espresso December 2012

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www.espressomagazine.co.nz | December 2012 | Volume 01 | Issue 08

e r u t l u c é f ca & d o o f t fas

Eat, drink and be merry – Page 9

A slice of advice – Pizza recipes page 22

editorial

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hristmas greetings to you – Ng mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koe.

So here it is, the end of another year and I trust it has been successful for you all. The summer is projected to be a good one – unlike last year’s except for those lucky Southerners who had day after brilliant day, although that in itself brought some problems.

Anyway, we are supposed to be bathed in sunshine this summer, which hopefully will translate into a good start to the year for all of you in the food industry. Here’s hoping customers are queuing for your outside tables, ruining the screen door of your bakery from constantly entering and running you off your feet looking for takeaway picnic dinners.

In anticipation of your increased summer custom, we’ve included a few tried and true recipes in this issue of espresso Magazine, that we hope will help fill the holes in your cabinet after a rush of business. Some might initially take a little time to prepare, such as the home-made pasta, but you’ll be glad you did when a last-minute customer comes looking for a late lunch and you can throw a handful of fresh pasta in the pot and have it on a plate in front of them within minutes.

And because you’ll all be too busy to sit down and read, there won’t be another issue of espresso until February. I look forward to catching up with you then and meeting many more of you as we discover our café, pasta, pizza and baristas of the month and search out those of you who are whipping up a storm in the kitchen; be it chocolate, cakes, sauces and other condiments, syrups, coffee, tea and all those other interesting things the New

Zealand food industry is known for.

Be safe, be happy and extend that wish to everyone you make contact with, whether you know them or not.

And that’s a wrap…..

Jane Warwick, Editor editor@espressomagazine.co.nz

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I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

– Charles Dickens

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December 2012 |

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contents

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café culture

MONIN Barista of the month – Espresso Bar Gabby Perry began her barista career just out of school and the job has taken her all over New Zealand and into Australia. It is a job she loves and one she believes will hold her in good stead almost anywhere in the world.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake 14

Kathryn Stoddart and Colleen Holden say they are passionate about their business. And they would have to be to bake up to 1000 cupcakes a day from scratch and still come back for more.

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16 Watties Café of the month – Florence’s Food Store

& Café Since the doors of Florence’s Food Store and Café first opened in July the business has been a hit with everyone from tourists and locals to top New Zealand foodies and chefs.

Liquid Gold 19

Starbucks´ latest brew – Costa Rica Finca Palmilera – is the company’s most expensive brew to date.

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chit chat

Not worth the salt 18

Salt enhances flavour when added to food but has a negative impact on health. How do we prepare food that appeals to people’s innate preference for salt and and sells well, while only containing moderate amounts of salt?

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pizza pasta

Pasta of the month – Taking control of the pasta Plain pasta is a great thing to have in your pantry for emergencies. For the Christmas rush we offer you some easy and interesting recipes for pasta sauces, as well as showing you how to make your own, easy fresh pasta.

Pizza of the month – A slice of advice We continue our DIY theme to help with an excess of summer customers by providing you with some great pizza topping ideas as well as showing you how to make easy pizza bases out of dough…and out of zucchini or cauliflower.

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Marketplace/Events

FEATURES Eat, drink and be merry All across the nation, cafés are gearing up for Christmas.

Ovens are working overtime. Owners talk about how they cope with the Christmas rush and share some of their favourite Christmas recipes.

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KFC takes to the skies There are those that will be pleased and those that will be appalled – Japan Airlines will serve Kentucky Fried Chicken on select international flights for the next two months (Dec 1 – Feb 28).

The airline collaborated with the fast food provider as part of the Christmas holiday festivities, a celebration that is mostly commercial in Japan and popular with young lovers.

The popularity of KFC as a Christmas feast supposedly came about because expats used to buy it for Christmas dinner as turkey was not – in the 1970s – readily available in Japan. Young Japanese followed the trend and KFC is now a popular Christmas dish among all ages.

The in-flight meal – Air Kentucky Fried Chicken – is being served to Premium Economy and Economy passengers and consists of an Original Recipe drumstick and breast fillet and a cup of coleslaw. Lettuce leaves and a flatbread baked especially for the meal are also included so that the chicken can be made into a sandwich if desired.

JAL says it has created ‘exquisite packaging’ for the meal which features JAL and Espresso Colonel Sanders on a adv3.pdf special box 11/30/2012 and tray mat. 11:56:59 AM

Have a ball this summer

Bite-size savoury balls covered in parmesan and Swiss cheese and smothered in zesty garlic butter and balls of hot dough doused in cinnamon sugar are now available from Domino’s for NZD2.99 for a pack of 16.

The new product – Cheesy Bites and Cinni Bites – are already proving popular and Domino’s New Zealand general manager, Josh Kilimnik, says the company believes the tasty morsels will quickly become a tasty hit with its customers. Visit dominiospizza.co.nz

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Half century for Nestlé It’s been 50 years since the produce Nescafé coffee for a Nestlé’s Cambria Park main nation of tea drinkers. Coffee’s production site in New Zealand popularity and production opened at Wiri in Auckland volumes have since increased and the company has been and Nescafé is now the celebrating. Hundreds of country’s leading coffee brand, Nestlé products have been says Nestlé. Over the past 50 manufactured here at some years, Cambria Park production point and thousands of Kiwis Early New Zealand in-store promotion has extended beyond the have worked there. And, our and Nescafé first hit New Zealand New Zealand market with love of Highlander Condensed shelves in cans like this. specialised culinary and Milk (ssshhhh! – eaten straight confectionery lines extended out of the can while Mum’s not looking), to offshore markets supplying Australia, Japan Nescafé, Milo and Scorched Almonds have and Pacific Islands with Maggi products and contributed hundreds of millions to the local producing confectionary favourites such as economy, says Nestlé.

Nestlé Scorched Almonds, Wonka Twists, The company started with just 50 staff and now Oddfellows mints and Mackintosh toffees for employs 320 people, produces 220 products from the local market and Australia. its manufacturing lines, and exports around NZD60 The Nestlé Community Environment million of goods each year.

Programme (NCEP) at Cambria Park has Although the Nestlé brand first arrived in been running for the past nine years. The New Zealand more than 130 years ago, when programme has invested over NZD200, 000 products were brought here in the luggage and contributed to the planting of 15,000 trees of European immigrants, a local factory was along the Puhinui Stream, the installation of not opened until 1962. Initially its aim was to water tanks, compost and gardening systems

in Weymouth Intermediate and Papatoetoe High School, and the development of the Tangaroa College school garden.

Nestlé says it looks forward to a strong future for its Cambria Park factory and the management team acknowledges the contribution of staff, past and present, as well as the loyal consumers who have all helped shape the history of Nestlé.

Nestlé S.A. is based in Vevey, Switzerland and is reportedly the largest food company in the world measured by revenues. Its products include baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream, pet foods and snacks. Annual sales of over one billion Swiss francs are attributed to 29 of its brands including Nespresso, Nescafé, KitKat, Smarties, Nesquik, Stouffer’s, Vittel and Maggi.

