you let me see and taste -- those very expensive, delicious crayfish, the likes of which can only be compared to the finest Maine lobster (though the Maine lobster has nothing much in its legs), the sea-and-land whitebait fritter we shared in the market that I might not have had a chance to even know about, the tamarillos that turned out to be so versatile, and of course, your stunning, welcoming beach house with its sea and hearth.”
I hope she returns, soon.
20 May 2011
It's been a whirlwind tour. The Auckland Writers and Readers Festival events, a food writers dinner with Madhur at Satya restaurant in Newton, then a flying trip to Wellington.
An Indian style High Tea at Ruth Pretty's, then a splendid dinner for more than 100 of Madhur's fans at the James Cook Hotel gave everyone a real insight into this fabulous woman's life in food and the acting world.
Now we're at Omaha , planning a home-cooked dinner we will prepare together tomorrow, Madhur-style for Saturday night, before she flies back to her home in New York on Sunday.
Above is a pic of Madhur signing her books at Ruth's and you can read about the wonderful hospitality there on the Wines to Drink page of this website.
16 May 2011
Sundays can return to normal. We will get to see proper drama instead of bullying, shouting and tears. And congratulations to the dietitian Nadia, who overcame her profession’s propensity for bland food and cooked her heart out in a cool and calculated way. Such a pity she’s now left the job she was trained to do - that girl could make a difference. My heart goes out to Jax who bubbled over with enthusiasm and passion for food throughout the series. There were four truly memorable personalities in the series; Jax, cuddly judge Simon Gault, villainous Chef Volker, and the rough and ready adorable Cam, who struck a chord with viewers and contestants alike.
I have a few questions about the final; Where did Simon Wright disappear to? He was there, tried the food, but didn’t bother to hang about to give judgement on a two hour session. * What on earth were polystyrene plinths doing on a cooking show? * Who made the buttercream and was Jax’s sabotaged? (My engineer husband said the logic behind the explanation of construction failed miserably with him.) * Larousse Gastronomique tells me Bouillabaisse has parsley and bay leaf, and rock-fish and shellfish so why were the first two omitted and where do we think John Dory come from – the rocks? * How could a gal who’d never cooked pork before know to press the belly like that before crisping up the crackling?
And a big challenge for next season if there is to be one. How about making it a truly New Zealand series and using fresh produce from artisans, farmers markets and local farmers to showcase our country’s amazing wealth and depth of fabulous food? Oh, I know the answer to that one. The Aussie-owned supermarket chain came up with all the dollars.
11 May 2011
I have returned from three days of driving around the Coromandel and judging their annual Café Crawl. It’s a jolly affair, three nights, three restaurants in each town in a sort of progressive dinner, and a theme of ‘pioneer spirit.’ Suffice to say my lips are completely sealed about which town won; Thames, Tairua or Coromandel Town.
What truly impressed me however was the extensive use of local produce in every establishment I ate in. Chefs and restaurant owners put their heads together to construct dishes that truly reflected the Coromandel terroir, making use of everything that’s grown and produced on the peninsula. The region is known for misty bush clad hills, sandy beaches and narrow winding roads that cling to the cliffs or the shoreline.
Coromandel includes the peninsula from Whangamata north to Cape Colville and the Hauraki Plains. So in food terms that means abundant seafood and aquaculture, dairy produce, honey, nuts, plenty of meat and fruit and vegetables from fertile farms and gardens. Almost everything a kitchen needs. We ate very, very well. (See other posts on my blog, and also in a forthcoming Listener food column I am writing.)
It has occurred to me that this incredible use of everything local that’s edible was mainly due to the spotlight this challenge threw on the region. I hear we are getting about 85,000 international visitors for the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. Not only will these visitors watch rugby, drink our beer and try bungy jumping, but they will have to eat. Wouldn’t it be amazing if everywhere they ate around the country the fare they were served truly reflected the local produce?
