September 2005 Archives

Although I was a late entrant to Samantha's Blog by Mail 2, she very kindly let me get involved and I sent off my package to Deborah in the USA on Wednesday. Figuring out what to put in it was a lot of fun and I eventually settled on a mixture of homemade goodies and local foodstuffs. I just hope that the postal service doesn't let me down and that it gets to Deborah before anything starts growing mould.

As Deborah is originally from New Zealand I thought that she might appreciate a taste of home. Every Kiwi bakery and café seems to have rows of delicious homemade sweet slices or tray bakes - Caramel Shortbread, Fudge Squares, Ginger Crunch, Citrus Slice, Chocolate Brownies - but my current favourite is Tan Slice. It is basically Caramel Shortbread (aka Millionaire or Wellington Square) but with extra shortbread on top, instead of chocolate, and is not at all difficult to make. It was incredibly more-ish - I even caught the Boyfriend having a pre-breakfast piece - and, judging by the speed at which this disappeared from the pantry, the Housemates also enjoyed it. In fact, there wasn't even anything left when I went to take a photo of it!

A handful of Spicy Chocolate Biscotti was one of the other treats that I put into Deborah's package. Ever since having Chocolate and Chilli Biscotti at Underground I've been wanting to try making these and, biscotti weighing hardly anything in terms of postage, this was the ideal opportunity. I used my trusty Aji chilli powder and ground cinnamon and, as I like something to contrast with the hard texture of the biscotti, I also added some Bournville Chocolate Balls that I had lying around but you could use any chopped up dark chocolate. These chocolate bites keep well in an airtight container, the spiciness improving with age, and I love them in the afternoon with a cup of strong coffee. They're also a good, rather more sophisticated, alternative to the soft, rich, intensely buttery Tan Slice.

One of the things that I do enjoy about living in New Zealand are all the cookery classes that are on offer. Not only the usual night courses at the various schools around Christchurch, but also food shops offering classes in the use of their goods à la the Mediterranean Food Company and Café and tonight I'm looking forward to a class with Judith Cullen of Judith Cullen's Cooking Classes fame.

That cookbook is particularly focused on cooking with seasonal produce, something that I've found much easier to figure out by buying my vegetables at Christchurch markets rather than having to depend on supermarket permaseasons. Apparently Judith is going to cook her September menu, "full of great North African flavours". Sounds good to me! And then, if I'm not all cooked out, there's a pasta workshop tomorrow night at the Mediterranean Food Company and Café...

Barbara at Auckland-based Winos and Foodies has tagged me for the foodie leg of Basic Juice's meme with two tails - The Best in the Last 30. You can read more about the meme here. Basically, the idea behind it was to write about the most wine-friendly dish I had eaten over the past month.

To be honest, I am not a very discriminatory wine drinker. I've always figured that I spend enough money on food without going overboard on the wine. I do enjoy a good wine but I'm afraid of learning too much about it and spoiling my palate for cheap bottles! There's plenty of time to get properly involved with wine in a slightly more monied future.

Having said that, I have been hording a little bottle of Giesen's Canterbury Late Harvest Riesling Reserve 1999 for the last six months after embarking on a fantastic food and wine tour with Vin de Pays. Twisting the rules of the meme a little, I decided that I could test it with some food and write about that.

That in mind, I trotted off to Canterbury Cheesemongers for some blue cheese recommendations. After a couple of tastings, I came away with a delicious sliver of Windsor Blue from Whitestone Cheeses in Oamaru. Partnered with some Scottish oatcakes - a rare treat in New Zealand as they're quite expensive - and some of the wild walnuts (I finally got a nut cracker!) that I bought at the farmers' market in Lyttelton, I had a feast fit for a (not so hungry) queen.

Not having a whole wine vocabulary at my disposal, I'll just say that the pairing of intensely creamy blue cheese and sweet - but slightly acid - wine was successful. The freshly cracked walnuts were a lovely addition but the oatcakes were too sweet and crumbly to be a good contrast. In future - if this is to happen again! - I'd use plain water crackers instead.

Later: I've just been reminded that I've to tag a pair of fellow bloggers so I name Plum at My Favourite Plum for the food leg of things and green LA girl for the wine angle. Best of luck!

Last night I went to see Tim Burton's faithful, yet curiously unsatisfying, adapation of Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Reviews aside - you can find a good one here - what fascinated me was the audible crack! every time someone bit into a Wonka bar in the film. It shows that Mr Wonka was indeed making fine chocolate, unlike the sweet pappy muck that bears his name at a sweet counter near you these days.