Nestlé has around 450 factories, operates in 86 countries, and employs around 328,000 people.

It’s been good for us for 50 years While Nestlé was starting its campaign to get New Zealanders to drink not only more coffee but particularly Nescafé coffee, another beverage that would become a staple of New Zealand pantries was also about to launch.

In 1962 the Apple and Pear Growers Board faced a dilemma when truckloads of leftover fruit posed a potential problem.

It didn’t want to waste the fruit, but what to do? It was decided to juice it and a better decision could not have been made because 50 years later Fresh Up is quite

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literally still on everyone’s lips.

More than seven million packs are now produced every year, a huge increase from the 1000 cans per day from the first Fresh Up manufacturing line. Those cans also had to be opened with a can opener.

The drink’s first celebrity face was the now Sir John Walker, who, in an effort to speed up the filming of the advertisement, apparently deviated from his given lines and said to the film crew “Look guys, it’s gotta be good for you” and so began a tag line that’s become part of the Kiwi lexicon, whether referring to Fresh Up or something else.

Other sports stars endorsed the brews over the years, including Marc Ellis, Matthew Ridge, Annelise Coberger and Geoff Howarth. The drink eventually moved away from positioning itself as a

sports drink and went for the weekend warrior market and the ordinary Kiwi bloke.

Joel Reichardt, Brand Manager for Fresh Up, says the decision made 50 years ago to use surplus apples to create a product with longevity, is something the company is hugely proud of.

“Celebrating 50 years of Fresh Up in New Zealand is both nostalgic and rewarding.

It is a juice that has its roots firmly entrenched in Kiwi inventiveness and positivity.

“During Fresh Up’s lifespan there have been over 12 flavour variants, but one thing has remained the same - the logo and colours - consistency which has ensured the brand is a staple in many Kiwi households,” says Reichardt.

Watch this space for some ‘exciting’ Fresh Up initiatives planned for 2013.

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No more daily bread?

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New Zealand

BREAD PUDDING Ingredients 3-4 packed cups of stale or frozen cubed bread 3 eggs 3 cups milk (low fat can be used) 1 3 / cup sugar ½ tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla extract Method Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 22cmx33cm pan.

Spread the bread in the pan Beat together remaining ingredients. Pour over the bread.

Bake about 35 minutes or until firm but not dry.

Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream, yoghurt, cream or fresh sliced fruit.

You can add 1½ cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the bread or one or two ripe bananas with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

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the preservatives,” he explains.

The research is also aimed at reducing outbreaks of foodborne illness. Around 48 million Americans become ill every year from contaminated food, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, with outbreaks this year linked to tainted cantaloupes, mangoes, meat and peanut butter. However, the technology is not suitable for all kinds of food, Stull says reporting that efforts to sterilise cantaloupes were a failure. “We used our tumbler machine to treat them,” Stull said.

“You can’t tumble cantaloupes because they get bruised.”

MicroZap is also promoting the technology as a solution to the superbug MRSA, the dangerous drug-resistant infection that is now endemic in many US hospitals. It also claims its technology is more effective at killing salmonella and E. coli than existing methods. It will also be more palatable for the public than irradiating food, Stull says.

Despite the obvious benefits to the food industry, which would cut back on waste hugely, Stull believes long-life loaves may not necessarily be of interest to the average consumer. “You probably won’t see a lot of people wanting 60-day-old bread,” he says.

In the meantime, if you’ve raised your head from this article to contemplate the bread left over from today that won’t be any good for sandwiches tomorrow, here’s an easy recipe for good old-fashioned bread pudding. Serve it hot with yoghurt and a cup of coffee and watch the customer come back for more.

PLEA

The morning run to the bakery to get the day’s fresh bread may become a thing of the past.

American researchers say they have developed a technology that prevents bread from growing mould for 60 days keeping it fresh and maintaining its taste without the use of preservatives.

This is good news for cafes and other food providers but perhaps not so exciting for bakeries.

The technology, which sterilises and extends the shelf life of foods without cooking or damaging it, was developed by a private company founded by professors at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

As well as the bread, researchers have successfully treated pet food - which was responsible for the majority of recalls in the United States this year – fresh turkeys, leafy herbs such as coriander and jalapeno peppers.

The technology uses pulsed microwave frequencies from multiple sources to pasteurise food. The food is zapped for a set time – 40 seconds for jalapeno peppers, for example. Unlike conventional microwave ovens, there are no hot and cold spots, and the process does not damage or cook the food.

Don Stull, chief executive of developer MicroZap, says the researchers tried the technology on a slice of bread and when they checked the mould after 60 days, it had the same level of mould that it did when it came straight out of the oven.

“What we are trying to do is give some ability to have a long shelf life without all

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How to succeed in business Annie Wang is nothing if not tenacious. If door knocking on every single business in her area was what it would take to boost business over the lunch hour, then that is what she was prepared to do. So she printed out special corporate vouchers and made the rounds of the footpath, offering loca l businesses discounted lunchtime menus – and it paid off: business boomed.

So it’s no wonder that Annie has gone from pizza store manager to franchise owner in just five years. Although her degree in marketing and business from Auckland’s Massey University was a great help, ultimately it was her work ethic and belief in herself that ensured she succeeded.

Annie (30) is now one of Domino’s Pizza’s newest owner/operator, taking over ownership of the Glenfield (Auckland) store on Oct 1.

It has been, she says, a steep but

exciting learning curve so far.

“I have spent my entire career with Domino’s. I started out working at the Beach Haven store, before getting transferred to Glenfield to manage the store as it wasn’t doing as well as it could and they wanted me to help make some important changes.”

She took on the challenge of transforming the Glenfield store, including issuing a decree that the store must be left sparkling clean by the end of every shift.

“I gave a little speech to all the staff and requested that we all, including my boss and the former owner of Domino’s Glenfield, come in and do a few extra hours to get the store into shape. I explained that if we clean every single day, then it will be easy to maintain a high standard of tidiness from then on,” she says.

It is that dedication to quality and good presentation at all times that has

ensured the store passes every single OER inspection by Domino’s head office, and Annie says the store has even received a few coveted five-star rankings - the highest accolade within the company for all Domino’s stores across Australasia.

The OER inspections ensure that the stores have consistently high standards of food hygiene and preparation, store cleanliness, sales, marketing and customer service.

It’s only been just over a month since Annie completed the journey from store manager to owner, but she already has many more plans to draw in more customers.

“I won’t give away too much yet, but there are definitely other improvements I would like to make around the store.

I still have a lot to learn though, so I think I’d like to take a few months just to learn the ropes. I haven’t had too much paperwork to deal with before this, but now that’s taken top priority.

Head office has been really supportive, but they also believe in letting people find their own way.”

“All I can say is: watch this space!”

