Grill Spring 2010

gr ill.co.nz

Spring 2010

Party peripheral Are we ready? p8

Regional Fare The best of Auckland North, Waikato and Bay of Plenty p14

Wake up and smell the fish Tasting fish p40

Regional Fare: Celebrating our best local products

Volume 8 Number 3

NZ $7.10 incl GST SPRING 2010

9 421902 251023

The National Bank of New Zealand, part of ANZ National Bank Limited.

AFTER TALKING TO THE NATIONAL BANK

COFFEE NO LONGER KEEPS ME

AWAKE AT NIGHT What do you do with a background in Political Science and an interest in Fair Trade and international development?

It’s obvious. You get into coffee roasting.

After leaving University Matt Lamason was motivated to “do something different.” The “mundane” research jobs out there weren’t his cup of tea, so he wound up looking into coffee. In 2004, Peoples Coffee was established.

Wellington’s first exclusively Fair Trade roastery sources beans from farming co-operatives around the world at a fair price.

With no business experience Matt soon set up a relationship with a Business Banking Manager at The National Bank and began to take a more strategic angle toward his business. They put together a business plan and in 2008 Matt was able to start expanding.

“The National Bank workshops have been a great help, providing me with new skills and knowledge. The cashflow

nationalbank.co.nz/business

and forecasting seminars were also a huge eye opener for someone with no experience owning a business.”

Having a Business Banking Manager offering “old school advice” has provided a reality check for Matt and he feels it has been a huge help. “The Bank has shown a lot of common sense in this post meltdown market”, and were a much needed steady hand. The bank’s guidance with the direction of his business ha s given Mat t a lot of confidence. “It feels like a relationship instead of a horrible machine.”

THE NATIONAL BANK WORKSHOPS HAVE BEEN A GREAT HELP. Find out how a great relationship with a Business Banking Manager can benefi t your business. Call us now on 0800 62 22 02.

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TAPAS

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contents

Regional fare

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The top of the north – Te Tai Tokerau, Waikato and Bay of Plenty: The food resources and the people – the second of five features.

Lacking leadership.

salamander 5

The Feast by Famous Chefs 2010 Culinary Fare.

TAPAS 6 Culinary Fare; Diary of upcoming

8 Party peripheral

Are we ready... for life in the fan zone?

Is getting Auckland’s hospitality industry ready for the World Cup a case of herding cats, asks Keith Stewart.

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EDITORIAL

SPRING 2010

COVER STORY

Xxxxxx 0

14 The Spirit of Hospitality Three fine expressions of Regional Fare Pear Tree, House on Hood and Fantail Lodge.

16 Te Tai Tokerau – the northern peninsula

events; Telecom MasterClasses; The HSI Junior Hospitality Challenge Final.

A people who have an affinity for their place; a people in the land, not on it

FRESH IDEAS

20 Tainui – Waikato

11 Three fresh gadgets: Coldstik; MyCook; Sealed with a ... gas.

MANAAKITANGA 12 The Spirit of Hospitality • Otto Groen QSM. • José Hernandez, a legend in his own lifetime.

We were impressed; hard working, well established, very confident and – well – lush

24 Bay of Plenty Vibrant, and its people – industrious, proactive, enthusiastic and optimistic

MAINS 26 The Red Report Keith Stewart finds out about good pork and its by-product: happy little piggies.

slow food

30 Market Intelligence

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42

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FOODSERVICE

The heart of the magazine and our industry The latest seasonal update on the supply of the material we sell – food.

Too much may kill you, but too little will kill you

38 Fish Take

50 Wrap Up

Wake up and smell the fish We still manage to do a less than adequate job with our fish cuisine.

TASTINGS 40 Fish An introductory tasting There are more fishes in the sea, chef. Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

42 Wine NZ Chardonnay – heads or tails grill tastes the best from the top and the best from the bottom.

46 Wine Yes it’s yet another vintage of the century Danny Schuster takes a pre-release tasting of the best that the 2009 Bordeaux vintage has to offer.

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48 With a Pinch of Salt

Chill over the plastic Plastic wrap may have revolutionised chiller storage, but there are some basic rules. By Keith Stewart.

ATTITUDE 53 It’s a Dirty Devil And it goes with a savvie Wine and cheese do work together; sometimes.

54 Wine Our next top model Sam Kim suggests there’s another red wine darling waiting in the wings, syrah.

55 Beer People are grabbing something special Geoff Griggs takes a look at craft beer in supermarkets.

56 Restaurant Association Taste is rebranded And there is another thought-provoking lineup of presenters and topics.

By Marisa Bidois.

57 Employment Relations Redundancy Know your rights and know your obligations.

By Marisa Bidois.

58 Animal Lovers Dairying has long had a weak spot in the area of calf welfare The sudden public exposure of induced miscarriages in cows has put the focus on dairy’s once squeaky-clean image.

59 Farmers’ Markets A new column and a new columnist Chris Fortune takes a seasonal look at what is happening in local artisan food production.

60 Al Fresco Cashing in on sun at every opportunity But does it make for happier clientele?

Keith Stewart investigates.

62 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Line cooks Everybody in the hospitality business knows who they are, and they deserve our respect.

By John Clarke.

64 Bar Nun Auckland – Down and out and in and out The Bar Nun goes down town in Auckland and goes up from Auckland town.

www.grill.co.nz

editorial

Lacking leadership N

ext year’s Rugby World Cup is important, not just because of its potential fillip for the hospitality sector at a time – post-recession, achingly slow recovery – it is sorely needed. It provides a shop window for New Zealand to the rest of the world.

Revenue opportunities during the six week period are a great incentive, but they are just one part of what is really at stake here. Impressions of Aotearoa delivered on site and beamed to the rest of the world are the tourism and hospitality sectors’ biggest marketing opportunity in decades. We get this wrong at our peril – and we won’t necessarily know if we’ve failed. Success will resonate for years into the future as potential tourists and possibly even new migrants make the decision to come and deposit their holiday or investment funds with us.

Keith Stewart’s cover story, page 9, is worrying in that three influential personalities in the Auckland hospo scene share concerns and convictions that we are under-prepared. There have been myriad articles written and seminars held, but no one, in Auckland at least, has grabbed the industry and the opportunity by the throat and given it a good shake. Individual operators like Judith Tabron and Matt Bould, quoted in Stewart’s piece, have done the preparation and training, with some, eg Euro on Princes Wharf, investing large sums on refurbishment and expansion. And new establishments like 1885 in Britomart are backing themselves to gain market share in a weak recovery and reap the World Cup rewards – while others that have held on through the recession only to

Resource Editor John Clarke john@grill.co.nz Consulting Editor Keith Stewart editor@grill.co.nz Copy Editor Gill Prentice gillp@mediaweb.co.nz Staff Writer Sarah Habershon sarahh@mediaweb.co.nz Contributors Marisa Bidois, Chris Fortune, Geoff Griggs, Sam Kim, Daniel Schuster

find the hoped for uptick didn’t happen fast enough, are closing their doors.

Hospitality leadership from local government and Economic Development Agencies in Auckland has been woefully lacking. There’s a danger the Cup will sneak up on a local government sector distracted by super-city machinations and a singular focus on the provision and upgrading of infrastructure to cope with the numbers.

Along with accommodation, logistics (transport) and loos, food and entertainment are up there on the list of critical factors determining a tourist’s positive, or otherwise, experience. But there’s been no attempt to draw the hospo community together in a concerted effort to gain most benefit from the World Cup opportunity and build New Zealand’s international reputation for fabulous food and wine.

Down in the capital it’s a different story however.

Grow Wellington has been active throughout the recession with initiatives like Wellington On A Plate to bring customers through the doors and help ensure establishments can keep those doors open. Those charged with Auckland’s prosperity and promotion could take a lesson from their southern counterparts.

TONI MYERS PUBLISHER

Auntie Hine.

Advertising Account Manager Peter Corcoran 09-817 4367 021-272 7227 peterc@mediaweb.co.nz

Printing & Pre-press Benefitz

Design & Production Jan-Michael David, Stephanie Smith

A Mediaweb publication

Production Manager Fran Marshall 027-430 4559 franm@mediaweb.co.nz Subscriptions subs@mediaweb.co.nz 09-845 5114 $28.40 a year (incl GST) for 4 issues

Publisher Toni Myers

PO Box 5544 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141 Phone 09-845 5114 Fax 09-845 5116 enquiries@mediaweb.co.nz www.mediaweb.co.nz © 2010 Mediaweb Limited ISSN 1179-4356

Salamander

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THE FEAST BY FAMOUS CHEFS – The best yet O

n the evening of Sunday August 22 the Hospitality Industry’s annual feast did its usual thing only better. The dishes presented by the guest chefs were stunning and that’s not to say that past feasts didn’t have some great dishes, it’s just that this meal worked as a beautifully balanced whole.

The Restaurant Association chose to honour four outstanding contributors to the hospitality industry.

José Herdandez was given the recognition he so richly deserves for his influence across generations, providing one of the few examples of professionalism in wine service to the local restaurant trade for almost half a century. Hernandez has been one of the stars of the New Zealand restaurant scene almost since we first had a serious restaurant scene.

Steve Mackenzie, CEO of the Restaurant Association, then went on to give a very moving tribute to another hospitality gentleman of the old school – the great Otto Groen, who died so suddenly on August 9. A great innovator,

pioneering restaurateur and teacher, Otto Groen will be sorely missed.

The Innovator Award is presented annually to a company or person who is the best in their field. They must be on the cutting edge and have changed the way our industry looks at things. They must be innovative, and have gained the respect of their peers in the industry.

The 2010 Innovator Award was presented to the very modest Mark Gregory for his work on DineAid, where 100% of all funds raised are distributed to City Missions and other charities.

The Hall of Fame Award was established in 1992 to recognise individuals who have made a significant contribution and given exceptional service to the foodservice/hospitality industry and who still continue to do so. With 28 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, including establishing Wellington’s highly acclaimed Logan Brown Restaurant & Bar and co-creating the popular TV series Hunger for the Wild, this year’s inductee was Steve Logan.

Steve Logan.

Mark Gregory.

THE CULINARY FARE – The best yet T

he Restaurant Association-managed annual New Zealand Culinary Fare took place in Auckland this year for the 18th time. Instead of being part of a hospitality trade-fair event, this year’s Culinary Fare was a stand-alone operation and open to a public audience for the first time. Held at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane from August 22-24, the event was well attended by both the public and the hospitality industry and all agreed, an outstanding success.

The New Zealand Culinary Fare is believed to be the world’s largest annual

competition of its kind and also includes the 20th Nestlé Toque d’Or, the country’s premier student culinary and restaurant service competition. Students from 12 tertiary institutes were scrutinised by the country’s finest chefs and culinary professionals, as they prepared six couverts of a three-course meal within two-and-a-half hours.

Much of the kudos for the success of both these events this year, (and in past years), must go to the Restaurant Association’s events manager Helen Emler who is soon to move on. The industry will miss you.

For more images go to www.grill.co.nz.

www.grill.co.nz Helen Emler.

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Diary Dates October 6-November 13 KATRINA GORDON TRADE SHOW Hospitality and foodservice industry tradeshows with regional focus. www.katrinagordon.co.nz.

October 11

FACTS FIGURES & FUTURE PROOFING – RESEARCH FORUM Profiling the New Zealand hospitality sector now and in the future. www.hsi.co.nz

October 28

WHITCOULLS DINNER WITH GORDON RAMSAY TSB Bank Arena, Wellington Hear Ramsay speak about his life over dinner. www.ducoevents.co.nz/

November 18-21

TASTE OF AUCKLAND Victoria Park, Auckland High profile exhibitors make this a worthwhile opportunity.