Food aside, it's also nice to see David Kelly, who plays Grandpa Joe getting a chance to play a decent role rather than another drunken old Irish sot - as in The Calcium Kid.

Quinoa is something that I've been meaning to cook for quite a while. About ten years, in fact, ever since I read Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food. He has several recipes for this protein-packed ancient grain and, as with all his writings, I was seduced by the delicious descriptions. Not seduced enough, however, to seek it out in Ireland but, since arriving in New Zealand, I've come across it on several occasions. Eventually, an article in Cuisine led me to buy some from Piko which...just sat in the pantry until an inquiry about it from the Boyfriend's mother made me decide that it was time to actually try cooking it instead of admiring it every time I opened the door of the pantry.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is an ancient grain from the Andes in South America and was one of the staple foods of the ancient Incan civilization. With more high quality protein than any other grain, rich in nutrients, gluten free, easy to digest and quick to prepare it is easy to see how it has become touted as a new supergrain - and why it is so popular with vegetarians.

Another fact in its favour is its versatility. It can be boiled in plenty of water and then strained, cooked by the absorption method, used to make a type of risotto/pilaf and, like couscous or bulgur wheat, is a great base for salads. Like both those grains, it has a very neutral taste so it's best to season it well to avoid blandness.

For my first time cooking quinoa I decided to make it into a salad. Although I cooked it by the absorption method, the next time I have it in a salad I will use plenty of boiling salted water as it was a little stuck together. Or maybe that's just the way it turns out normally - I'll have to do some more tests! It was fascinating to watch the quinoa as it cooked. A small white thread appeared around each grain and then the grain swelled, becoming tender and juicy.

When it was cooked and the water evaporated off, I tossed it in my basic vinaigrette - extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wholegrain mustard and plenty of seasoning - with a few chickpeas that I had also cooked that morning, some chopped red onion and fresh coriander from the garden. With enough good vinaigrette and everything tastes good anyway but, the real interest of the quinoa was in its texture rather than taste. My two testers - the Boyfriend and an English friend who is staying at the moment - and I had the salad for lunch and there were definitely seconds eaten!

When cooked, the small spherical grains turn translucent and soft while the thread - the external germ - remains crunchy. Quinoa has a unique bobbly texture which one of the lads described as porridge-like but I thought it was closer to fish roe, in a tasty way. Actually, it was so tasty that I had to go out to the kitchen just there and have another spoonful of the salad, in the name of research, you understand! I also went to Piko again this afternoon to buy some more quinoa for the next experiment. A tasty success.

Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I do not like potatoes. I am not a fan of the mashed potato, nor do I like boiled potatoes, potato cakes, potato croquettes, potato salad, baked potatoes or potato gratin. I avoid any dish which involves the word aloo in Indian restaurants and I don't like potatoes even if they are disguised as Shepherds Pie or hash browns or slipped into a soup or stew. In short, you may say, that I detest the common spud. The only two potato-based products that I do eat are chips, not wedges (too potato-y), and crisps, preferably Tayto Cheese & Onion, although I also have a sneaking, if unpatriotic, fondness for Walkers Ready Salted crisps.

This dislike of potatoes, the staple of Irish dinners, goes back into the distant past. My mother, despairing that her eldest child refused to eat most health-giving foods - at different stages I wouldn't touch vegetables or any sort or meat - entered into a battle of wills with me at an early age. My dinner, including a portion of the hated potato, would be put in front of me and I would not be allowed to leave the table until I had eaten it. Of course, being a terribly stubborn kid (poor Mum!), I would sit there...and sit there...and sit there...and sit there. This sitting for long periods in front of the loathed potatoes did nothing to improve our acquaintance. As a result, even though I now eat and relish all the other things that I wouldn't touch when I was small, there's still one big exception - the potato.

This causes some difficulties when the Boyfriend and I are invited to dinner. "Is there anything you don't eat?" we are asked. My reply: "I'll eat anything - except for potatoes" always seems to cause consternation. Of course these days there are a plethora of starchy foodstuffs - rice, pasta, noodles - that have replaced the potato as the main carbohydrate of choice in Ireland but my non-spud eating seems often to be the cause of some hostess heartache (my mother would empathise). In New Zealand the reaction is even funnier. "But you're Irish!" is the normal exclamation, "you all eat potatoes, don't you?" The Great Irish Famine in Ireland, caused by the potato blight in the late 1840s, has indelibly marked the Irish as potato eaters, despite the fact that a lot changes in 150 years.