White raspberry a hit Whittaker’s White Raspberry chocolate bar, “The response has been incredible. We think made especially to support the New Zealand people have really enjoyed treating themselves Breast Cancer Foundation, proved to be a great or their loved ones to White Raspberry chocolate hit with Whittaker’s presenting a cheque for knowing that they’re supporting the New $70,816.80 to the Foundation – almost triple Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation at the same the amount it pledged to raise. When the time,” she says. chocolate manufacturer released the bar, it The idea came from five Samuel Marsden pledged to raise at least $25,000 by donating School students participating in the Young Marsden students Maddy Williams, Katie 20 cents from every block sold during the Enterprise Scheme as the company ‘Pink’ Fitzsimons, Ellie Cook, Claudia Beaumont month. But the fund-raiser turned out to be who approached Whittaker’s to see if it was and Morgan Archer with Whittaker’s Brand the most successful new product Whittaker’s possible to do something pink with chocolate Manager Holly Whittaker (Centre right) has every launched. to raise money for the New Zealand Breast and Evangelia Henderson (Centre left) Whittaker’s Brand Manager Holly Whittaker Cancer Foundation.

Chief Executive of the New Zealand Breast says the company is excited to be making the Holly says that it has been a delight to work Cancer Foundation. much larger than expected donation to such with the students, and Whittaker’s is very a worthy cause. She puts the initiative’s success down to loyal pleased to be supporting tomorrow’s business leaders through customers keen to play their part in donating to the charity, a quality the Young Enterprise Scheme, as well as the New Zealand Breast product, and a great idea by five school students.

Cancer Foundation.

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Kiwi’s sharing skills stack up Amanda is the girl people said they most want to ‘Share a COKE®’ with when they voted for which names should feature on a new release of 600mL COKE® bottles to share.

Last month, COCA-COLA invited Kiwis to have their say on which names should appear on COKE® bottles next, and more than 30,000 nominations and votes were submitted to decide the final 50 new names.

Amanda received the most votes, with Vanessa, Kayla and Samantha close behind. Michael was the most-voted-for boy’s name, rounding out the top five. The full list of new names can be found at shareacoke.co.nz.

COCA-COLA Sparkling Beverages Marketing Manager Brid Drohan-Stewart says since names first appeared on COKE bottles in August, the company has had hundreds of request from people looking for their name and the names of others special to them. “When people first nominated names, we also asked them to tell us why that name

or person was special to them, and it was a real treat to see the many reasons Kiwis wanted to nominate their nearest and dearest.”

Amandas around New Zealand were nominated by someone wanting to celebrate a reunion with their sister, someone wanting to surprise their girlfriend, and someone wanting to brighten the day of their unwell mother, for example.

Meanwhile, others wanted to share some happiness with their “cool” mate Michael, say thanks to him for being such a great dad, and to share with him as a reward for being so hard-working.

“There were also a few names in the final 50 that were requested as props for some very special marriage proposals, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for them!” says Brid.

The 600mL COKE® bottles featuring these 50 new names, as voted for by New Zealanders, will be available in store within the coming weeks and will gradually replace the original 150 names released in August. Visit shareacoke.co.nz or the COCA-COLA New Zealand Facebook page.

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Blinis make it easy Good-bye boring old crackers, say Marcel’s; bring on the Blinis.

Van Dyck Fine Foods’ new ready-made, bite-sized Blinis are snap frozen in a free-flow pack of 48. By the time you have dressed them, d them, with such toppings as sour cream with smoked salmon, capers and dill, tuna, caviar, hummus, pate, pesto, specialty cheeses or any other topping of your choice, they are thawed and ready to serve.

The small mouthfuls originated from Russia and look and taste like a small pikelet, say Marcel´s. They have no preservatives or artificial colours and are made using the finest quality ingredients. Blinis are available in the frozen section of participating supermarkets and specialty food stores nationwide. RRP NZD6.75 for a generous box of 48.

Marcel’s Blini Platter 50g Barker’s Red Pepper & Chilli Jelly 10 Lebanese cucumber slices 10 salami slices Coriander to garnish 50g Barker´s Sundried Tomato & Olive Chutney 20g Barker’s Lemon Curd 40g mayonnaise 10 mussels Lemon rind • Lay frozen Blinis out on a serving plate.

• First 10 Blinis: Mix Barker’s Lemon Curd with mayonnaise, top each Blini with a mussel and garnish with lemon rind.

• Next 10 Blinis: On each Blini place a dollop of Barker´s Red Pepper & Chilli Jelly, and top with a cucumber slice.

• Last 10 Blinis: Place a salami slice on each Blini, add some Sundried Tomato & Olive Chutney, garnish with Coriander.

■ marcels.co.nz/recipes.

Award for Ti Tonics Nectarines are one of the most delicious stone-fruits around. A point not lost on Ti Tonics, which won the Best Tea-Based Beverage for its Nectarine flavour at the New Zealand Juice and Beverage Association awards last month.

Ti Tonics are an advanced blend of premium white tea, grape seed extract and subtle fruit flavours. They’re rich in polyphenols, nature’s most powerful antioxidants, and contain less than half a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle. There are no artificial flavours, sweeteners or preservatives.

The judges said Ti Tonics Nectarine was very refreshing and not too sweet.

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The practice of eating cooked ground meat is more than 800 years old, but shaping it into a patty and sandwiching it between a bun is a more modern concept. Named after the town of Hamburg, Germany, hamburgers were thought to have been popularized by 19th century sailors who brought back the idea of eating shredded raw beef from the Russian Baltics.

NZJBA Annual Conference 2013 The New Zealand Juice and Beverage Association’s Annual Conference will be held at Trinity Wharf Tauranga on October 03-05 2013, advises the NZJBA. Special accommodation rates are available and all accommodation bookings must be made through The NZJBA Secretary via the Conference Registration form.

The Association is currently deciding on a theme for the conference and asks for suggestions. The 2013 Conference program will be finalised early in the New Year, and will be released to members and friends soon after.

Registration documents will also be available early in the New Year.

Queries to: John Robertson - Conference Committee, NZJBA Secretary/ Treasurer, DDI Ph: (09) 375-3927, Mobile 021 206 2747, Fax: (09) 309-0081 Kerry Tyack - Conference Committee, NZJBA Executive Director, DDI Ph: (09) 837-4243, Mobile 0274 570 942

feature:

Eat, drink and be merry

Eat, drink and be merry All across the nation, cafés are gearing up for Christmas. Ovens are working overtime, there’s chocolate from one end of the kitchen to the other, the smell of spice is in the air and clouds of icing sugar are the closest thing we Kiwis get to having a white Christmas.

Cathy Ombler and Sue Fea investigate the kitchens of cafés north and south.

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ozens? Tens of dozens? Christmas mince pies are just huge and café proprietors we’ve spoken to simply shake their head (some with eyes glazed over) when asked how many they make each year.

At Wellington’s Wadestown Kitchen, Andrea Holmes has another way of explaining the phenomenon. “Making Christmas mince pies, that is just an albatross. Last year we made more than 50 dozen. Everybody does mince pies, it’s just huge.”

Sam Peters employs one person full time at his Gipps St Café/Deli, Karori, just to make mince pies. “She finishes university for the year and comes in here to make mince pies; that’s all she does.”