To reserve stands email sales@tastefestivals.co.nz.

November 20-21

WAIHEKE ISLAND OLIVE FESTIVAL Celebrate Waiheke’s internationally recognised olive oils.

December 17

SUMMER NELSON BEER FETE Founders Heritage Park, Nelson Taste NZ’s beers and ciders.

Call 0800 SALMON or visit regalsalmon.co.nz

New Zealand Culinary Fare grill congratulates the following Major Award Winners at the 2010 New Zealand Culinary Fare New Zealand Restaurant of the Year 2010 Sponsored by Crombie Lockwood, QBE Insurance & Dish Magazine Two Fifteen Bistro New Zealand Chef of the Year 2010 Sponsored by Moffat Ltd and Southern Hospitality Joseph Clarke New Zealand Service Professional of the Year 2010 Sponsored by SKYCITY Christine Mallinson, Crown Plaza Christchurch New Zealand Pastry Team of the Year 2010 Sponsored by Equagold SKYCITY Auckland Team A, Sarah Harrap & Zhiqi Zhou New Zealand Commis Chef of the Year 2010 Sponsored by The Auckland Branch of the NZ Chefs Association Alan James Stuart New Zealand Training Food & Beverage Person of the Year 2010 Sponsored by Restaurant & Catering News Rocio Torres, Instituto Culnario de Mexico Hot Kitchen Excellence Award 2010 Sponsored by e-gas Joseph Clarke, Blanket Bay Lodge, Glenorchy Training Excellence Award 2010 Sponsored by Host Magazine North Shore International Academy, Auckland Secondary Schools Excellence Award 2010 Sponsored by Hospitality Standards Institute Papakura High School Toque d’Or 2010 Organised by Nestlé Professional in association with vegetables.co.nz, New Zealand Beef & Lamb Marketing Bureau, Akaroa Salmon, The House of Knives & Perrier Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology Training Team Skills 2010 Sponsored by Hospitality Standards Institute (HIS) Auckland University of Technology New Zealand Bartender of the Year 2010 Sponsored by De Kuyper Liqueres Loic Steiniger, Hilton, Auckland BIDVest Regional Team Challenge Sponsored by BIDVest in association with BIDVest Fresh & Regal Marlborough Salmon Marc Soper & Tim Jones, Wellington Regional Team For the full list of medal winners and images go to www.grill.co.nz.

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The Master at the MasterClasses: Fernando Peire John Clarke went along – and learnt something.

I

t has to be said: the Restaurant Association of New Zealand scored something of a culinary coup, with Fernando Peire, director of London’s famous The Ivy Restaurant, headlining this year’s Telecom MasterClasses.

Renowned for reviving London’s most-loved and enduring theatre restaurant not once, but twice, Peire shared his experience with appreciative audiences from New Zealand’s hospitality industry.

“Fernando Peire has an unrivalled understanding of the restaurant business, and an instinctive feel for how to create a broad and loyal customer base – crucial to any successful restaurant,” says Steve McKenzie, chief executive of the Restaurant Association.

And so it proved. At ease, engaged and engaging, Peire interacted with his well-attended audiences and them with him – with the happy result that the classes became more a forum than a lecture.

Peire’s focus on attention to detail and practicality reminded us of the things we know but push to the background due to constant day-to-day operational dramas – that those fussy pain-in-the-ass customers will be your best customers if you treat them as special – and that’s what we are there for after all. And he touched on a few things we maybe just never thought of – such as how many of us have actually sat at every setting in our dining areas and considered whether we would want to be seated here? ‘Not many if any’ as Scribe would say!

Anyone who didn’t come away from these sessions a better restaurateur would have to have been deaf, dumb, blind – and stupid.

For the first time the Restaurant Association also took its Telecom MasterClasses to Wellington and if in future years the Restaurant Association can do half as well as it has done in the past couple of years then it will have to consider extending the sessions even further.

For more from the Telecom MasterClasses and Fernando Peire go to www.grill.co.nz.

TRANSPLANTING FROM THE GLASSHOUSE Students and teachers from 15 New Zealand secondary schools have now experienced the wider world of hospitality competitions with the HSI Junior Hospitality Challenge final included for the first time in this year’s New Zealand Culinary Fare.

The Junior Hospitality Challenge (JHC), a national competition organised by HSI to nurture and grow young hospitality talent, has gone from strength to strength since it began in 2007. This year’s competition involved a record 880 students and the hotly contested final saw 25 secondary students from 11 regions facing off in a series of live cooking and front-of-house events at the NZ Culinary Fare.

HSI Chief Executive Steve Hanrahan says schools and tertiary providers play a pivotal and essential part in training and developing hospitality talent, readying them for entering the industry. “They are the glasshouses where that future talent is grown, to then be planted out into the business world of hospitality. Some 126,000 people already work in this vibrant sector today, and it is predicted to grow, so we need to keep up the supply line.”

Gold, silver and bronze medals were presented at the JHC final, hosted by HSI, the NZ Chefs Association and Southern Hospitality. Hawera High School cookery students Tayla Clark and Tyrone Thomson were the winning team in the live cooking event, the vegetables.co.nz Horticulture NZ Secondary Schools Challenge. Kamo High School student Matt Genefaas took home the winner’s trophy for his mocktail and novelty table setting with a regional theme. All three students have a passion for hospitality and plan to pursue careers in this field.

The JHC judges agreed that the students acquitted themselves very well in the pressure cooker environment of the competition within the Culinary Fare and said they saw some future stars in the making.

On another note FACTS, FIGURES AND FUTURE PROOFING is an annual forum, presented by HSI, the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics on the current and future shape of hospitality, the real dollar impact of staff training, and the development of leadership and management skills.

This all happens at the Ellerslie Novotel on Monday, October 11 from 1.45pm to 4.45pm, followed by drinks at 5pm and costs a mere $25. This is a must for any involved in the hospitality sector.

For the full programme go to www.hsi.co.nz/events or www.grill.co.nz and for more information and bookings: info@ hsi.co.nz | 0800 275 4474 | 04 8028720 Hannah

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Cover Story

Party peripheral Are we ready for life in the fan zone, asks Keith Stewart.

P

Photos: Sarah Habershon

arty Central, as our Great Leader likes to call it, has been the source of many complaints from the hospitality sector as we head into World Cup year.

But are the concerns being expressed about unfair competition and substandard facilities for visiting rugby fans about the operation of this sponsordominated area on Auckland’s waterfront fair comment? With just a year to go is the hospo sector in Auckland ready to serve, or are they off the pace and disorganised?

Soul Bar owner and Grand Dame of Auckland’s hospitality community Judith Tabron is unequivocal.

“Perhaps the hospitality industry should take some responsibility for the World Cup themselves. This event has been brought to us on a plate but there has been practically no extra training undertaken by establishments to ensure they have enough professional staff to handle the numbers at World Cup time.

The industry is old enough to be able to take care of these things without government help,” she says.

Matt Bould, owner of a string of bars around the city, including the NeighCEO, Restaurant Association of New Zealand, Steve Mackenzie.

bourhood near Eden Park in Kingsland as well as Union Steamship Co in the central city, is confident his team is up to speed for the coming crush, although he does admit to not having had much experience with an event of this scale.

“We are certainly gearing up for it,” he says. “Union Steamship is full to capacity most nights when there is an event at nearby Vector Arena, so we know how to service a full site. In fact most of our sites are full on Friday and Saturday nights so we know that our systems and services work. For the World Cup we expect to have longer busy shifts, and more of them.”

Tabron is similarly confident her team is prepared and has the capacity to cope with whatever is thrown at them.

“We are ready for it,” she says. “We handled the America’s Cup and so we know we can do the job properly. We have done extra training and we are planning well in advance to make sure our customers get a special New Zealand experience. But we will be unusual in that.”

Certainly there is little evidence that bars, cafes and restaurants see the

opportunity to promote New Zealand cuisine as amongst their priorities. When questioned about special arrangements for the Cup, Bould says their only adjustments will be to limit their offerings so that service can cope with the rush.

“We may limit menus so that we can service the crowd,” he says, adding that this is normal practice on busy nights at most of his sites. The only real attempt to elevate their culinary selections and service will be in what he calls, ‘bespoke’ situations, when complete venues are booked out for particular events. “There is a lot of interest from corporates in taking over whole properties, such as Shaky Isles [another Kingsland site close to Eden Park],” he says.

Judith Tabron is concerned there will be too much adjustment to cope with the crowds, and not enough professional focus on high service standards and memorable food.

“This was a big chance for us, but it is becoming a great disappointment to me. I see fry-ups and antipasto plates out of a jar, plastic tables, cups and cutlery, with rubbish tins to put your used plastics in,” she says.

Soul Bar at The Viaduct.

Cover Story

Queens Wharf, Shed 10 salvaged.

Hardly what the minister for the World Cup, Murray McCully, was referring to when he said in August during the announcement of extra funding for Cup events, “During Rugby World Cup 2011 we will be staging a nationwide festival which will showcase the best of New Zealand’s arts, food and wine, heritage, entertainment, experiences, and lifestyle.”

Part of McCully’s problem is the concept of a “Party Central” that he and Prime Minister John Key have promoted as the central Auckland event during the Cup festival. The location, on an Auckland wharf, will not only be exposed to the worst of Auckland’s weather during the fickle spring season of 2011, local and national politicians have spent most of the past year arguing about its form and the status of the venue with its much discussed ‘heritage’ sheds.

This is hardly the basis for a strong image for a venue that is planned to become the cornerstone of World Cup celebrations – at least in the minds of local and national politicians. There is even a distinct possibility that this fan zone, currently known as party central,

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The Viaduct, party peripheral.

has every chance of becoming the misrepresentation of New Zealand service and food that Judith Tabron fears.

“My concern with the fan zone is the same as it is with the whole hospitality industry; that we will not have enough properly trained staff to handle the work load with the skill needed if we are to leave a good impression,” she says, “We will also have limited offerings when we should be showing off the best of New Zealand cuisine.”

Matt Bould agrees. “You need to have more than a big screen to attract and keep people,” he said. “New Zealand is an expensive destination, with people coming a long way and having high expectations. If you give them a shed on the wharf and a big screen with Heineken in plastic cups they will not be happy.”

Standards could be further compromised by a lack of professionalism amongst operators who will be eased into their businesses on the eve of the Cup, in many cases just to make up the numbers.

“I am concerned about the loose licensing regulations that will be in place,

CEO, Restaurant Association of New Zealand, Steve Mackenzie.

the Pop-up Bars. It is annoying that we have had to conform with strict regulations for years and suddenly anybody can come along and get easy access to licences just because they didn’t plan properly,” says Tabron, who notes that this is a fast track to abuse problems and sloppy operations.

Bould agrees, but also sees such a scenario becoming an advantage for those good businesses whose owners are currently concerned about the competition that the fan zone may throw up next year.

“For the most part people will be coming and hanging out around game venues,” he says. “They will tend to stay in the vicinity of where the games are played.”

As for those without tickets, he considers there will be less in a distant destination like New Zealand than there have been in the past in the United Kingdom and France.

Late August, McCully told a gathering of tourism leaders from the Auckland region that any problems with providing service to World Cup visitors would be a case of Auckland’s leaders becoming “...

Queens Wharf, Party Central.

www.grill.co.nz

Cover Story

complacent and stuffing things up”.

He told his audience at a tourism conference in late August that the rest of the country was already up to speed and that it was time Auckland’s “private sector, agencies and politicians... did the same”.