The opening film in the Date Palm Film Festival in Christchurch on Thursday night was an engrossing study of Moroccan life entitled In Casablanca Angels Don't Fly. The three main characters are economic migrants, dreaming of their home villages, as they work at a minimum wage job in a bustling Casablanca café. It is a tragic tale, although occasionally shot through with moments of humour, of the struggles faced by village men who have to leave their families to work in a big city.

Given my love of Moroccan cuisine, the food depicted in the film made an immediate impact on me. I found myself peering behind the characters as they did their marketing in a colourful souk and wanting to look into the pots that the female characters stirred in their basic mud homes. Mint tea, an the national drink of Morocco, appeared on a regular, almost fetishistic, basis. The long narrow spouts of the teapots pouring a thin stream of hot sweet fragrant liquid into small glasses. I could feel the Boyfriend beside me, longing for his own glass of the brew.

Food aside, In Casablanca Angels Don't Fly is a haunting and engrossing story. Worth checking out at an art house cinema near you.

Just taking a look at the World Food Media awards website and some of my favourite food writers appear on their list of nominees.

No Nigel Slater, alas, but Stephanie Alexander, Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Cuisine magazine are among those nominated for the biennial awards which, apparently, are known as the food and drink industry's equivalent to the Oscars.

Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion has been nominated in the category of Publications: Best Food Book and I really think that she deserves to take the Golden Ladle here. From my perusal of the book, I would consider The Cook's Companion to be a near-invaluable kitchen necessity. I often, now I am without it, find myself wondering, "how would Stephanie prepare this?" and trying to remember the useful list of ingredients that, for instance, silverbeet or lamb goes well with. Another book in that category, Last Chance to Eat by Gina Mallett, is currently sitting by my bedside at the moment - the story of my life! - and I hope to get around to reading it soon.

Taste: Baking with Flavour by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs is in competition for the Best Soft Cover Recipe Book (Under US$25) along with Dear Francesca by Mary Contini, partner in Edinburgh's famous Italian delicatessen Valvona and Crolla. While I do love Taste, the blend of evoctive family memoir and Italian food in Dear Francesca just might see me leaning in that direction.

Ooh! I've just been on the Observer Magazine website - a great treat to browse though when you're sitting by the computer with a cup of coffee and don't have the real OM to hand on a Sunday - and I discovered that they're running a series of extracts from Nigel Slater's new cookery book, The Kitchen Diaries.

Nigel is one of my all-time food heroes. His Real Fast Food - which recently made it into Waitrose Food Illustrated Magazine's top ten most useful cookery books - was one of the first modern cookbooks to truly enrapture me. As I was a student at the time, its litany of things to do with affordable storecupboard essentials like rice and pasta, tuna and tinned tomatoes was inspirational. It was actually the only book, of my rather large cookbook collection, to make it into my rucksack and travel to New Zealand with me and I've also, to my great delight, managed to pick up a copy of his Real Fast Puddings at a library sale.

When I'm at home his books are the ones that I go back to time and time again whenever I need inspiration. I haven't yet discovered another food writer that is so in love with his ingredients and so well able to express it. I love his weekly Observer column, from which I have cut out and tried numerous recipes, and I will be forever grateful to my mother back in Ireland who faithfully sends me the Observer Food Monthly magazine, edited by the self-same Mr Slater.

I'm already salivating at the idea of this new cookbook. According to the Observer, The Kitchen Diaries is Nigel's record of the foods that he cooked, shopped for and picked over 12 months. Sounds rather like a blog to me...

After enjoying a visit to the Nelson branch of the Mediterranean Food Company, I had intended to visit their shop in Christchurch, which also includes a café, for quite a while now but, somehow, it just never seemed to happen. But when I did finally make it I had a very pleasant afternoon, browsing through the shelves of this Aladdin's Cave, piled high with ingredients from the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

I had to limit myself - being broke again! - to just two things which I hadn't been able to source anywhere else: a bottle of pomegranate molasses and a bag of smoked Spanish paprika. As I slowly wandered towards the counter to pay for my purchases, I was distracted at every turn by glorious spices, unusual pastas, varieties of risotto rice and polenta galore, piles of Amaretti biscuts and beautiful boxes of Turkish Delight. My attention, though, was eventually caught by a sign which had details on it about a Tapas Evening taking place at the Mediterranean Food Company and Café in the near future. Being a sucker for any kind of cookery demonstration, it wasn't long before I signed up for the class, especially since it was only $20 - a veritable bargain.