Gipps Street also has a strong sideline selling mince for the pies as one of the café/deli’s own branded products. It’s Peter’s own recipe that he’s holding close to his chest, but he does let out a couple of hints.

“We make our own secret recipe for the mince; one difference is we cook it off first. Most people just let it sit. We cook it off in big roasting dishes – oh! and I can tell you it has a lot of brandy and a lot of sherry.”

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feature:

Eat, drink and be merry

Gingerbread Christmas trees are prolific in cafes around the country at this time of year. At the Wadestown K itchen, owner/operator Andrea Holmes and her little team of bakers have been building up the biceps as they roll the dough for their favoured recipe.

It’s not easy going, says Holmes.

“This recipe works well as long as you have strong arms because the dough is really hard to roll.”

In the seasonal spirit of giving, and with a gym workout without having to leave the kitchen thrown in, Andrea shares her recipe here:

GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS TREES 250g butter 1 c brown sugar 1 1/3c golden syrup 5 c flour 4 t ginger 2 t baking soda • Cream butter and sugar.

• Add all other ingredients, knead until smooth.

• Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• The dough will be very hard to roll but persevere as the cookies will stay crisp for a week if baked at 160˚C until golden brown. Cut into shape with a Christmas tree cookie cutter.

Although Andrea is enthusiastic at most times, Christmas really gets her creative talents fizzing.

“I just love Christmas but we never get time to make all the things we want to,’ she bemoans.

Aside from the ‘usual’ – dozens of Christmas mince pies and Gingerbread Christmas trees - Holmes has whipped up a few other Christmas specialties this year.

“We make a special Christmas brioche. Normally we do these with cinnamon and brown sugar but for Christmas we do them with glacé icing; the water and icing sugar instantly crystallises when you put it on the bun, and we add nuts and

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fruit. It’s perfect for those who leave the house without breakfast.

“We’ve made ‘red, white and green’ Christmas sandwiches. That colour thing is so attractive in food, the Italians know it! We use white bread, feta with cream cheese, whole basil leaves and roasted red peppers.

“We’ve also been making pistachio and berry rocky road, with white chocolate and white marshmallow. Our little Christmas cakes are popular and a perfect size for gifts – they are 10cm cubed decorated with Royal icing and pretty little Christmas trees. A lot of people get stuck for something to give to old people so these are perfect.”

On a very decorative Christmas cake note, at Gipps Street café/deli in Karori, Virginia Jordan has been showing off her talents, some of them gleaned from a cake decorating course she attended earlier in the year. Icing ribbons? A little sleigh on top, anyone?

The silly approach works well for Queenstown’s Habebes owner Amanda Mulqueen.

“Keeping a good sense of humour and having efficient happy staff helps keep me semi-sane.”

“When I feel that we all need it, we are allowed to have a Wine and Wings Day at work. We can have a glass of bubbles as we work, but only if we all wear our fairy wings, males included.

The customers like it too.”

Habebes Lebanese food is legendary in Queenstown and Mulqueen’s fabulous Fig Balls are popular as the perfect gluten and dairy-free treat or as a great gift alternative to truffles.

At Christmas they’re sold in a little box with a bow.

FIG BALLS • Soak 1/3 figs, 1/3 chopped dates and 1/3 chopped dried apricots in boiling water, preferably overnight.

• Process to a paste but not too fine, a few chunks are nice!

• Roughly chop together toasted almonds and toasted sunflower seeds.

• Roll fruit mixture into balls and coat with nut mixture.

Arrowtown’s Cafe Mondo owner Megan Gallie prepares herself for the onslaught by doubling her cookie dough mixes, cooking half and freezing half in a log in the months leading up to Christmas.

“When we’re busy we pull out the log, slice off the cookies while it’s still frozen then bake.”

Crumble mixes are also doubled with half kept in the fridge: “Just sprinkle the bottom, bed on the fruit, sprinkle more crumble on top and bake.”

Florentine Slice is her Christmas special:

FLORENTINE SLICE • Add 4 c cornflakes,1c raisins,1c glazed red cherries,1c flaked almonds,1c pumpkin seeds, 1 can condensed milk and 150g milk chocolate together, mix well.

• Push into a flat baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20 minutes at 150˚C fanbake.

• Once cooled, turn out on a cooling rack and peel away baking paper.

• Melt 150g milk chocolate, spread thin layer over slice.

• Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting.

Owner of Provisions in Arrowtown, Jane Shaw is bracing herself for a hectic Christmas and summer season “by keeping lots of pinot noir on hand”.

Her best Christmas advice: “Never lose your smile and don’t laugh at silly customers”.

“Also, it is important to never run out of our obscenely good sticky buns as this can cause riots amongst our customers. A sense of humour always helps as well.”

Her Christmas Magic Slice is a must.

MAGIC SLICE • Mix 400g biscuit crush or Scotch Finger biscuits, with 250g melted butter.

• Place in a lined baking tray.

• Mix 125g dried cranberries, 250g white chocolate pieces and 125g pistachio kernels together.

• Sprinkle over the biscuit crush and pour two cans of condensed milk on top.

• Bake at 170˚C until golden for about 20 minutes.

• Cool and refrigerate.

For Jeanie Watson, owner of the Tin Goose in Alexandra, a smile and sweetening up the staff are vital.

She keeps a jar of chocolates or toffees behind the counter for her staff: “They do a great job over busy times.”

If all the staff is happy then everything seems to go smoothly.

“But if one throws a hissy fit the whole lot goes,” laughs Watson.

“You just have to keep on top of it. At times we’ve come in at nights to do extra cooking, or at 4am in the morning.”

It wouldn’t be a Tin Goose Christmas without her French Chocolate La Orange Slice.

FRENCH CHOCOLATE LA ORANGE SLICE • Whizz a packet of malt biscuits, half a fresh orange, 125g melted butter and 2 tblsp of cocoa. Press into an oblong baking tin.

• Fill with a tin of condensed milk, 30g butter, 2 tblsp golden syrup and a handful of chocolate bits.

• Add a tsp of orange essence or freeze dried orange for a big orange blast.

• Melt in microwave until thick and creamy then pour over the base.

• Bake at 180˚C for 15 minutes, cool and cover with icing made from 3 handfuls of chocolate bits and 3 tblsp olive.

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December 2012 |

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Barista of the month

ESPRESSO BAR – NORTHLANDS MALL CHRISTCHURCH

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café culture

Hot Chocolate with

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from MONIN!

G

abby Perry began her career just out of school as a barista at Waihi Beach in the North Island. She is currently spinning milk at Northlands Mall in the South Island.

Somewhere in between she realised how much she liked the job and how it was probably one of the few skills that would take her around the world; that as long as she could pour a good cup of coffee, she would surmount most other problems of living in another culture and country.

She’s very probably right, especially as New Zealand has an increasing global reputation for making good coffee.

In between making that first tentative cup and managing the Espresso Bar in Christchurch, she spent time in Australia where her barista skills held her in good stead. “It really is a job you can travel with,” she says. “You can get a job almost everywhere.