His comments have attracted an element of sympathy from Judith Tabron, who commented that the Auckland hospo trade may have been successful in getting more government assistance to help with training additional staff, “... if we had bothered to ask”. She remains frustrated that there has been no concerted, industry-wide effort to make this happen, and says in her opinion that it is already too late to initiate anything in this sphere.

Auckland’s concerns aside, this is a national event, and from his desk, CEO of the New Zealand Restaurant Association, Steve Mackenzie sees similarities with the last Lions rugby tour with which he was also involved.

“I think there are pockets where we are ready. I haven’t come across one person who has said ‘what event?’ about the World Cup, and most business owners are going about their preparations quietly. But come game day and we’ll be up for it,” he told grill.

Having said that, however, he is concerned on a number of fronts, although the contribution by central Government is not one.

“Central Government’s role is to bring the event here and to market it internationally. While I don’t know how well the international marketing is going, I think the Government has done all it can,” he says.

What is of greater concern to him, as it is with Judith Tabron, is the potential for poor service should the industry need to take on untrained staff from outside, just to meet demand.

Although a number of special training initiatives have come from The Viaduct.

the Hospitality Standards Institute (HSI), Mackenzie is unaware of any establishments that have taken up these, and untrained personnel remain an issue if properties are short staffed come Cup time.

“If we are looking for untrained people coming into hospitality, then we will have difficulties,” he admits, although he remains confident that well run businesses are already considering their options in this area and will have addressed them come Cup time.

What he is most concerned about is the lack of preparation and support from local bodies throughout the country.

“I do have some cynicism about how engaged local bodies are,” Mackenzie says. “People are getting frustrated and annoyed about the lack of support from their local politicians.”

This is precisely the support that is needed if there are going to be hospitality events surrounding games in all venues. These events will need local body marketing and regulatory input to facilitate when it comes to extending activities through common areas and giving whole communities a theme that can be enhanced by local hospitality businesses.

Mackenzie cites Wellington as an example of how things should be managed, and says there is time to improve the situation following this month’s local body elections.

On the other hand, Matt Bould thinks there will be more regulatory problems to come following the local body elections in Auckland, with so far unseen consequences for World Cup operations in the hospitality sector once the Super City becomes responsible for regulations controlling the hospo sector. To have a council like Wellington’s would be the ideal outcome, suggests Mackenzie.

“When I talk to hospitality operators in Wellington they all comment Neighbourhood – Mac’s Brew Bar; Kingsland.

on how well prepared and supported they are by their local council. Outside Wellington I don’t find that. Without this support none of the special things that should be a feature of the Cup will happen,” he adds.

Of the claim that coordinating the restaurant trade to any group activity is rather like herding cats, Mackenzie says: “It may be. But there needs to be leadership and the only group with the capability to do that is local councils.

They control so much, from streets to licensing, so without them the whole task becomes too hard.

“If they had some sort of strategy developed around centres where games are being played, I think it would be easy to get buy in from local business owners and to host some memorable events around the whole country.”

One of the concerns that many are expressing, although none are certain about details, is the amount of control sponsors will have over the promotion of World Cup associated events. Steve Mackenzie says this is one area that will become an issue if local bodies do not use their positions to clarify conditions and support their local businesses.

It is also a concern for operators that may already have strong promotional links with brands that conflict directly with sponsorships. Mac’s bars offer a very real challenge to the hegemony of Heineken branding across the event. With Mac’s bars located close to central Auckland venues such as the fan zone on Queen’s Wharf and in Kingsland close to Eden Park, a close reading of small print in the legislation supporting World Cup exclusive sponsorship will become essential for some business owners.

It could be a case, come September 2011, of “never mind herding cats, watch out for sponsors spoiling the party”.

Photos: Pack Investment Group

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fresh ideas

Three fresh gadgets you must have

By John Clarke.

A CHILLY WILLY

A

ColdStik is a standalone thermometer to measure food temperature, not just air temperature.

The ColdStik contains a siliconbased gel that takes on refrigerated temperature in the same way food does.

It simulates food product temperatures in changing ambient conditions and provides accurate information to support your food safety programme.

The ColdStik helps ensure quality, safety and the life of frozen and refrigerated products, reducing the risk of food spoilage, shrinkage or loss. By giving you the ability to adjust the temperature of a refrigeration unit based on the actual product temperature, you can significantly reduce your energy cost.

By the very reputable CooperAtkins Corporation, very good value and available here through Safco: www.safco.co.nz

I COOK, YOU COOK, MYCOOK

• You may have come across a Thermomix, well the MyCook is a similar concept only better. Basic ally the Mycook is an induction heat-assis ted food processor for professionals.

• I have used and abused quite a few blenders in my time as a chef, so this time round before, buying, bludging a unit seemed a good idea. This is what we did with it.

• Soups and sauces from prep to cooked to puréed, in the one machine.

• Purées that were so fine and smoo th they need no passing, which save d us time, increased our yield and flavo urs were more pronounced.

• Perfect crème for Crème Brulée cooked, ready to chill and no bain marie.

• Zabaglione in minutes, whisked and heated.

• Ganache, quick easy and no stuff ups.

• Crushed ice and even had a go at a risotto which came out with not a broken grain.

• So we chopped, blended, pulverise d, mixed, emulsified and cooked and it still survived. So yes, it is robust and designed to withstand the rigours of the commercial kitchen.

This is the best gadget to come into my kitchen, ever. Now all I have to do is find the money to buy one.

Available from Sous Chef: www. souschef.co.nz or Tel (09) 269-6373

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Sealed with a … gas

H

ow much wine goes down the sink, or to the kitchen because it is spoiled?

The average hospitality esta blishment loses a bloody lot to oxidisat ion (especially reds left out ove rnight on shelves) from opened bott les of wine.

And even if you are prepared to pour a glass from an opened bottle without checking for volatility (no, we don’t do that, do we?) hoping it is okay or that the client will not notice or complain – your customer will be disappointed and you will lose future sales. Wine and winemaker both deserve better treatment than this.

Open a bottle of wine and the oxygen in the air immediately begins to reac t with the contents, starting a chemical reaction known as oxidation. Initially this opens up the full flavour and bouquet of the wine, but rapidly this becomes too much of a goo d thing. The number-one trick to preservi ng wine is to keep out unnecessary air.

The simple, effective, econ omic answer to this is Longitude – a win e preservation system in a can. The result of over three years of research and develop ment, Longitude works by laying a blanket of argon (a safe inert gas) ove r the surface of the wine using a specially designed diffuser, thereby drastically reducing spoilage caused by oxidatio n.

Longitude is also very han dy for protecting that condiment olive oil you spent a fortune on.

Try out the twin pack. It will cost you less than 50 cents per bott le, but you’ll save a lot more than that.

Go to www.longitude.co.nz for more information and to order onli ne.

www.grill.co.nz

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THE SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY

Otto Groen QSM

Pioneering restaurateur Otto Groen died suddenly at his home at Auckland’s Mission Bay on August 9. He was 81.

O

tto Groen, the man who dragged the Kiwi hospitality scene kicking and screaming into the 20th century by daring to serve alcohol at his restaurant, was preparing breakfast for his wife before another day’s work at the North Shore International Academy’s hospitality and chef-training school when he suffered an unexpected heart attack.

One of the Dutch immigrants who transformed New Zealand’s restaurant scene in the post World War II years, legend has it that Groen’s personal lobbying of Prime Minister Walter Nash was what finally persuaded Nash’s government to change the law allowing restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages with their meals.

Ironically, it was under the following National government of Keith Holyoake that the changes became law, and in 1961 Groen’s already famous Gourmet restaurant in Auckland became one of the first to receive a new restaurant licence. The Gourmet had opened in 1954, and at the time it was an island of sophistication in a city dominated by sleazy pubs and stodgy hotel dining rooms.

The Gourmet not only boasted an interesting menu, a salad bar and opento-view grill, it also provided entertainment for diners and provided them with stemmed water glasses. These were a key to the illegal but common (and Groenencouraged) practice of diners bringing hidden bottles of wine into the restaurant so they could surreptitiously drink with their meals.

Otto Groen.

Groen went on to open the Sapphire Room, which featured live music and a satirical show on the liquor laws, and later ran restaurants in both Auckland and Wellington. He continued to be a leader of the fast developing restaurant industry, and as such was one of the founders of modern New Zealand tourism, now the largest industry in the country.

He was always active in promoting the industry and its professional status, being a founder of the Restaurant Association, and his enthusiasm for professional training was a feature of his whole working life. The development of Auckland University of Technology’s highly regarded school of hospitality and tourism is a result of the early and sustained efforts of Groen and his fellow restaurant industry pioneers.

In 1986, Otto Groen became the first Dutch immigrant to be awarded the

Queen’s Service Medal for services to his adopted country. Few have deserved it more. He taught at the North Shore International Academy right up until the day he died doing what he loved best, introducing young people to the joys of hospitality; thousands of them!

Above: Otto Groen with two of his students at the North Shore International Academy.

THE SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY

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José Hernandez

Hospitality's king José Hernandez plans to spend more time in his garden in his retirement.

H

ospo legend in his own lifetime José Hernandez is retiring. Well, sort of.

Kings never really retire, they simply fade away, and given the charm and integrity with which José has lived his life the hospo community will be pleased that he is not disappearing suddenly. There will be no tears, and for those who will regularly have a chance to catch up with the old King, there will be plenty of stories to laugh about.

The classic José story is the one where he was working at La Normandie shortly after his arrival in New Zealand from Paris in the mid-1960s. While he immediately fell almost as deeply in love with this country as he had with Ronnie before he arrived, he was more than a little surprised at the lack of dining sophistication in restaurants that were just getting used to the idea that they could serve wine with the rest of their service.

In this particular case, a young couple enthusiastically dining out for what appeared to be the first time ever, but, masking their lack of sophistication with an air of confidence the young man boldly order a “bottle of martini”. José, being the suave multilinguist he was, immediately understood that what the man required was a bottle of dry vermouth from the Martini and Rossi stable. Well advertised in international magazines such as Life, most Kiwis with a modicum of nous were at least aware of its existence.

José, however, also knew that a bottle of vermouth was a pretty substantial order for a couple just out of their teens. So he made sure that it was a whole bottle they Above: José Hernandez receives recognition for a lifetime of achievement within the hospitality industry.

required. Most certainly, was the reply, and they proceeded to drink first that bottle, and then another, before José had to order an ambulance to take them to the nearest accident and emergency.

As those who have known José as a professional waiter, wine merchant and friend know, he would have helped the young couple to their awaiting emergency vehicle with the graciousness and panache that have always marked his presence, and his professionalism.

José, at the time studying languages and French literature at the Sorbonne, first engaged in hospitality professionally as a doorman at the famous Folies Bergère in Montparnasse. Once the go-to musichall nightclub of Paris, it was frequented by the stars of the early ’60s during José’s time and provided a glamorous nightlife to complement his days at the Sorbonne.

Once in Wellington he was quickly snapped up by the most stylish of that city’s new licensed establishments, La Normandie, whose patron, Madame

Louise immediately saw the value of José’s accent in providing an air of France to her dining room. José quickly became one of the legends of the Wellington haute cuisine scene.

Men with a knowledge of wine were rare in the trade in those days – in the wine trade as well as the restaurant trade.

It was not long before José was headhunted to take over at Wright Stevenson Wines & Spirits, where he quickly established a liaison with restaurants in search of good wine and some knowledgable assistance. José, who was raised the son of a Madrid wine merchant was the perfect person for the job, introducing the then radical idea to Wright Stevenson’s retail shops of displaying wine bottles lying on their sides.

Although José has moved around since then, as a wine judge, rum marketer (he created the New Zealand taste for Coruba), and wine merchant, he still asserts that, “I spent most of my life in the wine industry introducing New Zealanders to wine, particularly New Zealand wine.”