I've been getting plenty of use out of the ras el hanout that I made fairly recently and it is particularly good with lamb. Of course, being in New Zealand, there's no shortage of the baa-ing beast although, as the Boyfriend told a former vegetarian friend after one such dinner, we only eat the ugly ones!

A little while ago I was cooking dinner - which I decided should have a Moroccan flavour - for some members of the Boyfriend's family. Desert, in the form of Greg Malouf's Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with Turkish Delight, was decided on first so all that remained was to figure out a complementary main course for eight people beforehand. I decided on two dishes - a vegetarian (albeit Greek) Spanakopita and my slow cooked Moroccan Lamb and Apricot Tagine with Ral Al Hanout, with a large bowlful of Couscous with Toasted Nuts served alongside.

Most of this menu can be prepared ahead which is always a huge advantage when people are coming round for dinner and you have a small kitchen. The Boyfriend and I made the Spanakopita and Bread and Butter Pudding in the morning, putting them aside to be cooked at the last minute. About two hours before guests were due I got the Moroccan Lamb and Apricot Tagine into the oven. As always, there were plenty of things to be done at the last minute but, with all hands on deck, nothing got out of hand and we managed to feed everybody - eventually!

My local Oxfam Fair Trade shop here in Christchurch has started stocking Fair Trade spices, including ground ginger, cinnamon - ground and sticks, whole cloves, whole and ground black peppercorns and chilli powder, all from Sri Lanka. I've only bought the black peppercorns so far - they're really pungent, after they spent a night in my handbag it all smells of pepper! Each little package comes with a little flyer giving information on the origins of the spice and some ideas of how to make the most of it in cooking.

The Oxfam Fair Trade shop also stocks many other Fair Trade products including Thai jasmine rice - not my beloved basmati, alas - tea, chocolate, coffee (beans and ground as well as, I was interested to see, an instant version), hot chocolate and a huge variety of handicrafts. All prices are very reasonable, my peppercorns were only $2.95, for instance - a small price to pay for a clear conscience.

Find out more about Fair Trade here.
Oxfam Ireland have their website, including information on where your local shop is situated, here.

Taste: Baking With Flavour is the third book from the partnership of professional baker Dean Brettschneider and contributing food editor at Cuisine magazine, Lauraine Jacobs. Their first two books - The New Zealand Baker and Baker, The Best of International Baking from Australian and New Zealand Professionals - were perhaps a little too technical for home use, although it was evident that they were fantastic resources for anyone in the baking business.

Without dumbing down in any way, the authors have redressed this issue in Taste and the book is packed with more than 50 recipes that will have even the more inexperienced cooks making a beeline for the kitchen. This time round, the authors have broken the method down to manageable steps plus, beside each recipe, are useful Keys to Success, which draw your attention to variations, substitutions and suggestions to make the recipe easier.

There are several unusual taste and texture combinations - Plum, Almond and Fennel Tart or Rosemary Rice Pudding Tart being just two of these - and plenty of gluten-free options, Lemon and Blueberry Polenta Cake and Poppy Seed Bread, for example. There are also recipes for those interested in taking bread baking a little big further and the Chardonnay Loaf, topped with a hand-moulded bunch of grapes (instructions and pictures included!), is a fine illustration of this.

The book is divided into three chapters - Pastries, Pies and Tarts; Breads; and Cakes and Cookies - each of which starts with basic techniques and recipes to enable you to get the best out of whichever recipes you decide to cook. Ending with supplementary information on ingredients and equipment, Taste: Baking With Flavour is an essential addition to anyone's baking library.

Taste by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs is published by Random House New Zealand.

When I recently received an email from Mia at Eat Feed telling me about their weekly foodie podcasts I was delighted. Having spent years involved with Cork Campus Radio, I love listening to radio, especially when I'm working from home, and RTÉ Radio 1 is the station I most miss while here in New Zealand. Although familiar with the whole idea of internet radio, being a regular listener to Seattle music station KEXP, this was my first introduction to the Eat Feed show which is presented from Chicago by Anne Bramley.

The first show I downloaded and listened to was their most recent broadcast, Revolutionary Taste. The opening interview, with Sheri Brooks Vinton, co-author of The Real Food Revival, really caught my attention especially after my recent involvement with the Eat Local Challenge. In her interview Brooks Vinton talked about how important it is for consumers to become aware of the food that they're eating, where it comes from, and how it is processed. I was also interested to hear about how to make good shopping choices even if you only have access to a supermarket and her recipe for making your own (non-alcoholic) ginger beer sounded like it was worth a try! That show also had an interview with food historian Jan Longone and Mark Prince of the Coffee Geek website talking about home espresso machines.