In Australia customers commented on my coffee and said New Zealanders make the best coffee.”

She learned her craft from Supreme which has, she says, wicked coffee. And the way they taught her to spin milk is second to none.

“I never went to a café in Australia that could do that efficiently every time. “ She now works with Illy coffee, which she thinks is probably the best company she has ever worked with. Just everything about it, she says. Her boss went through the Illy University in Trieste in Italy and passed on all she learned to Gabby and her workmate Hannah Johnson. It included how to grind and how to treat the beans. The training worked, obviously, because Illy has many customers, says Gabby, because everyone loves good coffee. And it is easy to make good coffee when you are confident you have a good product, she says.

The hardest thing is getting the tamper right for good extraction, she admits. “Anyone can spin milk but It’s hard to tamper."

So this for now, is where Gabby has come to rest. It’s a good shop, she says, very busy and with good traffic. Everyone can see us and that is a huge advantage.

Add some life to your everyday hot chocolate with a range of complementary and exotic flavours from MONIN. MONIN is crafted from only the best natural ingredients and will allow you to meet your customers expectations for quality and flavour uniqueness during the holiday season.

MONIN Coconut Syrup: The tropical flavour and aromatic notes of grated coconuts.

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Perfect for Christmas!

MONIN Gingerbread Syrup: Flavour of gingerbread cookies with the aroma of cinnamon and spices.

A Christmas favourite.

Coconut Dream

• Hot chocolate powder • 30mls MONIN Coconut syrup

Make a deliciously creamy hot chocolate.

Carefully pour in 30mls of MONIN Coconut Syrup. Stir briskly to mix in the syrup without breaking up the chocolate’s frothy top. Serve Contact your Stuart Alexander sales representative for more information or call Consumer Services, phone 0800 188 484 Discover ultimate recipes on: www.MONIN.com

December 2012 |

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café culture

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake K

athryn Stoddart and Colleen Holden say they are passionate about their business. And they would have to be to bake up to 1000 cupcakes a day from scratch and still come back for more.

"If we weren’t passionate", says Colleen, "we wouldn't still be here three years later – and here we are, still talking to each other, still getting a kick out of getting to bake and decorate cakes every day." Kathryn doesn’t have to say anything to agree – her smile says it all.

And then they look at each other - that complicit glance that people do when they are in complete accord; when a thousand memories are shared in a single instant, in a single look.

They came to cupcakes from IT and insurance respectively in the beginning donning their corporate gear in the daytime and their cooking aprons at night, when they fronted up to a kitchen they hired in Albany (Auckland) to bake the cupcakes they then sold on-line.

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Which is another unusual thing about Delish Cupcakes – most successful businesses start as a physical shop and then go on-line due to popular demand. Not so Delish, which started as an on-line business and then opened a store, also due to popular demand.

And all because, as Colleen puts it, “we pretty much liked to bake”.

They had both dabbled in cake decorating and while watching for trends on-line in this interest, they began to notice a lot of pictures of cupcakes spilling crumbs across the internet. This was an idea they thought – these little morsels seemed somehow to be more workable than trying to enter the large cake market that was already over-subscribed. It was an excellent trend to spot and soon they had booked themselves into that Albany kitchen, Kathryn’s husband had been charmed (or otherwise persuaded) into building them a website and shortly there was an ever-appreciative, ever-growing customer base.

Then came the unexpected opportunity to take over a wee shop in Raines Avenue, also on Auckland’s North Shore and so they made the short journey from the leased Albany kitchen into one of their very own. The space had once been a butcher’s shop so it was already set up with a kitchen of sorts but, of course, there’s a singular difference between purveying slabs of meat and slabs of cake. The move coincided with the Auckland Food Show and so Kathryn and Colleen began their foray into retail juggling the crowds of foodies and the supervision of builders, plumbers and other tradespeople. The Banks weren’t in a lending mood so the twosome had to get a personal loan to outfit the kitchen just the way they wanted it and although the new kitchen was markedly smaller than their old hired one, they soon got used to it.

Customers coming in to pick up their orders often commented that they should put in a coffee machine and after a little

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thought Kathryn and Colleen decided there was just enough room for them to split the shop into kitchen and retail space. Without expecting it to be great, they found that, in fact, it really took off.

The local community was thrilled to have a coffee shop as there isn’t another one for kilometres . They bought in a coffee machine and sought help from Atomic Coffee to learn how to fix a brew. “It’s funny,” muses Kathryn. “I was petrified.

Of all the things I could have – or should have – been worried about in setting up a business, it was using the coffee machine I was most anxious about.” But that was soon fixed by Atomic, who Colleen says were extraordinarily helpful and who still ring or come in to make sure they are alright.

The community’s support of their store extended to a Bake Sale in the weeks following the second Christchurch earthquake. Everyone pitched in and seven thousand dollars were raised. “It is really neat to be part of such a community,” says Colleen.

After two years in their little shop they did a makeover. The bought a table and chairs off Trade Me and painted the chairs pink, that lolly pink that looks so good on top of a cupcake, in fact.

They had a lucky find in an outlet store with a multi-drawer hutch dresser that is a perfect display unit and Kathryn’s husband again did the decent thing by his wife and fixed a clever arrangement of wooden crates up on the wall and painted them white for storage.

And then it was back to the kitchen…

Delish’s ovens take up to 16 dozen cupcakes at a time and the kitchen turns out a whopping 1000 cupcakes a day during busy periods like the current wedding season. All Delish cupcakes

are baked from scratch. Both Kathryn and Colleen are sceptical of pre-mixes, believing there is a marked difference in taste.

It’s often a long day and things get a bit manic at times. The solution is to take a couple of deep breaths and crank up the music. Singing loudly is also a stress-relieving solution, at least to those making the noise. Whole boxes of cakes get dropped, trays slip when being put into the oven; there’s the potential for catastrophe in every batch. But Colleen says it is all in a day’s work and programmes like the American reality programme that follows two sisters who own a Washington business, DC Cupcakes, are surely hammed up.

Delish also provides macaroons, cake pops (in conjunction with another young woman) and small birthday cakes as well as running cupcake decorating classes.

“Some of these are fads,” says Colleen, “but I think cupcakes are here to stay.

At least we are in for the long haul. It really is a lot of fun.”

“That’s the especially nice thing about New Zealand; you can do anything you want, although sometimes you do need to take a leap of faith. But generally, if you believe in what you want to do, you can push ahead and get it. Anything you want. You’ve got to be prepared to work really hard and a lot of people don’t understand how hard we do work and the hours we put in. They think it is just a sweet lifestyle – and it is – but it is a lot harder than you think.

But it is really fun. It’s really nice to be the boss and to have a product we really enjoy.”

And she and Kathryn share another of those amused glances and they both grin.

■ delishcupcakes.co.nz

café culture

“We had a situation where at a wedding the bride said the catering staff could take any leftover cupcakes. Next day she changed her mind but it was too late – all the cakes were gone.