And what an introduction it has been for all of us who have had the pleasure of his service, his company and his friendship. Never the smart arse, which is very rare amongst those with wine knowledge, always quick to sing or dance when the occasion suits, he is the epitome of the lifestyle that wine can offer, given respect and a determination to have fun.

So what do you drink when you are weeding the garlic? I am not sure, best to call José and ask for a demonstration.

José Hernandez at the Feast by Famous Chefs.

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THE THE SPIRIT SPIRIT OF OF HOSPITALITY HOSPITALITY

Fine expressions Photos: Pear Tree

In support of the Regional Fare Campaign grill showcases establishments that source and promote locally grown and produced food and beverages; establishments that are a fine expression of their region. Pear Tree, House On Hood, and Fantail Lodge exemplify some of the best in their localities.

PEAR TREE If anywhere is historically a fine expression of the north (at least of the Pakeha bit) it is the Pear Tree Restaurant & Bar complex in Kerikeri’s Stone Store Basin. Named after the old pear tree in the grounds (the first to be planted in New Zealand and still producing heavily), this joint is a truly fine expression of the local terroir.

Owner operators, Northland’s ‘Top Service Person’ Nic Brazier, husband and

The locality: Kerikeri, Northland.

The style: Restaurant, café, bar. acclaimed chef Neil Brazier (ex exec chef Kauri Cliffs) and long-time friend and colleague, internationally experienced sommelier Scott Hoddy took over The Landing and rebranded it the Pear Tree about a year ago. The establishment expresses the intentions admirably and their commitment to the area of this power house team.

Chef Brazier goes to the local farm-

ers market for much of his produce and sources other product from the district.

Beef from Carrington Estate, Mighty Mushrooms from the Mid-North, Mahoe’s fresh bocconcini, Queenie’s saffron, Spirits Bay scallops and fruit from the oldest pear tree in the country. Oh and so much more.

Then he turns these products into brilliant dishes – fine expressions of the Far North.

THE SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY

HOUSE ON HOOD Envisage the Waikato and what comes to mind? Yes, there are lots of cows. What else? That’s right; the twin social institutions of rugby and beer, accompanied by the Kiwi blokes who appreciate these longestablished pillars of central-North Island culture in tandem and with relish.

So one would probably expect to enter a Hamiltonian rugby bar with certain snooty preconceived notions; say of a scrum of bumpkins spewing monosyllables at a plethora of wall-mounted tellies, banging beakers of uniform amber on wet leaners and roaring abuse at the ref through mouthfuls of fries. Happily, one would be mistaken; this bar serves craft beers and locally produced food.

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The locality: Hamilton City, Waikato.

The style: Real ale and cowbells – very cool local pub.

The official bar of the Waikato Chiefs, the ‘House’ is part of the old Grand Central Hotel building, built in 1915. The interior is intensively decorated, but tastefully so, in a way that makes it lady-friendly but in no way girly, and original without being wanky. The retro Kiwiana styling miraculously sidesteps the pitfalls of kitsch, is creatively executed, welcoming, comfortable and pleasing to all comers.

Here’s a bar that levels the playing field, creating an environment that brings together two cultures that should have been united under one roof long ago; rugby and craft beer.

House On Hood serves a wide variety of New Zealand’s craft beer on tap, includ-

ing such fine examples as Epic, Croucher and Three Boys, plus two ‘guest taps’ on rotation. For the novice, House provides a six-glass tasting rack accompanied by tasting notes to help newcomers get their taste buds around new and distinct flavours. What makes House special is the way that it has set about making New Zealand craft beer accessible and nonthreatening.

Waikato Draught is the only ‘mainstream’ beer you’ll find on tap in here (as co-owner Nathan Sweetman says, you kind of have to have it), so big ups to House On Hood for putting in the hard yards to develop a market for craft beer in Chiefs’ country.

Chef Harrie.

FANTAIL LODGE COUNTRY ESTATE Faintail Lodge began 21 years ago with one humble room and has been at the cutting edge of fine local food and accommodation ever since.

Owner chef Harrie Geraerts has an uncompromising commitment to fivestar service and fine cuisine and is a fine ambassador for the Bay of Plenty.

Fantail Lodge’s cuisine is focused solely on local Bay of Plenty produce.

Geraerts also gathers fruits and produce from the extensive horticultural themed Fantail grounds, preserving any excess in house. In recognition of his skills and

The locality: Katikati, Bay Of Plenty.

The style: Luxury lodge.

attitude Geraerts was invited to showcase his local dishes by Tourism New Zealand for its 100% brand campaign in Asia.

On the evil night we arrived (late as is the intrepid grill team’s wont) he had just arrived back from Auckland.

He then proceeded to light the fire and prepare a meal from local products including seafood and wild game.

A chef of the old school, Geraerts has a true understanding and is a master in the preparation of wild game. We were presented with dishes of local wild rabbit,

pukeko, duck and pheasant incorporating other ingredients from the Bay area.

While all this was going on Chef Harrie was also on the phone ringing around all the local producers arranging for them to come and meet our team at Fantail for breakfast; but that’s another story – see Regional Fare, pages 24 and 25.

Fantail can also provide all service, menus and local foods at local venues, such as Morton Estate winery, for pre-arranged occasions as required. www.grill.co.nz

16 fare 16 Regional Regional fare

Regional Fare The grill Regional Fare Campaign and Taste of New Zealand Awards (TONZA) programme’s continuing function is to stimulate interest in and promote the use of unique local foods and foster the development of a truly indigenous cuisine.

Te Tai Tokerau TE TAI TOKERAU

grill’s intrepid team has been on the road again travelling the top of the North Island to check out the lay of the land and sea and discover what is on offer.

Once again we found passionate producers, from tiny boutique operators to corporate outfits totally dedicated to supplying the best food products their regions can provide.

We also found other passionate people dedicated to supporting these local producers and suppliers by presenting those same great local products to their patrons.

Don’t panic!

The following pages by no means cover the full extent of each region’s food resources but rather give a taste of what each region has to offer.

IMPRESSIONS OF Te TAI TOKERAU Heading north from the natural boundaries of Port Waikato and the Karangahake Gorge up New Zealand’s northern peninsula we find a land of deeply incised coastlines, steep in parts but invariably warm and moist. Much as the soils and landscape may vary it is this warm humid climate that defines this region – fundamentally this is a Pacific Island-like zone, rich in seafood and exotic fruits.

And as such this region, Northland, the Coromandel peninsula, Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf islands, has a decidedly maritime character to it. Travelling the peninsula one is continually aware that

The Hokianga Harbour – Northland.

the sea dominates, half a dozen large inland tidal harbours (two the Manukau and the Kaipara among the largest in the world), deep water harbours and island filled bays (the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay of Islands).

A landscape where the horizon is never far away, human sized hills and valleys intensively farmed interspersed by patches of wild subtropical rainforests, with the last remnants of the mighty Kauri.

And the people match this landscape; intimate, warm and passionate, a people who have an affinity for their place – a people in the land, not on it.

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Regional fare

Tane Mahuta.

Ludbrook House – preserves.

EXPRESSIONS OF Te TAI TOKERAU This region supplies a greater range of food products to its people than any other in the country. Seafood (even if local delicacies like toheroa, are no longer available and shellfish in the Auckland area have been decimated and the fishing isn’t what it was) is perhaps the finest expression of this northern region if not economically then certainly culturally. Aquaculture is a vital industry, dominated by the exotic Pacific Oyster.

Clevedon and Te Matuku farm oysters in the Hauraki Gulf and supply fine product to restaurants throughout the district and further afield. But these are not the only ones – there are farms on both coasts from south to far north.

There are large and tiny, fresh and processed seafood suppliers all over the north. Smaller operators such as The Coromandel Smoking Co with its fine range of smoked seafood and

Darryll and Daphne Hollamby, Puhoi Coffee.

Apatu Aqua in the Far North’s Doubtless Bay. Nichola and Hamish Apatu supply the trade with very fresh locally caught seafood and an assortment of fine value-added seafood products – their fantastic kina roe pâté is to die for. At the other end of the scale there is Moana Pacific Seafood the largest hospo supplier in the country. Also in Auckland no single entity has done more for local seafood awareness and accessibility than Sanford’s AFM, (Auckland Fish Market).

There are many land-based product providers, both primary and processed.

People like Dave Arthur Russell of Kedar Growers up in Takahui supplying tonnes of riwai (Maori potatoes) to the Auckland marketplace each year, and the tiny Zion gardens in Taheke supplying locals and big companies such as Ceres with organic produce.

All over the region there are passion-

ate people creating fine products from local fruits: witness Chris Ludbrook of Ludbrook House fame with her wonderful fruit conserves and syrups. And in the Bay of Islands James Grigg of Lemon Z is making award-winning limoncello from local fruit.

There are olive oil producers, growers of nuts, mushrooms, (Mighty Mushrooms), fine cheese makers, (Mahoe for one), fanatical boutique coffee roasters like Puhoi Coffee, (which is probably the best kept secret in the region), and oh so many, many more.

Winegrowing is a vibrant industry in the region, with Waiheke Island dominating West Auckland in recent years (at least in the public’s eyes). But the wine enclaves of Matakana, the Bay of Islands and the very Far North are making an impact also – Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah being the predominant varieties (see following pages).

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Photos: Sarah Habershon

Zion Gardens – organic compost.

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Regional fare

EXPRESSIONS OF AUCKLAND – WINE A selection by Danny Schuster (DS) and John Hawkesby (JH).

South Auckland

PURIRI HILLS – CLEVEDON 2006 ‘Reserve’ Merlot/Carmenere/ Cab F. JH: Dark ruby, mix of cold tea, violets and peppermint, lifted nose, hint of rusticity, sweetness and pepper, gentle soft-ripe tannins, elegant style.

DS: Depth in colour, aromatic and complex nose, high vinosity, ample new oak, textured elegant flavour, concentrated in fine grain finish, should age.

2004 ‘Reserve’ Merlot/Cab/Cab F./ Malbec/Carmenere JH: Aromatic, cinnamon, fresh mint and truffle nose with red fruits, gamey/ spicy complexity, balanced, well crafted structure, maturity in soft tannic finish.

Lovely and complete wine.

DS: Complex Merlot plum/spice, full bouquet with cassis and finesse of new oak, well integrated flavour and ample fine grain tannins in long finish. Has class.

Waiheke Island

closed and less expressive than the nose, could develop with time.

DS: Well coloured, depth and vinosity coupled with generous fruit, complex with tobacco hints in textured flavour, hint of opulence in tannic, undeveloped finish, firm – needs time.

STONYRIDGE VINEYARD 2008 ‘Pilgrim’ Syrah/ Mourvedre/Grenache JH: Complex nose, mellow mint, liquorice, cigar-box with leather and hint of truffle.

Balanced, integrated not a bigbruising, screaming beast but has grip, nice tannic structure with elegance. A class act.

DS: Deep colour, full bouquet with high vinosity and complex aromas of red fruits/spice and forest floor hints, floral notes in generous flavour, long – fine tannic finish, still some time to go.

MAN ‘O WAR VINEYARDS 2008 ‘Dreadnought’ Syrah JH: Violets, pepper, red fruits nose, enticing and promising.

Interesting, evocative flavours, layers of complexity of pepper, menthol and red berries, lovely balance, well rounded tannins.

Very good wine.

DS: Deep colour, robust-full nose, high vinosity, ripe even slightly jammy fruit, vanillin oak with sweet notes in undeveloped flavour, firm finish. Needs time but should make good bottles.