That would mean that if they went to any restaurant in Marlborough they would see mussels, salmon and sauvignon blanc listed on the menu. While in Taranaki they’d enjoy fabulous local cheese, and lamb culled from those salty paddocks that face the stiff westerly breezes from the Tasman Sea every day. In Northland they’d feast on locally caught snapper and fruits from the citrus orchards. And so on……
Sometimes I think the cafés around the country have one central kitchen, making big paninis stuffed with ham and cheese, meat pies and humungous scones, muffins and carrot cakes. How can we get them to wake up to the artisan producers in their districts, to the fresh farm produce that some farmers would be only too happy to deliver and to realise that food they serve should be an expression of everything local.
Pictured above is Ruth Pettitt at Colenso Gardens in Whenuakite near Hot Water Beach. Ruth is exemplary in her approach to local food. I missed her Feijoa Friday last week but she showed me a complete menu of local feijoa treats she would be preparing. She uses local produce for all her cooking and maintains an extensive garden for her stunning café. We need to clone Ruth and send her to every café around New Zealand NOW!
6 May 2011
It's not quite harvest time for macadamias yet, but come July/August the Pilkington family will be gathering their nuts. I was keen to visit as I had met the family at the Saturday La Cigale French market in Auckland and knew that they had just attended Slow Food in Turin.
Coromandel has a Homegrown food trail, and one of the most inviting stops is a self guided meander through the Pilkington's macadamia orchard near the brilliant Cathedral Cove on Lees Rd, Hahei.
These creamy crisp nuts, which are actually native to Australia grow very well in the Coromandel climate and have a myriad of possibilities, as they're great in baking, wonderful roasted and served with drinks, and can be crushed to a crumb and used for coating fish or meats. For five years in a row the Pilkingtons have won the Whitianga Scallop Festival challenge with their lemon kelp macadamia sprinkle coated scallops.
The family property is on fertile slopes and I could see the guiding principles and philosophy of Slow Food were well practised here, as chickens, orchards and a large garden make for sustainable and a self sufficient living. So good to see a life style block put to such good use.
And if you can't get to the Coromandel you can order all their products on line at cathedralcovemacadamias.co.nz.
6 May 2011
The Star & Garter saloon bar was our first stop for the third and final night of our Crawl found us in Coromandel town, and it was a short walk from the Anchor Lodge on Wharf Rd, where we stayed. After a heart-warming whisky and local honey-based cocktail it was onto a bus and off to the Mussel Kitchen for our entree.
Seafood always tastes better when you can smell the sea, so our starter of Coromandel oysters pictured above - our NZ rock and Pacific oysters plus a smoked oyster, followed by mussel fritters with a stunning baby leaf salad with limeade segments were totally appropriate, with the harbour's edge just across the road. (Both these shell fish are grown in open seawater nearby and can be bought at the respective processing plants, almost across from each other on SH25.)
We the headed to the very good Peppertree restaurant in the township for surf and turf, tender eye fillet of beef paired with a juicy crayfish tail. Peppertree has been in Coromandel for years and on Fridays a local market sets up on the pavement outside.
Finally, now groaning after three nights of almost too much food, we ate dessert at Success cafe, and roasted feijoas on the apple cobbler with Manuka honey ice cream and a caramel encased macadamia proved a fitting end to our local homegrown feasting.
What a terrific idea for tourists to follow this fun-filled dining trail over three consecutive days. It is truly and literally, a taste of the Coromandel.
6 May 2011
Who would think that in a tiny town of about 1200 people I would find as sophisticated dish as that pictured here?
Tairua is a holiday destination and for visitors just a whistle stop on the touring route around the Coromandel peninsula. But there are couple of very good places to dine, so it's worth staying a night at Pacific Harbour Lodge (ask for a chalet on the waterfront) and taking the time to dine.