The caterer was nearly falling apart and rang in a great panic to see if we could replace the cakes.

They had a special fondant in them, so it wasn’t just a case of flinging another couple of trays in the oven. But we managed to do it and the bride was never any the wiser. We also had a customer who dropped a cake and swore they hadn’t, but by the way the icing was broken it was obvious they had dropped it. But what can you do? So we re-iced it. Good practice, really.”

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Credit: Images Sue Fea

Café of the month

Florence’s Food Store & Café

Sue Fea

W

hen Aucklander Shar yn Mathias, a long-time lover of food, first opened Florence’s in her beloved escape of Wanaka, the primary focus was supposed to be on the business’s specialist food store.

However, since the doors of Florence’s Food Store and Café first opened in July, with its provincial French-style décor, the business has been a hit with everyone from tourists and locals to top New Zealand foodies and chefs.

“The café was meant to be secondary, but it’s become the primary focus. It’s interesting that if you’re a café now, you’re almost expected by people to be a restaurant, but we’re definitely not a restaurant.”

Sharyn’s sister-in-law Peta Mathias, one of New Zealand’s most high profile celebrity chefs, is not the only famous

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foodie to have enjoyed Florence’s unique character.

Friends, Wanaka-based T V chef Annabel Langbein and well-known Wellington caterer Ruth Pretty, have also dined at Florence’s, as do a number of local chefs.

And no, the former Auckland schoolteacher has not been asking her famous sister-in-law for cooking tips, something Sharyn is frequently asked.

Peta Mathias is now mainly based in Europe where she runs her cooking schools, so she has not been around to offer much advice.

“We’ve got our own style, but we’re often asked what influence Peta has had on our cooking here.”

Florence’s definitely has its own unique style. Sharyn has long been a collector of French China and these and the “things I

love” all create the old provincial character.

Presentation is paramount here and customers must not be in a hurry.

Sha r y n ser ves Harney & Sons imported teas and some of the most popular of the 20 flavours sold in the store are offered on the café menu - Pomegranate Oolong, Citrus Green, Paris (a black tea with a hint of lemony bergamot) and Organic Peppermint.

The triangular silk-bag teas are served in bone china teapots on a tray accompanied by a 3-minute egg timer. These teas are presented in beautiful caddies.

“It’s all elegant so we don’t want anyone

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to hurry here. It’s about respecting the effort that’s gone into the preparation of the food, not just satiating people’s appetites.”

“We like our customers to honour the person who has cooked their meal with manners and we do get lovely people passing through,” says Sharyn.

Florence’s is on the rural outskirts of Wanaka, so people have to seek it out, and

that’s just what many have been doing.

The café offers a delightful selection of reasonably priced, authentic dishes with a constantly colourful and changing menu.

Specialist products sold in the quaint small-town store, many of them imported from France, Italy, Spain and Greece, as well as produced locally, have become the basis for dishes, salads and soups on Florence’s menu.

“I think New Zealanders try and put too many different ingredients together, but a good Italian pasta with some good infused olive oil is all you need sometimes.

You don’t need a sauce with a thousand ingredients,” says Sharyn.

“We try to keep it simple and seasonal.”

Like Queenstown, Wanaka has a constantly changing parade of transient hospitality workers passing through, some for the ski season, others arriving for summer.

Sharyn’s menu therefore features very multi-cultural cuisine depending on who the chef of the moment may be.

“I’ve had American, Canadian, Scottish, French and Australian staff.....already since July.”

Her main chef is a pastry chef and the former owner of Sweet Kitchen in Merivale. The café offers $2 “Babies”, which are half the traditional size and the perfect finish to a lovely meal - classics like ginger crunch, brownie with pistachio and rose petals on top and, of course, Florence Slice are on offer.

Locally-produced Cardrona Merino Lamb is always popular and can be found served with tomato and red lentils or as mint and pea risotto with Cardrona Lamb mini-meatballs.

Grains like Israeli couscous, Ebly Wheat and Farro Perlato, sold in the store, are often incorporated into salads to create scrumptious combinations like Israeli couscous, cucumber, pistachio and sumac.

Many of the tasty gourmet frozen dinners Sharyn cooked while managing holiday homes in Wanaka several years ago have been successfully replicated on Florence’s menu.

These include Beef and Date Tagine, Beef and Dark Ale and Chicken Cacciatore.

For Sharyn, food is “not so much a love of cooking, but a love of eating”.

“I’m Irish Catholic so we’ve always been surrounded by good cooks,” she grins.

café culture

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0800 653 050 December 2012 |

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chit chat

The Heart Foundation states that reducing the salt content of meals sold in restaurants, bars and cafes is an important job for all chefs.

Here are some handy hints on how to go about this task.

Not worth the salt T

here is no doubt salt enhances flavour when added to food. Chefs know this better than most and use this to their advantage when preparing meals. However, salt has a negative impact on health, and therefore the general public is being advised to reduce their salt (or sodium) intake. So how do we come to a middle ground where the food being sold in restaurants and cafes is tasty, appeals to people’s innate preference for salt and sells well, while only containing moderate amounts of salt?

Firstly, let’s start with our taste preference for salt. It may seem obvious but people who regularly eat salty food develop a preference for saltier food. Likewise people who reduce their salt intake adapt to this reduction and prefer less salty food. Chefs can often have a higher taste tolerance to salt (ie. need a lot more salt before they can taste it) as they are

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tasting food throughout the day and adding salt to meet their taste level. Customers often don’t have such a high taste tolerance to salt, so the meals served run the risk of being too salty for them. For this reason it is important to set an appropriate level of salt in a recipe and stick to this. Don’t always rely on your taste. And you can re-adjust your pallet to lower levels of salt - it just takes time. So it’s important to help customers adjust their pallets to accept lower salt levels, rather than higher.

Secondly, it is important to remember that salt is only detected if it comes into contact with the tongue. All the other salt in the food will slip down unnoticed, as far as taste goes. For this reason foods that have had salt added to the surface will taste saltier than foods that have the same amount of salt bound within the food.

Here are a few tips to help you produce great tasting foods with less salt: • Wherever possible salt the outside of foods sparingly rather than mixing it through • Boil potatoes, pasta, rice and vegetables in water without salt • Reduce the salt in your recipes by 10-25%, at this level your guests are unlikely to even notice. Then stick to the recipe amount of salt and don’t rely on your taste • Set the salt level in a dish so that there is a maximum of 600mg of sodium per serve – use the Food Standards Authority Nutrient Panel Calculator* to work out how much sodium is in your recipe • Drain and rinse with fresh water all canned beans and vegetables Taste enhancement doesn’t have to come from salt: • Season foods with the other basic taste sensations and reduce the amount of salt added. The other tastes are sweet, sour, bitter and umami.

• Umami flavours are possibly the most important of the basic flavours when reducing salt, as umami has been shown to maintain the taste satisfaction of low salt foods. Umami is broadly described as a savoury flavour. Umami flavour can be enhanced by fermenting, pickling and roasting ingredients. Some foods with a pronounced umami flavour are seaweed, mushrooms, onion, and meat and fish.