2008 ‘Larose’ Cab/Cab F./ Mer/Malbec/P.V. JH: Poised, complex spectrum of fruit, full bouquet, velvet smooth, nice rounded tannins, lovely mouthfeel, needs time in firm finish.

DS: Deep colour, generouseven opulent fruit, high vinosity with hints of cedar/cassis complexity, ample tannins in well-balanced flavour and a long finish. Very ripe, robust vintage to age.

2008 ‘Ironclad’ Merlot/Cab F./Malbec/ P.V./Cab S. JH: Fine nose, dark fruits/marzipan and liquorice, lifted palate, little

DESTINY BAY VINEYARDS 2006 ‘Destinae’ Cab/Mer/Cab F./ Malbec JH: Lovely, complex nose, a little or onedimensional structure, gentle/balanced but

lacking a bit of body in soft finish.

Easy drinking style.

DS: Well coloured, classical claret nose of cassis/cedar/tobacco, gamey/spicy hints, balanced-supple structure, lifted/aromatic finish.

Stylish wine, lots of charm.

2006 ‘Mystae’ Cab/Mer/Cab F./ Malbec JH: Dark fruits, complex nose, high vinosity, finesse in smooth tannic flavour, lovely finish.

Needs time, lots of potential.

DS: Deep colour, ripe/full and complex nose, red fruits (Cab) and gamey/spice (Cab f.) obvious, ample new oak well integrated with a classical/elegant flavour, seamless fine tannins in long finish. Balanced to age into fine wine.

KENNEDY POINT VINEYARD 2006 ‘Reserve’ Syrah JH: Deep red, big-ripe nose with pepper and seductive ‘earthy’ notes, big, bold and beautiful, smart wine with perhaps too much of the pepper coming through, lovely mouthfeel, classy.

DS: Deep ruby, full-robust nose, developing complexity with dark fruits, spice, pepper, ample weight in tannic finish. Perhaps lacks a little finesse but has big heart.

West Auckland

KUMEU RIVER 2008 ‘Mate’s Vineyard’ Chardonnay JH: Bouquet of stone-fruit and citrus, lovely acid balance with fruit, whisper of oak, not too strident, very drinkable.

DS: Pale straw, bright, high vinosity, complex with ripe fruit and well integrated oak, finesse in layered flavours with focus in a long finish. Classical Chardonnay.

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Expressions of North Auckland - Wine

Regional fare

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A selection by Danny Schuster (DS) and John Hawkesby (JH).

Bay of Islands

MARSDEN ESTATE 2007 ‘Black Rocks’ Chardonnay JH: Straw, bright colour, full bouquet with hints of peanut butter complexity and a menthol note, mature flavours, touch sweet; moderate weight in dry finish.

DS: Pale gold, bright, full-toasty bouquet with lees ageing complexity, developed flavours, complex in dry finish in a robust style.

The Far North

WAITAPU ESTATE – AHIPARA 2008 ‘Reef Point’ Pinotage JH: Dark ruby, mulberry, ripe with stalk hints, earthy notes, sweet/plummy flavours, supple & balanced. Quite pleasant even if not my style.

DS: Bright ruby, fresh red fruits, youthful – supple flavours, simple tannic structure, lifted – aromatic finish, fine summer wine.

2007 ‘Reef Point’ Pinotage JH: Well coloured, full nose with blackberry-nip/mushroom notes, blackcurrant/liquorice flavours, pleasant finish, like the extra age.

DS: Deep colour, high vinosity-full bouquet, complex with forest floor notes, red berry/spice flavours, concentrated-long finish, old fashioned but very good style.

2007 Pinotage JH: Deep colour, closed-full bouquet, undeveloped flavour that may surprise with time, quite good weight and restrained acidity in finish. Needs time.

DS: Bright ruby, full-toasty bouquet with red fruits/spice, soft tannic structure, plum flavoured in supple finish. Elegant, youthful.

KARIKARI ESTATE – KARIKARI PENINSULA 2009 ‘Wild’ Chardonnay JH: Pale straw, flinty-soft bouquet, hints of lanolin, not strident. Light body, modest concentration and fruit, austere style.

DS: Pale & bright, fresh bouquet, lees character with integrated oak, medium weight, soft flavoured, flinty in long, dry finish.

2007 ‘Toa’ JH: Nice perfume, deep/rich fruit, ripe flavours with blackberry notes, balanced in ripe, tannic finish, drinks well but will age.

DS: Well coloured, ripe red berry/ cassis/tobacco nose, complex, integrated oak, Bordeaux like blend of Cabernet, Merlot et al in flavour, undeveloped but well balanced and lifted in fine finish. Fine claret style, keep 3-4 years.

Gameford Lodge-Already well known in the Food Service Industry for our Fresh and Frozen Duck products and now Distributors of Quality Beef, Lamb, Seafood, Pork and Chicken

www.nzduck.co.nz Phone: 09-377-5717 | Fax: 09-353-1219 | Email: gameford@ihug.co.nz www.grill.co.nz

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Regional fare

Regional Fare

Photos: Sarah Habershon

Tainui – Waikato Dusk at Lake Waikare.

WAIKATO DISTRICT IMPRESSIONS OF WAIKATO In the west, the region is bounded by the Tasman Sea with its volcanic black sand beaches. From the mouth of the Waikato River the land is gently undulating but heading south this western coastal region becomes rugged, wild and beautiful hill country, known locally as the Hakarimata range dominated by the mighty

mountain, Pirongia. This coastline is punctured by three large almost landlocked natural harbours, Raglan, Aotea and Kawhia – the traditional seafood resources of the local Tangata whenua.

East of the coastal hills lies the broad undulating floodplain of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers. The region has a wet temperate climate, and

the land is largely pastoral farmland created when back in the day European settlers drained most of the plain’s extensive natural peat swamps. At the northern end of this the Waikato plain are dozens of small shallow lakes the largest of which is Lake Waikare, a riverine lake, it covers some 34km² with one of the greatest concentrations of eel (tuna) in the country,

2011 Call for Entries Applications are now open for the 2011 Beef & Lamb Excellence Awards (previously called the Hallmark of Excellence Awards).

If your beef and lamb dishes are of the highest standard, this is your chance to show customers and peers your restaurant serves only the highest quality beef and lamb cuisine. For a 2011 application pack, call Jennie or Lisa at Beef + Lamb New Zealand on freephone 800 733 466, or email enquiries@beeflambnz.co.nz

Regional fare

district’s rivers are Piako and Waihou which run north through the Hauraki Plain to the Firth of Thames.

And the people of the Waikato?

Yes, we were impressed, hard working, well established, very confident and – well – lush.

EXPRESSIONS OF WAIKATO Famous it may be for its intensive dairy farming and its good rich milk, this region has far more to offer – not least the value-added products from that good rich milk.

The Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company at Tatuanui near Morrinsville was formed back in 1914 and has a reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality chef-ready dairy products to the foodservice sector.

The grill resource team visited Tatua and we liked these guys; not least because of their fine attitude towards

the people working there, but the fact that they are always keen to work with our industry to develop products to our specs also helped. We also did a tasting. Remember Dairy Whip back in the day? Well, it may not suit the elite who must prep everything themselves, but it is bloody convenient and the taste and mouthfeel of the modern version is very good. Tatua’s crème Anglaise, crème Custard, mascarpone, crème fraiche and sour cream, all had good flavour profiles and velvety textures. Tatua’s sauces were excellent also and do not split on heating. All are conveniently packaged, clip and snip and ready for piping and shelf life is six months or better.

South of Tatuani where the old Waharoa dairy factory once stood is a replica of an historic New Zealand 1920s’ butter factory – this is the Kaimai Cheese Company. Since its inception

COMPANY PROFILE

Waikare was once a mighty food bowl for local Maori. Sadly due to its shallow nature (never more than a couple of metres) and the heavy use of fertiliser in the surrounding farming district, the waters of the lake are now in poor condition and the home of the pestilential koi carp.

This is also the site – Te Kauwhata – of New Zealand’s first viticultural research station and Rongopai wines were made here, from 1932 until 2007 when Babich Wines took over the brand.

Intensively farmed with both livestock, predominantly dairy cattle, but with sheep farming on the hillier west margins and crops such as maize, the overall impression of the Waikato Plain is well – lush. The plain is bounded in the east by the wild and wonderful Kaimai Ranges and the mountain Te Aroha. This eastern

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The Kaimai Cheese Company Real cheese designed for our industry and dedicated to using traditional cheese making methods.

At the foot of the Kaimai ranges, deep in the heart of dairy country in an environment steeped in pioneering tradition, the Kaimai cheese factory stands alongside the original site of the Waharoa dairy factory. Kaimai Cheese Company specialises in producing genuinely natural, ‘top shelf’ cheeses, with an absolute commitment to flavour, taste, aroma and texture specifically for the foodservice industry.

Kaimai’s cheeses scooped three gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the 2010 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards, as well as a trophy. General manager Sheryn Cook believes that the company’s point of difference is its commitment to traditional methods which

guarantee depth of flavour; methods which have been largely abandoned in the standardised processes of modern cheesemaking which maximises efficiency at the expense of the product. “Kaimai cheeses are made with a dedication to old, traditional methods for each variety.

This ensures all the advantageous microorganisms and flavour compounds come to the fore and produce unbeatable taste and texture.”

Kaimai ripens its cheeses in wellventilated rooms at ambient temperatures.

“When cheeses are ripened in the conditions they suit, rather than the low-temperature, standardised conditions present in many mass-produced cheese factories, they develop into exquisitely flavoured cheeses,” says Sheryn. “That is what we aim for at Kaimai.”

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Regional fare

Zealong tea.

Frank Nagel.

in 2006 Kaimai cheeses have won a number of top awards producing great cheeses with an artisan character aimed at the foodservice and hospitality sectors. There is also a very cool cafe and shop on the premises.

Heading south and we came to Putaruru and the Over The Moon Dairy Company; making lovely handcrafted artisan cheeses and incorporating the New Zealand Cheese School from which so many artisan cheese makers have learnt their trade in recent years.

Pukeatua Peak’s Maungatautari goat cheese, which won the 2010 Champion Artisan Cheese Award, is also made at Over The Moon.

Heading north and west to Pirongia, Cloudy Mountain Cheese produces unique individually handcrafted cheeses – beautiful, rustic cheese that is truly artisan.

And there are others, but as we learnt, the Waikato is more than good rich milk and its products.

There is Frank’s Famous Sausages tucked away under the Kaimais. Frank Nagel, once a scientist in Hamburg, is now quietly making fantastic sausages in the Waikato. His sausage range is relatively small at present – Pork Apple and Cranberry, Moroccan Chicken, Italian Style, Pork & Smoked Paprika – but growing and quite a few chefs have picked up on his products. All are

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gluten and preservative free and made from organic and free range meats wherever possible. Nagel also cures meats and these are worth watching out for.

And a bit further north at Paeroa is Harmony Meats, where much of the product for Frank’s Sausages comes from, and no surprise Harmony deliver us some of the best quality meat in the country. Organic lamb and beef, freerange pork, the farmed wild Razorback boar and a range of small goods and cured meats, all the best you will find and at the best prices.

But it is not all animal products.

Traditionally, Oolong tea is grown in the mountains of Taiwan and southern China where its ritualised consumption plays a crucial role in cultural tradition. Industrialisation of the once-pristine regions in which Oolong tea is grown has driven a demand for certified organic tea grown in the cleanest, greenest conditions possible; in this case the Waikato. Luckily, we can get to sample a sip or two before the bulk of Zealong’s product gets shipped overseas. Several top-end restaurants around the country have already tapped in to this locally grown delicacy though it may be a hard road convincing citizens of a nation so beholden to the bean that perhaps a leafy lift is in order.