It wasn't long before I moved on to their Patrick's Day broadcast, Feeding the Celtic Tiger. As I write now I'm listening to Darina Allen waxing lyrical about the Ballymaloe Cookery School and food in Ireland and looking forward to hearing Giana Ferguson on her famous Gubbeen Cheese from West Cork. It looks like Eat Feed has acquired another fan - thanks Mia!

*****

Talking about Darina Allen, while looking for more information on Camla Farm apple cider recently, I came across this link to an interesting piece that she wrote on the food that she encountered on a recent trip to New Zealand. She has some great recipes on the page and now I have an idea, other than soup, for using the pumpkin that has been sitting on the top of my fridge for the last few weeks.

Even though yesterday was a miserable day in Lyttelton, it looked like the farmers' market was successful. The Boyfriend, his sister and I made our way out there around 11am and the Supervalue Carpark was pretty busy by that stage, with a few of the suppliers already running out of supplies. We wandered around for a while, tasting Ground Foods delicious dips and observing the huge queue at the Tuahiwi Organic Produce stall but the cold wet day ensured that we had little inclination for dawdling. We did manage to pick up a few things, however, before we legged it to the warmth of a local café.

12 - eggs from Annie's Free-Range Eggs.
9 - beautiful handmade chocolates, three of each Baileys, peppermint and Cointreau/orange, from a woman called Victoria who had the biggest and most desirable-looking chocolate and carrot cakes on her stall as well. Perhaps next week...
2 - small punnets of mustard and rocket seedlings for planting in the garden.
1 - pot of mizuna salad leaves for the same purpose.
1 - bottle of Brayburn apple juice from Annabel of Camla Farm who assured me that she will be there next week with real cider.
1 - bag of wild walnuts. All we need now is a nutcracker!

Although there is no shortage of small weekend markets in and around Christchurch, the one thing missing is a proper farmers' market. A couple of weeks ago, however, I read an announcement in local newspaper The Christchurch Press - which does a fantastic food section every Thursday - about a farmers' market starting up this Saturday, 3rd of September, at the Supervalue Carpark, which is just off Canterbury Street in Lyttelton. Lyttelton is a harbour community, just about half-an-hour's drive from Christchurch, and was one of the original ports of entry for English settlers arriving in New Zealand in the 1850s.

The farmers' market will take place from 10am till 1pm and will sell locally grown and locally made produce, direct to the public from the producers. Apparently the goods for sale must be either grown or produced by the seller - no middle men - and no craft stalls are allowed. A recent email I got from the Christchurch branch of Slow Food detailed a few of the producers, some of whom will be familiar names from these pages:

Athena Olives, Vic's Bread, Ground Foods - quality spices and dips, Tuahiwi Organic Produce, an egg producer, a honey vendor, a flower grower, a small goods manufacturer, a garlic producer, a patisserie maker. Fresh fish will also be sold separately from the fishing wharf.

As you may have noticed, I was recently involved in Jen's Eat Local Challenge during August, and, although the month has finished, it doesn't mean that the challenge is truly over. As an avowed lover of markets, to the Boyfriend's frequent exasperation (I tell him that he can't complain too much - at least he gets good meals out of it!), this is the perfect place for me to stock up and meet some more small local producers. For anyone based in the Canterbury region, it should be well worth checking out.

Even though I came late to the month-long challenge - think last week! - I've really enjoyed having to focus on Eating Locally. New Zealand, and especially Canterbury, is a particularly good place to be doing this.

Earlier this year I interviewed Tina Duncan, who has a catering business, runs cookery classes and is also one of the founders of the international food and wine masterclass Savour New Zealand. She said that one of the reasons for locating Savour NZ in Christchurch was because of the great local produce that comes from Canterbury. "Once we discovered we could make great wine then the emergence of boutique producers followed on because they're all part of the industry," said Tina during our chat.

"You want the olives to go with the wine and the olive oils are just getting better and better. We're growing the best saffron in the world here in Canterbury and we're making fantastic wasabi. We just wanted to celebrate the fact that we've such wonderful produce." Wine, olives, olive oil, saffron and wasabi are only the tip of the food iceberg produced in Canterbury and during the interview Tina pointed out that this area can rightly be called the pantry of New Zealand.