Using herbs and spices: • Beef tastes great pan fried with a choice of mustard powder, sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic, curry powder, bay leaf, or nutmeg • Lamb roasts well with garlic, curry powder, oregano, thyme, rosemary, or served with mint jelly • Chicken tastes fantastic pan- or stir-fried with a choice of lemon or lime, garlic, ginger, rosemary, paprika, parsley, sage, thyme, marjoram, basil or tarragon • Fish works perfectly baked, steamed or pan fried with bay leaf, curry powder, mustard, lemon, paprika, dill, lemongrass or ginger • Pork can be braised or stewed with onion, sage, thyme, oregano, black pepper or served with applesauce • Scrambled eggs get extra flavour from chopped chives, parsley or black pepper • Potato gets a fresh twist from onion, garlic, parsley, dill, chives or a sprinkle of paprika • Stir fry veges get an Asian touch with onion, garlic, fresh ginger, chilli, and sesame oil or sesame seeds • Cabbage stir fries well with caraway seeds and allspice; or lime juice, and fresh coriander ■ www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodstandards/ nutritionpanelcalculator/

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café culture

THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE

Liquid gold

• Kopi Luwak, Indonesia – USD160 per pound • Hacienda La Esmeralda, Panama – USD104 per pound • Island of St. Helena Coffee Company, St. Helena – USD79 per pound • El Injerto, Guatemala – USD50 per pound • Fazenda Santa Ines, Brazil – USD50 per pound • Blue Mountain, Jamaica – USD49 per pound • Los Planes, El Salvador – USD40 per pound • Kona, Hawaii – USD34 per pound • Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon, Rwanda – USD24 per pound • Yauco Selecto AA, Puerto Rico – USD22 per pound Source: forbes.com

W

hat has a taste that is ‘lush, tropical, hints of white, not yellow, peach? A little bit of pineapple.

Herbal complexity. Super-clean. Vibrant.

Sparklingness.’?

Give up?

It’s Starbuck ’s latest brew – Costa Rica Finca Palmilera – the company’s most expensive brew to date. Cost is USD6 for a ‘tall’ cup without any added milk, and USD7 for a ‘grande’ cup. Take home 226 gram bag and that will set you back USD40.

Gesha is an extremely rare coffee varietal that many coffee connoisseurs regard as the most brilliantly complex and intense flavour profile of all, according to US coffee merchants, Stumptown. The varietal was originally brought to Costa Rica from the small town of Gesha in

south western Ethiopia. It made its way south to Panama and then to the rest of the coffee-drinking world. Gesha trees grow to be very tall and have beautiful, elongated leaves. The cherry and beans are also elongated by comparison to other varietals and top quality appears to only be produced at extremely high elevation, advises Stumptown.

The coffee is part of Starbucks’ limited edition ‘Reserve’ line and supersedes the coffee chain’s previous most expensive variety, Jamaican Blue Mountain.

The USD7 per cup price – three times as much as Starbuck’s standard brew -is highly over-caffeinated, say commodities watchers. The 16-ounce cup should cost only one dollar more than a regular cup of coffee says James Freeman, owner and CEO of New York’s Blue Bottle Coffee,

although his chain also charges the same for a similar cup of coffee, says a media report. But he says an 80% mark-up is standard in the (US at least) coffee business. Joseph Brodsky, founder and president of Californian coffee importer Ninety Plus Coffee, which supplies beans to coffee shops in 30 countries, was quoted as saying the new coffee only costs Starbucks an extra $1.30 per cup.

Those who do buy the USD40, 226 gram take home bag will be able to brew their cup of Costa Rica Finca Palmilera for around USD2.66 reckons CoffeeReview.com However, all of this is academic for New Zealand coffee aficionados, unless they are travellers. The brew is only available in America and then in just 48 of Starbucks' more than 11,000 outlets nationwide.

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Pasta of the month

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Taking control of the pasta It’s coming up for the busy season and a time of sheer hard work. You’re going to need more food than usual and you need to make sure your budget doesn’t suffer because of it. Although getting items in saves you a great deal of time, it won’t necessarily save you money. Now’s the time to do some home baking and if you thought never in a million years would that include making your own pasta, think again.

M

aking your own pasta is time consuming, especially when you’re a beginner, but ultimately it is a cheap way of always having the basis of a good dish in your cabinet. As long as you’ve got a ball of dough, a sharp knife and something to make a sauce, you’ve got a dish to offer your customers.

Although traditionally pasta is made on a flat surface it is best, especially when you are learning, to use a bowl, which contains the mess. It is also important that you use the proper flour, either semolina of fine 00 grade flour. Some chefs use a blend of the two.

PASTA DOUGH RECIPE Ingredients: • 400 grams of 00 grade or semolina flour • 4 eggs • 1 tablespoon of olive oil (optional) • ½ a teaspoon of salt Method: 1. Place the flour in the bottom of a wide, shallow mixing bowl.

2. Form a deep well in the middle of the flour.

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pp 3. Crack eggs into the well.

4. Add the salt and the olive oil.

5. Using a large fork, carefully whisk the eggs, salt and olive oil together until they are combined and the mixture is a smooth, uniform colour. The aim is just to mix the eggs, not to mix in any of the flour – the flour is just acting as a container for the egg mixture.

6. Once the eggs are thoroughly combined start to mix in the flour. Do this by slightly widening the strokes of your fork so that the flour begins to be drawn into the egg mix little by little.

Patience is very important during this stage as one of the most important things about making pasta is achieving an absolutely uniform consistency.

7. Continue to work the flour into the egg. The mixture will become increasingly stiff as more and more flour is absorbed. When almost all the flour is blended the mixture will be too stiff to continue using the fork.

8. Put your fork aside and work the remaining flour into the dough with your hands.

9. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for five minutes. The dough will feel tacky at first but this should disappear as you knead. If the dough remains tacky just sprinkle it with a little extra flour during the kneading process.

10. You need to achieve dough that is firm but still tender. Test this by rolling the dough into a ball and pressing it quickly with your fingers.

If the dough springs back a little it’s the right consistency.

11. Wrap dough in cling film and set aside for 15 minutes. It can go in the fridge but it isn’t necessary. It’s the resting period that’s important, not the temperature.

ROLLING OUT THE PASTA Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a wide disk with a rolling pin. Roll the pin away from you to stretch the dough in one direction, then turn the dough 90˚ and roll again.

pizza pasta

Repeat this process until there is an evenly-shaped disk of dough. Keep rolling until the dough is about 2 – 3 mm thick.

Take your time and be patient. It is very important to make sure you get an even thickness all over.

FORMING THE PASTA Take one side of the disk of dough and lightly fold it over about 4 cm, then flip this portion again and repeat until you have rolled up the whole disk.

Take a sharp knife and, starting at one end of your “roll”, slice off disks of pasta.

How thick you make these disks depends on the type of pasta you want. Linguine, for example, will be about 3 or 4 mm wide, while tagliatelle is double this.