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Regional fare

Photos: Sarah Habershon

Regional Fare

Bay of Plenty

BAY OF PLENTY

Whakatane mouth.

IMPRESSIONS – BAY OF PLENTY The Bay of Plenty was aptly named by Captain Cook and these days plenty of the plenty it produces ends up on the hospo plate especially in Auckland.

The region stretches from Waihi at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula in the northwest to the Motu River in the east. The region is bound by the Kaimai and Mamaku Ranges in the west and extends inland in the southeast to the more sparsely populated forest lands around Kawerau and Murupara.

The area has high sunshine hours and significant dry periods with less than 100 days of rainfall each year, although, as (again) when the grill team turned up, the rain is at times heavy. This all goes to make for rich growing country, market gardens and sub-tropical orchards.

The region’s traditional industries are all based around the things we imbibe, horticulture, agriculture, fishing and food processing and more recently water and aquaculture.

Vibrant was the overall impression of the area. And its people – proactive, enthusiastic and optimistic were traits that

best

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consistently impressed us on our travels through the region. This attitude is exhibited in no better way than in that of the Local Authorities and their economic development agencies and networking groups. Groups such as Priority 1, ToiEDA, and Food Bay of Plenty are all forward looking and very active on behalf of their food and beverage producers.

EXPRESSIONS – BAY OF PLENTY And as an expression of this support by local authorities there is none better than that which is about to happen in the Eastern Bay. Due in no small part to the BOP council’s efforts in building a relationship with Yantai, Tauranga’s

Regional fare

Chinese sister city, 3800 hectares, six kilometres off the Opotiki coast is set to become the world’s largest mussel farm. The deal for access to the Chinese market comes from a venture with ‘Oriental Ocean’, a large Yantaibased company. The farm, which was granted resource consent just last year, is owned by Eastern Seafarms, (which is owned by the East Coast people, Whakatohea, through a 54% shareholding by their trust board) and other shareholders – Sealord and NZ Seafarms. Aside from more than doubling the volume of mussels New Zealand exports, this deal is expected to provide an additional 900 local jobs in the Opotiki community.

The obvious expression of the Bay of Plenty we all think of is kiwifruit.

Zespri is the biggie in the area and pumps a lot into the economy and the area’s long-term breeding programme.

Three new varieties of kiwi fruit are on the way, the first we are likely to see (in April next year) is the G3, a new gold. The grill team got a preview tasting, and yep it is a good one, better than the existing varieties with a great acid/sweet balance and a more complex flavour profile and a great texture. Keep an eye out for this next season, followed in a couple of years by a red variety.

But the Bay is not just about the big guys, in Kawerau there is the boutique brewer ‘Aotearoa’ making handcrafted award-winning beers under the Mata brand. Quite a good range of very good beers for such a small brewer and do check out the manuka and feijoa beers if you get a chance.

And further down the river (Tarawera) at Otakiri we found Antipodes and the best bottled water in the country (possibly the world).

The founders of the company have a genuine personal commitment to environmental sustainability. Antipodes is the world’s first carbon-neutral premium water for the restaurant table anywhere on the planet. Designed specifically for the hospitality sector and found only in a very cool glass bottle, Antipodes is a demonstration of what New Zealand can do best.

That we do not have to be just a supplier of commodities that others can

add (and take) value, but as cradleto-cradle producers of premium, high value products that reflect what we as a country have and stand for. In 2006 Antipodes was rewarded for its philosophical choices, winning the title of ‘world’s best water’ at the prestigious Berkley Springs Water Festival in West Virginia, USA. And in Whakatane we met, among others, Barney Gray producing great extra virgin olive oil under his Shaw Road label and on the wharf, the Ice Man – who turned out to be a woman – Jenny, selling a variety of freshly caught fish to the trade.

The grill team with the compliments of Fantail Lodge near Katikati had breakfast with local producers and got a taste of their products: Distillerie Deinlein’s beautifully presented range of liqueurs, produced from a range of New Zealand fruits; Phoenix Orchards’ brilliant 100% kiwi passion fruit syrups and pulp which are so much better flavoured than the imported stuff we usually see. Grove extra virgin avocado oils were tasted and it is obvious why they have such a following with chefs around the country. Grove horopito and lime infused oils are divine and worth checking out. Beautiful vanilla products were also very appreciated; these were from Heilala Vanilla which started as an aid project to assist one family in the Tongan Vava’u Islands. Bert van Heuckelum of Katikati Frantoio also was at the breakfast, with his selection of very good varietal extra virgin olive oils.

Mount Eliza Cheese’s Chris Whalley could not make it, but we can say his English style cheeses were excellent.

After this extended breakfast/ brunch/lunch we shot up the road to the base of the Kaimais to Base Camp (no not for a lie down, that was courtesy of Harrie Geraerts and Fantail) to look over their fine range of game salamis and sausages. They were very fine too, gluten free, tasty, real game and smoked traditionally over real manuka.

25

Iceman.

Antipodes.

Basecamp.

BOP producers at Fantail.

We may have missed many, but we also tasted many – for the rest of the people and producers we came across go to www.grill.co.nz Aotearoa Brewers. www.grill.co.nz

26

THE RED REPORT

Photos: Freedom farms

Pork Happy little pigs

P

ork has been at the centre of much poor publicity in recent months, one of the consequences of the pig industry concentrating on producing low-cost meat at a time when poor quality and inconsistency have given pork a bad reputation in the restaurant trade. While restaurants have for a long time been recognised as the image leaders for New Zealand produce, including meat, the drift away from pork by top chefs is nothing if not a symptom of some unprofessional practices in the pig business.

The fashion for belly pork is the only relatively new development in pork as a menu item in most restaurants outside the Chinese sector, which is itself an indication of the difficulties so many chefs have had getting access to consistent quality pork. Belly pork, always in need of slow cooking, is the ideal solution if you want to serve pork but are unsure of its status. As pork is the most common meat throughout

Freedom Farms’ pigs.

most of Europe, its lack of presence on New Zealand menus is another indicator of deeper problems within the local pig farming community.

In recent years a number of farmers have identified these problems as a business opportunity, and have worked hard to transform pig farming, slaughter and processing methods with the intention of providing consistently

stress just prior to slaughter, and DFD (dry, firm and dark) is similarly linked to stress, in this case during the life of the animal.

“Happy pigs are healthy pigs,” says Ian Jackson of South Canterbury pork producer Havoc. “And healthy pigs produce the highest quality meat.”

From the moment Jackson decided to go into pig farming in New Zea-

“pigs are known to eat human carcasses if given the opportunity.” high quality product for demanding consumers. Looking across this small but growing list of quality focused producers there is one factor that all have in common, and that is that their attempts to improve quality have all started with improving animal welfare.

Pigs are very susceptible to stress, and stress causes two major quality problems in pork meat. PSE (pale, soft and exudative) is linked with pig

land, he was looking for a location where he could raise the animal outside. The land just outside Timaru was ideal, in part because it also had a local abattoir so there was not a long, stressful journey to slaughter, but also because of the climate and the soil.

Gregor Fyfe, co-founder of Freedom Farms, believes that some of the problem with inconsistency comes from an inclination to overcook pork,

Piggies in grass.

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Photos: Freedom farms

THE RED REPORT

poor in the sheds that the smell of the environment actually permeates the animal and stays in the meat. Piggies raised our way are in very open environments with natural ventilation and the cross breezes prevent the sty taint,” he claims.

Another aspect of growing quality pork is the pig breed that is being raised. Recently there was a fashion for low-fat pork, but breeding lean animals compromised the ultimate meat quality. Jackson believes we are breeding our pigs too lean to meet this fashion, with the result that pork quality has suffered.

“We decided on Duroc for Havoc,” Ian Jackson explains. “They are tough and have excellent marbling of their meat, so they taste better. In the end, that is what you grow for the best meat. They do not have big litters, and are not the most placid breed, but they are certainly the best to eat.”

The Duroc is originally an AmeriPhotos: Havoc farms

but has found little evidence of inconsistency with his company’s products, partly because chefs are prepared to stand by not overcooking pork, and partly because Freedom Farms has addressed the stress issue.

“Mostly we only get positive comments about our pork’s consistency though which I feel is primarily about minimising stress in the animals,” he says.

“Stress impacts enormously on meat quality. The animals fattened for meat that are raised in straw shelters or open fields display all their natural behaviours and have considerable contact with humans. This calms them and they are very different animals than those fattened in small dark barren concrete pens,” he explains.

There is also the problem of sty taint, an off-flavour that some farmers refer to as boar taint to conceal their less than hygienic pig conditions.

“Sty taint occurs with pen-raised pork as the ventilation is usually so

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THE RED REPORT

can breed, large and often dark red in colour. It is not common in New Zealand because it does not have large litters and consequently does not meet the low-cost product targets of most pig farmers. Havoc apart, not many New Zealand pig farmers show much interest in their pig breeds, and there seems little enthusiasm for considering breed as the basis for some form of quality or flavour standard for the industry.

This may come, however, as beef is leading the way with identified breeds on beef brands such as Angus Pure and Prime Hereford. There is scope for breed-exclusive pork styles, with such breeds as the local kunekune delivering distinctive meat characters. There are also small breeds from Iberia that are noted for their slow growing and dense, dark meat that has found fame and fortune in the great hams and sucking pig dishes of Spain and Portugal.

This is more likely for the future, but already Neat Meat has on the market a farmed version of wild pork, which features the wild pigs of New Zealand’s bush environments. Branded Razorback, this meat is swiftly gaining support from chefs and restaurateurs up and down the country for its flavour, character and most especially for its difference and marketability in their restaurants.

Premium pork brands have similar goals, and the bottom line for premium brand owners, such as Harmony, Havoc

and Freedom Farms is that they are in the quality pork business, which means costs are around 20% higher than they are for pen-raised animals. Havoc believes that price is a key part of its market stance, making it clear that its consistent high quality comes at a cost.

The consideration for restaurants is whether that extra cost can be translated into greater custom and increased returns from this long-neglected corner of the menu.

Freedom Farms also justify its pricing by asserting the final quality of its products.

“It is justifiable on every ground and we need to pay more to our farmers for our pork to ensure this is mandatory,” says Fyfe.

A pig’s life

In New Zealand pigs are raised mostly on grain to three to four months old when they are killed as ‘porkers’ for pork. Well-fed, healthy, happy pigs easily make profitable kill weights at the 15-week mark. It takes another six weeks to grow a ‘baconer’, one of the reasons for the higher cost of bacon.

There are 230 commercial pig farming operations in New Zealand supplying around 700,000 pigs annually for slaughter and processing into bacon, ham and pork. Domestic pork production is around 50,000 tonnes, not quite enough to supply half of the

domestic pork market. Most imported pork comes from Canada, followed by Australia, with the United States and Scandinavia also important sources of pig meat and pig products.

Pork meat is paler than beef or lamb because pigs are less active than sheep and cattle. This means they have a mere 15% of red fibre muscles, but many claim that darker coloured pork is more full flavoured than the lighter examples. Pork is often said to be ‘white meat’, in part to gain from the health fashion of eating paler meat, but in its more active wild state it is certainly red meat, or at least pink, and free-range pigs tend to have more colour than their under-cover cousins.

As with other meat, a significant portion of the flavour comes from fat, and while pork is relatively leaner than it was 20 years ago, fat remains an important factor in pork flavour, in particular its richness.