Our cafe crawl meal started at Manaia Cafe in the main thoroughfare. A stunning frozen mojito made with local persimmon, orange, rosehip and vodka was garnished with a star fashioned form the centre of a persimmon and some incredibly edible coloured sugar crystals that loked like a cross between sand and crushed local gems. We then ate that quail pictured above; boned and stuffed deepfired leg, pan fed breast and balsamic lentils and Brussels Sprouts salad. The amazing touch of blue moimoi potatoes whisked in to blue foam gave the dish its cutting edge. Take a bow, Chef Oliver Rimpler!
It was then into the bus and off to The Cyprus Tree for lovely flounder fillets on a lime and lemon risotto with tempura whitebait and seaweed caviar. That little restaurant is one of the treasures of New Zealand, sitting out on the water overlooking the Tairua inlet. There's a corner table that I will be demanding if I return next summer when the restaurant re-opens for the season.
And we finished our crawl at The Old Mill with a lovely local apple baked in feijoa nectar and stuffed with dates, mascarpone and Whenuakite walnuts. Great use of local produce again.
6 May 2011
I have just spent three days touring in the Coromandel and judging a Café Crawl – part of the region’s Homegrown Festival on this month.
First town was Thames. We checked into Cotswold Cottage, (pic above) a charming B&B just on the edge of town with a sunny outlook over the Kauaeranga River. Highly recommended as the hosts Jacqui and Graham are experienced operators, who have revamped a lovely villa to provide very comfortable accommodation. Fine breakfasts served and dinner on request.
A café crawl involves three local restaurants or cafés getting together, organising a three course progressive dinner, and on this occasion reflecting not just the food locally grown, but also injecting a bit of pioneer spirit as that was the suggested theme.
A cocktail was served in the magnificent historic Pump Museum, then it was on to our starter at GBD in an old pub (there used to be over 100 pubs in Thames we learned from our tour leader who was well versed in the local history.) Matatoki Blue cheese dipped in Tairua honey and crusted with roasted chestnuts on a feijoa and guava jelly reflected both the food grown around and the season.
Mains at the cosy Rocco Restaurant were a choice of local seafood hotpot filed with Coromandel mussels, paua, and scallops in a broth or pickled local pork with native greens and appled cabbage. To finish Bullion, in the main street, served us an Apple Showcase with the cutest little toffee apple and a manuka honey mousse.
Good food and hospitality are part of the Thames experience and it’s worth taking time to stop there to seek it out and to spend time seeing a fascinating part of NZ's early pioneer history..
30 April 2011
It's not like me to stay up beyond midnight but as one of the young things said to me, "You probably only to get to see two royal weddings in a life time."
When I was at Cordon Bleu last century we rushed through our prep and then literally ran all the way from Marylebone to The Mall to watch the procession for Princess Anne's wedding to Mark Phillips. When Shy Di wed Charles, back in New Zealand, we bought our first TV, our daughter Katie wore a gold crown she'd made at Constance Colegrove kindergarten that day, and we all sat in our lounge and watched that regal occasion.
This time, for Will and Kate's wedding it was all about the food. I took my 88 year old mother to The Langham for the Tea Royale and Champagne during the week, as Mum wanted to watch this wedding by herself last night so she could hear and see everything and even change channels at whim. The Tea was a huge success on Wednesday. Mum loved every bite and was more than impressed with the nine tier wedding cake in the hotel foyer.
So we went to friends (pictured above)and I cannot imagine a more suitable dinner to celebrate than the one we shared last night, while glued to the telly. Fit for a future king, and certainly fit for a wedding observers' feast, we started with Champagne and oysters in the shell and smoked salmon on blinis.
Then Coq au Vin with salad and bread and Pegasus Bay pinot noir (a perfect meal for eating on the couch.) To top it off, just as the blissfully and newly- wed couple emerged from the Abbey, we indulged in pavlova with lemon cream and raspberries.
But there was more. How could you watch a wedding like that and not have chocolates? Scorched almonds - the classic- and a box of soft creamy centred chocolates.
Now, about those hats at the wedding........ouch!