When you have sliced up all your pasta, unroll the disks into strands and place them in a loose heap. Sprinkle with a little semolina to prevent the pasta strands sticking to each other. Allow to sit for one hour before cooking.

COOK! Through in a large pot of boiling water, cook for about three minutes, add sauce and serve.

Easy pasta sauce FRESH TOMATO Mix 6 to 7 seeded and diced ripe tomatoes with 1 clove crushed garlic, 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Variations: Add 250 grams of grated fresh mozzarella or 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest.

CHEESY To hot, drained pasta, add 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, 3/4 cup grated Emmental, Gruyere or Edam and the same amount of mozzarella or fontina.

Add 125 grams of butter cut into small pieces. Toss well to coat, adding 1/2 cup of pasta water to loosen if needed.

Season with freshly ground black pepper.

TOMATO, ONION AND MUSHROOM Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large deep pan over medium heat and add 1 cup chopped onion, cooking until translucent, about 5 minutes. Cut 4 tomatoes in wedges and add them along with

2 cups sliced button mushrooms, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Sauce will reduce and thicken. Stir in 1/4 cup fresh basil and season with salt and pepper.

GARLIC AND BROCCOLI Heat 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan and add 3 minced garlic cloves, cooking until garlic turns golden.

Add 3 cups broccoli florets and 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, cook for a couple of minutes, then add 1/2 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup cream. Simmer for 5 minutes.

GARLIC AND LEMON WITH ROCKET Heat 1/2 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a deep pan. Add 1 tablespoon each minced garlic and grated lemon peel and 1/4 cup each lemon juice and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Add hot, drained pasta to pan along with 1 cup rocket and handful of chopped parsley.

Top with grated Parmesan.

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Pizza of the month

pp

A slice of advice What to do when the cupboard’s running bare and there’s a rag taggle of customers coming tiredly off the beach looking for food?

Grab a pizza base…….

B

oth the pizza and pasta pages of espresso this month are dedicated to helping you cope with what we all hope will be an influx of summer customers. It can be hard to judge just what you need in the way of extra provisions when you don’t know exactly how many people will be stopping by. You’ll be feeding your regulars as well as accommodating visitors, so what can you hold in reserve?

Pizza always fills a hungry stomach so here’s an easy pizza base recipe with a dough that doesn’t have to be left for hours to rise as well as a vegetarian option. There’s also a selection of unusual toppings to give your pizza a point of difference.

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pp EASY PIZZA DOUGH Ingredients: • 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast • 1 tsp white sugar • 1 cup warm water (45˚C) • 2 ½ cups flour • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1 tsp salt Method: 1. Preheat oven to 230°C. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy – about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker’s peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

ZUCCHINI PIZZA BASE (VEGETARIAN) Ingredients: • 1 large egg • cup grated Parmesan cheese • ½ tsp dried oregano • ½ tsp dried marjoram • 1 tbsp whole wheat flour • 1 medium zucchini grated • Fresh ground black pepper to taste Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. 2. Place the egg, parmesan, oregano, marjoram and pepper in a mixing bowl. Whisk together well.

3. Add the zucchini and fold into the egg mixture until well blended. Sprinkle the flour over the top and fold into the zucchini mixture.

4. Place the mixture on a non-stick oven sheet or a piece of aluminium foil that’s been sprayed lightly with olive oil. Pat down into a thin round shape about 9 inches in diameter, the size of an individual pizza.

5. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before adding pizza toppings.

CAULIFLOWERFLOWER PIZZA BASE (GLUTEN FREE) Ingredients: • Half a cauliflower • 2 eggs • 500-750g cheese – approx. the same amount as cauliflower Suggested toppings: • salami and/or other meats of your choice • tomatoes (chopped or sliced) • olives (pitted) • onion (chopped or sliced – doesn’t need to be cooked first) • mushrooms • capsicums (peppers) • jalapeño chillies

pizza pasta

Method: 1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add the cauliflower chopped into chunks. When the cauliflower is cooked – tender not mushy – drain and let sit for a bit to cool slightly.

2. While the cauliflower is cooking, prepare the toppings and heat up the oven to about 220˚C. 3. When the cauliflower has cooled down a little, put it into a mixing bowl, add most of the cheese (leave some for the top) and two eggs.

4. Using a hand held electric blender or potato masher mix up the egg and cauliflower until it is well blended and a little fluffy.

5. Using a spatula spread out all the mixture onto a round pizza tray, or a rectangle baking tray.

6. Put in oven for about 15 minutes to cook the base. Don’t undercook – it needs to be browned and a little crunchy around the edges.

7. Remove from oven and put on all the toppings – starting with the pizza sauce over the whole pizza – then finishing off with a handful or two of cheese.

8. Put back in the oven for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and toppings are cooked.

TOPPINGS Some of these pizza toppings might sound a little odd, but they’re guaranteed to be tasty. Try them out for a point of difference in your cabinet: • Sliced figs, onions, tomatoes, basil and cheese.

• Honey, roasted garlic sauce, spinach, onions and bacon.

• Walnut pesto sauce, mushrooms, mozzarella and parsley.

• Toss shredded roast chicken leftovers with cream cheese and a scattering of chopped fresh French tarragon. Use to top a pizza base then add a sprinkling of slivered almond and chopped spring onion and bake.

• Sauté bite-sized chunks of potato and thyme and use to top a pizza base spread with tomato pasta sauce. Add slices of chorizo and finish in the oven. Top with three softly poached eggs the minute it comes out • Place thinly sliced pepperoni/salami over one quarter of the top, thinly sliced mushrooms over the second quarter, mozzarella cheese over the third quarter and tinned anchovies, olives and capers over the last quarter • 50g/2oz cooked spinach, grated nutmeg, 1 tsp dried oregano, 50g/2oz mozzarella cheese, a handful of grated parmesan cheese, a handful of pine nuts and 1 egg broken in the centre.

The Christmas Ham and the Christmas Turkey – by Boxing Day the novelty is wearing thin and after that everyone is well over it. But there’s still so much left. Try serving some on a pizza base – that will get at least two more days out of it!

• 75gm basil pesto • 100g chopped ham or turkey • 75g sliced mushrooms • Handful of cherry tomatoes sliced in half • Handful of rocket leaves Spread a pizza base with the pesto, arrange the rest of the ingredients on top and sprinkled with grated cheese.

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Marketevents

2013 –Served–

All Year

January

5 12 3-31

Great FitzRoy Mussel Fest 2013 Auckland

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May

7-9

Tauranga Boutique Seafood Festival Tauranga

www.seafoodfest.co.nz

18-21

SIAL CHINA 2013 Shanghai

National Restaurant Association (United States) Show 2013 Chicago

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Thursday Live At The Fish Market Every Thursday, Auckland

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February

3 7&14 9

Waipara Springs Summer Festival Waipara

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Thursday Live At The Fish Market Auckland

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The Marlborough Wine & Food Festival

New Zeal a nds Lead ing Even ts D esig n, Pro duc tion A nd Buil d Com pa ny.

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December 2012 |

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