As pigs are closer in their metabolism to humans, they are often vectors for human disease, including viruses (the much-publicised swine flu being a case in point), and the source of many myths about the need to cook pork ‘well’, which in previous generations meant to the stage of being dry. The omnivorous nature of pigs is often cited as a reason for religious restrictions on eating pig meat, especially as pigs are known to eat human carcasses if given the opportunity.

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●Gourmet Pork Cuts ! ●Secret Recipe Ham !

“Havoc” Prime Pork Products 39 Belt Street, Waimate Tel: (03) 689 8288Fax: (03) 689 8292 Web: www.havocfarm.co.nz

THE RED REPORT

29

SYRAH – Blood red and aromatic by nature

By Keith Stewart

I

t is hard to understand why it took so long for New Zealand’s wine industry to come to terms with the grape variety syrah as it was at the very beginning of New Zealand’s wine adventure. Now that we have it sussed, there are some excellent examples appearing and New Zealand syrah has already established itself as one of the future greats to watch. The release of Kidnapper Cliffs in September is another step towards Hawkes Bay being mentioned in the same breath as Côte Rotie and Hermitage when the talk is of great syrah.

James Busby, the wine pioneer who explored Europe’s great vineyards for material on which to grow the best wine in this part of the world, was intrigued

by Hermitage, home of the most famous syrah-based wines of the time. He brought examples of the best vine material from Hermitage hill sites out here as part of his now famous collection, and syrah was most certainly well distributed around the wine-growing regions of New Zealand by the turn of the 20th century.

In the modern era a few tentative steps were taken to produce something decent from syrah by two Auckland growers, Collards Brothers at Lincoln Road and Matua Valley in Waimauku, but both trials were disappointing. It was not until Alan Limmer took a punt at his then new Mere Road vineyard and produced an impressive Stonecroft wine in 1989 that heads began to turn in syrah’s direction.

At first, Limmer was alone and his efforts were compromised by the tough, cool vintages of the early ’90s, but even in the midst of those Pinatubo years they were wines that clearly showed the promise of this most remarkable variety. The best news for wine drinkers was that Limmer was not following blindly along behind

the Australians as so many winemakers were doing. Instead he was engaged by the idea that the natural aromatic qualities and fine textures of Hawkes Bay grown syrah were more inclined to treatment in French oak and being given structural quality sensually associated with southern France than with South Australia.

So it was that New Zealand never tried to copy the huge, sweet centred, American oak slathered reds that Australia conjured from its Barossa Valley vineyards in the name of shiraz. With these styles now considered the epitome of poor taste in fine wine circles, it was a lucky escape from bottom-of-the-barrel marketing, and the irony is that many of Australia’s small, craft syrah producers are following closely on what New Zealand is doing with this variety.

Limmer’s Stonecroft has been joined by a veritable society of syrah producers in Hawkes Bay who have all gone down the elegant, firm and dry track, producing wines that are clearly marked by their often floral fragrant, but supple palates backed by fruit flavour density and, in the good vintages, by concentration.

Te Mata Estate, Craggy Range, Trinity Hill, Bilancia, Te Awa have all produced notable wines from syrah, and now there is a newcomer, Kidnapper Cliffs.

Produced at the Te Awa winery from 17 selected hectares of Te Awa vineyards, the wine is an exercise in terroir-focused winemaking from the Gimblett Gravels sub region. With creative contributions from both Te Awa’s Ant Mackenzie and Dry River’s Neil McCallum it has enough Macs in the mix to have a Scottish flavour but the first effort from the 2009 vintage is pure, intense Hawkes Bay syrah. A new classic?

Kidnapper Cliffs range.

For more on Syrah, the thinking man's Pinot Noir, see Sam Kim's column on page 54.

www.grill.co.nz

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Market

Intelligence Better source information for professionals

grill’s specialist resource writer John Clarke updates developments in produce, fish and meat supply each issue.

The products and/or companies mentioned in this column are there because we at grill believe they are of quality and have value to the industry.

ON THE W AY

The first Whitebait

IN THEIR

– YES! Ta ngelos.

PRIME

Kahawai, piper, blu e and silv also fresh er moki, ling, hok i, scallop Pacific oy s and sters.

Plenty of early fruit . Lots of lemons, citrus: navels, a nd mand Kiwi kiwif arins. ruit, Hass avocados cherimoy and a. The la st expen tamarillo sive s. And go od old rh Still som ubarb. e yams, p arsnips a of the be nd the la st Brusse st ls sprouts Cervena . if you ca n afford priced ve it, and w al. ell-

SHOT TO

BITS

Bluff oyst ers damn it! Truffles and miro , feijoas .

Dry goods

DAIRY

Salty things Our indigenous wild sea vegetables are great and you can gather and dry these seaweeds yourself if you know what you are looking for, or check with the local Tangata Whenua, or try NZ Kelp which produces Valere kelp pepper from dried hand-harvested giant kelp growing on marine farms in Akaroa Harbour, Tory Channel and the Chatham Islands. It also sustainably harvests live kelp from the wild under fishing permits.

Salt, Himalayan Crystal salt is supposedly mined from an ancient seabed laid down zillions of years ago and is supposed to contain 50 different minerals. The taste test suggests a fine delicate flavour and it comes in finely ground form.

Greg Heffernan is the sole importer of all the Maldon Salt we use in this country. He also imports a very good organic pepper. He can be contacted at Zest in Taupo, maldonsalt@xtra.co.nz.

Murray River salt is available from Sous Chef.

New Zealand’s own salts from Dominion Salt in Marlborough and available from Cerebos are mighty fine salts also.

The salts, Pacific Natural Salt (the unrefined version) and Marlborough Flaky Salt, are Bio-Gro certified organic products.

Tatua has a great range of chef-ready cream-based products ready and easy to use, great quality and designed for our industry; well worth a look.

Check out The Produce Company website with 150 artisan cheeses listed, most are New Zealand cheeses with some of the very best Europeans thrown in. Check out Over The Moon’s goats’ curd, New Blue Moon and the wonderful Trappist-style Galactic Gold.

Check out another washed rind cheese, one of my favourites; Neudorf’s gold medal winning Richmond Red – available once more. Neudorf Dairy has had a bit of a hard run lately but now has a new owner, so hopefully we can look forward to a steady supply of these award-winning sheep’s cheeses.

Neudorf Dairy has had a bit of a hard run lately but now has a new owner, so hopefully we can look forward to a steady supply of these award-winning sheep’s cheeses.

Check out Sous Chef and some of the best goat and sheep cheeses I have tasted recently. This is the handmade range of chèvre, feta and marinated cheeses from Meredith Dairy.

And while you are at it take a look at the range of cheeses designed specifically for the foodservice industry from the Kaimai Cheese Company.

Seriously good cheeses at seriously good prices.

Sous Chef . 09 269 6373 . 1/84 Spar tan Road . Takanini, Auckland

www.souschef.co.nz

31

Market intelligence

Eggs

good, fat, farmed goose in this country.

Canter Valley may have a few.

Battery An assault on the chooks, their eggs and our humanity. The cheapest egg, so just go use them.

Duck eggs are about but as they do not travel well you will have to find a local supplier. Some farmers markets have them also.

Free range and organic egg production is now an industry in its own right; seasonal supply has levelled out and they are consistently available. They are more expensive, but if you want quality you have to pay for it.

Quail eggs are available all year from Canter Valley farms in North Canterbury and can be sent anywhere in the country and quickly too.

POULTRY Chicken Factory chook seems to still appeal to many punters and it is the most economic option. Truly free range and/or organic chicken are now viable options.

Talking about specialty chooks, here is something seriously special; the pasture-reared organic free-range chickens from Rolling Hills. These people are dedicated to both the chooks’ quality of life and the quality of their chooky products. Remember what chicken should taste like? You can get them only from Zealfresh, either whole or portions.

Duck Although there is a lot more duck around these days, the better supply is not pulling the price back.

Goose It is almost impossible to find

Quail are available all year, a joy to eat, fiddly to prepare and worth the effort.

Berries No more fresh berries around now except for loganberries, which are always around.

Cherimoya, also known as the custard apple, is about to arrive in the marketplace. This is the time for this delectable fruit. They ripen in late winter and early spring and you really should take a punt and try them.

Poussin Tasty babies.

Squab No way, sadly.

Turkey You could do a lot worse than getting hold of Crozier’s or Canter Valley turkeys.

FRUIT Apples All the New Zealand seasonal apples are still good quality so we don’t need any imported rubbish quite yet.

However, Royal Gala is about done and all the other New Zealand apples will effectively be gone by the end of October. So, lucky sods that we are, we do not have to wait too much longer before we can enjoy all that goodlooking, floury, tasteless stuff from offshore.

Avocados The last of the old season’s fruit is still around, but these have just about done their dash. The new Fuerte (longer pear-shaped with smooth green skin) has been around since July and will finish in October. The new season Hass and Hayes (pebbly skinned), our best avocados, start to come on stream in early spring. However, with the weather we have had this winter it is reasonable to expect the new season prices to be strong and quality variable.

Banana What can you say – the imported just keeps coming in. But you can get the real thing these days, fresh sweet ones out of Northland, both Cavendish and Lady Fingers. Many are organic or at least pesticide-free and will be available from the end of September through summer; cool eh!

Citrus This is the time for our local citrus varieties. Tangelos will be the best buying from mid to late September and keep an eye out for the Navelina, that orange out of Gisborne that’s been around for about five years now.

It has a good, large, even shape and a great skin for zesting, with highly flavoured oil making this especially valuable for the particular chef and bartender – availability is July to November.

Plenty of well-priced navels around at present.

Mandarins are still going strong.

The Clementine variety started in early July and the Satsuma were a bit earlier in late May/early June. Expect them to peter out this month.

Feijoas What with the early winter weather knocking the stuff off the trees, there is bugger all stored fruit around.

Grapes No New Zealand fruit. It is the tasteless dead (hopefully) black widow-infested stuff from offshore until summer.

Kiwis The main crop New Zealand fresh fruit is running strong with good fruit available.

Mangoes A good few Tommy Atkin (the red/gold variety) mangoes from Australia and Southeast Asia are in the marketplace.

We are also seeing a few of the Kent and Keitt varieties (the green ones) from Mexico and very good quality they have been too.

Mangosteen Here is a fruit we don’t see that often, but recently there have been

Canter Valley . 03 312 9805 . PO Box 293 . Rangiora

www.cantervalley.co.nz

32

Market intelligence

PREPARED PRODUCE a few in the market from Thailand. They may seem a little expensive, but are worth a try.

Melons All varieties of New Zealand grown melon are finished, so if you must have them, it is the imported product for you.

Passionfruit The season for this fruit is now well over for another year. But check out the fresh frozen pulp from Phoenix Orchards near Katikati for a product that is better flavoured than the imported stuff.

Pears There will be a Kiwi pear or two about but they are deteriorating from now on. The nashi hold on a little longer.

Imports are here though.

Persimmons have been another good winter fruit but will finish around October.

Redcurrants are well over but not too long to wait – the first will be here at the end of this season, and don’t you just love the seasons?

Rhubarb is around all year and has been a fantastic ‘fruit’ to have over this miserable winter.

Stone fruit It is all the imported pretty, but pretty tasteless, crap at present.

Just two to three more months to wait though and we will see the first of the local early stuff again.

Strawberries The first New Zealand strawberries arrive in October. It seems this fruit hits the market earlier each year.

NUTS Chestnuts I love chestnut season, so get into them now; they will be all but over for another year by mid-October.

Hazels This is the time for those New Zealand

hazels. Once again Chantal has them, and good imported ones.

Broccoli and Broccolini supply and quality will be improving.

Macadamia The New Zealand season for fresh nuts is over but there are plenty of dried and roasted nuts available.

Brussels sprouts are still hanging on but will fall off until October when they disappear.

Walnuts This is still the season for those local nuts. Wild walnuts are available from A Cracker of a Nut. Local new-season plantation-grown walnuts will be available now. They have a more creamy texture, tend to lack bitterness and are generally larger.

All other nuts are imported. If you don’t get good quality, send them back.

Cabbage The green varieties are available all year as usual but again price is up and supply and quality down.

This will improve from now on. The red is finished.

VEGETABLES What with the flow-on effect from the filthy winter weather predictions for this period are for supply to improve but prices will firm for another month or two.

Artichokes (globe) The very first globes (if we are lucky) will be in the markets as you read this with supply increasing over spring. The Jerusalem artichokes are popular but by October will be all over for another year.

Asparagus The first of the new season’s spears are in at last and it only gets better. Four months of sheer bliss.

Aubergines Bugger all local of quality, but all the odd ball imported colours and shapes are in.

Beans The New Zealand glasshouse season for the flatter varieties such as Mangere Pole has started. The outdoor round ‘French’ beans, (mostly Gisborne grown) will not reach the market until November. Presently it is mainly Aussie stuff.

Capsicum Almost all the New Zealandgrown varieties are starting to come in again. These will be locally grown hothouse (usually hydroponic) and at a price, but there is plenty of Aussie and Island stuff around.

Carrots are always available but were slowed a bit by snow.

Cauliflower is available all year but like broccoli and cabbage has smaller heads and shorter supply.

Celeriac is also now available most of the year, and so it should be. The quality is very good this season, if not the price.

Celery is available all year and still reasonable quality now.

Chard (silverbeet) You can get it all the time and from now on it should be the most economic and available vegetable – but it is not.

Corn There is always the joy of frozen corn.

Courgettes New Zealand zucchinis are finished so if you want them you will just have to pay for them from offshore.

They start again in November.

Cucumber The main time for fresh Kiwi short cucumbers has passed, but the telegraphs have come back. Shocking prices – and all hothouse.

Fennel More Florence fennel is now available; there should be good quality and larger bulbs at this time of year.

Some were damaged by the heavy rain; quality is about to improve though.

Prepared Produce . 09 276 6079 . 118 Savill Drive . Mangere East . Manukau City . Auckland 2024

www.preparedproduce.co.nz

33

Market intelligence

PREPARED PRODUCE Garlic Less New Zealand garlic around but the imports are coming in bulk mainly from China and the USA. The American garlic is better but very expensive.

Ginger Supplies of ginger in this country are always sourced offshore and price is reasonable.

Garnish Always available are the varieties of micro leaves and very cute if you go that way. Prepared Produce’s cost-effective julienne salad garnish has become very popular in the Auckland arena.

Herbs With the bad weather, prices for all the annuals are still up and will stay up until mid-October at least. All the fresh herbs except tarragon are available all year.

Kohlrabi is available all year now and is one winter vege that’s in pretty good nick at this time.

Kumara All varieties of the last season’s crop are starting to lose a little quality but don’t appear to be too woody yet, so it is going to be up to you to demand the best available.

Pikopiko is available all year now; especially good this time of year.

Potatoes Lots of good quality main crop potatoes all over the place and plenty of variety too. The (so called) Maori potato varieties are losing condition.

Earth Gems are pretty and available and believe it or not new season potatoes will turn up shortly.

Pumpkin Main crop crown pumpkins and butternut are still out there but quality is variable.

Buttercup and Japanese squash are over till early summer.

Salad leaves – as always. Rocket is a little less expensive than it was last month. Nice crunchy icebergs in the markets.

Shallot Still some of this lovely little lady about, but not much.

Snow peas are available from late spring to late autumn.

Spinach It’s a fine time for this fine vegetable.

GAME MEATS By the middle of this period we will be coming out of the skinny time for most wild game but only just – they improve as we move further into spring.

Birds Farmed quail, pheasant and guinea-fowl are in shorter supply but from October everything should be on track again. The season is over for all our wild birds.

Muttonbird (Puffinus griseus), titi The harvesting season is over for the year, but this delicacy is still available.

Boar ‘Wild’ wild pork is available from the guys at Premium Game in Marlborough and Zealfresh among others.

Farmed wild boar from Neat Meat, The Produce Company and Harmony Foods is sold under the Razorback brand and is the only product of its type on the market. This product goes a long way to giving us a consistently good wild pork which in the past has always been an issue. So order now.

Cervena See RED MEAT Chamois will be skinny for a couple of months unless it is a young buck. It will start to look like a better option from October.

Leeks are at their best.

Spring onions Always good supplies on the shelves.

Mushrooms and fungi All the wild stuff is well gone.

The few of our commercially grown truffles that were available for those who could get and afford them are over for another year.

All the other commercial mushrooms are available as usual.

Tomatoes New Zealand autumn crop is over, but there will be some main crop New Zealand hothouse available from now on – expensive though. Otherwise it is the imported stuff I’m afraid.

Onions Good supplies of jumbos with few New Zealand red onions around so you may need to buy the Californian ones soon.

Witloof This is one vegetable you need to use as it arrives as it can deteriorate fast unless stored very carefully; you may also need to up your mortgage to acquire a leaf or two.

Goat is just starting to gain condition but there will still be a lot of skinnier animals around so choose only the fatter young animals.

Yams This great little vegetable will be around for a month or so.

Hare Unlike most game at this time of year hares tend to be in fair condition

Crocodile (imported) and a damn fine white meat. Available from all the suppliers – both of them!

Emu and ostrich meat is available for those who want it and can get the best out of it.

Parsnip was history, now contemporary.

Peas are history.

Prepared Produce . 09 276 6079 . 118 Savill Drive . Mangere East . Manukau City . Auckland 2024

www.preparedproduce.co.nz

34

in early spring. Some of the males, especially the older ones, may be a bit manky as the mating season has begun.

Kangaroo Like croc, this is imported and a damn fine red meat available from Premium Game.

Possum For a couple of years this tasty animal has been occasionally available from one supplier to the game distributors so that road kill was not the only option. However, it is back to road kill again as the only supplier went under a while ago and the stocks Premium Game had have run out. Stupid bloody compliance rules and costs, again!

Rabbit It is true; rabbit numbers are still on the increase.

Try Premium Game in Marlborough – the only choice for wild rabbit really.

Tahr is a wild mountain goat native to the Himalayas, now happily (barring DOC) at home in Godzone’s alps. Until mid-October chances are they will be a bit thin, so it is particularly important to choose younger, fatter animals.

Venison Wild animals will have generally lost condition over winter except for the odd barren hind. Deer will all improve as we move through spring, but then the hinds start dropping fawns. So make sure you have a decent supplier.

Wallaby There is plenty of frozen stuff around. New Zealand wild wallaby is available through some game packing houses, (Premium Game), and Food Chain in Auckland.

PRESERVED MEATS Freedom Farms’ bacons and hams are an excellent product from happy stress-free New Zealand pigs.

Market intelligence

Havoc produces a good ham, traditionally cured bacon and a fabulous range of sausages from free-range pigs.

Harmony Foods is producing great small goods, cured products, salamis, and a range of dry cured bacon and ham – for my money some of the best in the country. Also check out their ready-touse range of pork ribs.

Prosciutto di Parma It is possible to get prosciutto from Italy, so why put up with the inferior, greasy Aussie stuff?

Again Sous Chef leads the way and is one of the few importing this fine ham.

The best New Zealand version of prosciutto from the Little Boys range of small goods is made in Te Aroha. The range also includes pancetta, chorizo, salamis and their quite-famous-inNew-Zealand gourmet sausages. Their products by the way are all gluten free. All this stuff is available through Zealfresh and Neat Meat.

RED MEAT Expect no drop in prices for New Zealand red meat in the near future.

Sorry guys.

BEEF Prices are very strong with most chains closed for winter maintenance, but there will be improved throughput from now on – hopefully. Beef prices are driven by overseas trends, mostly the US market, and figures coming out of the US last month showed prices would remain strong well into the future, perhaps three to five years. The reason

– America’s cattle herd dwindled to 100.8m head as of the start of the month, down 1.2% year on year and the lowest July 1 figure on record. The beef herd fell by 2%, which may not sound like much but equates to 31.7m animals, (that’s a bloody lot of beef), and this is a decline which looks unlikely to reverse given that US farmers show no inclination to increase stock numbers.

What all this means for us is that export beef will be in high demand, so we can expect to pay high prices in the foreseeable future.

For all that, our grass-fed beef is the best in the world and is worth every damn penny we have to pay for it. Want a good example? Check out Harmony Food’s organic free-range beef range. I recently did a tasting of this beef and it was perhaps the best beef I have bought in a very long time and at a price commensurate with other beef available.

SHEEPMEAT Lamb schedules are still on an upward spiral. Export lamb is getting a premium as overseas buyers seem to have cottoned on to the remarkable quality of our highend chilled lamb cuts. So, what with this and the dire shortage of stock going through the works, we are just going to have to pay what the rest of the world is prepared to pay.

The MAF Outlook Report has suggested lamb would average $4.13c/ kg in 2011 season, or $72 per head for a 17.5kg lamb. So get used to it.

Mutton prices also are breaking all records – just not enough sheep in this country I am afraid.

CERVENA Good quality at present but another small rise has kept the venison schedule moving up, as plants start up again, ready for the spring chilled harvest.

The prices may now still be $1.45/kg behind last year, (with many predicting

Fish & Game . 04 499-4767 . PO Box 13-141, Wellington 6440 . gamebirdfood@fishandgame.org.nz

www.f ishandgame.org.nz

35

Market intelligence

they will not reach last year’s levels), but demand for farmed deer meat is strong and supply will be restricted with the fall in hind numbers. Production levels are down a whopping 22%, which is helping to keep prices up. Kill estimates for the year are well back and are not predicted to pick up until 2012 when hopefully increasing hind numbers will have produced killable offspring from the previous year.

So, with short supplies predicted, the traditional summer fall in prices may just not happen.

VEAL I guess the large number of dry stock farms converting to dairy has had one positive effect for our industry, that of putting a lot more veal products into the marketplace. The dairy industry produces 2.5 million bobby calves per year and most of them are turned into veal mince, but a good number are finished for white veal and a new product Rose Veal.

Rose veal is a gourmet product – the result of five months of fattening calves producing smallish succulent primal cuts such as racks, shortloins, scotch fillets etc.

This veal is very juicy and so tender that even lesser cuts such as topside are also suitable for fast cooking methods. Keep an eye out for this veal as it will be available for the first time later this spring.

Generally veal is the best value for money at this time of year though it does have a very short fresh season; only months, so make the best of it.

Don’t forget it is now time to put those veal sweetbreads on the menu.

Veal liver is also a very good option for that something different on the menu.

The cost is very reasonable and it’s a good offal introduction for diners.

Zealand’ but often fail to mention that the pig was actually farmed overseas.

These producers do not have to meet New Zealand regulations when it comes to matters like feed and hormones.

This is another good reason why we need decent country of origin labelling in this country.

Some of the best pork in the South Island comes from Havoc in south Canterbury (if you can get it). Their pigs are stress free and free range and damn near organic.

Harmony Foods at Paeroa processes free-range pigs and the pork is available from Neat Meat.

Freedom Farms offers what is described as ‘Free Farmed’ New Zealand pork. This is a consistent and excellent product. Their pork products are all RSPCA certified and guaranteed to come from very happy pigs and are available through Zealfresh in the northern region.

FISH AND SEAFOOD With settling of the recent wild weather, the inshore fishery is back on track.

SALTWATER FISH Frozen Convenient, economic and you get what you get.

PORK

Fresh Blue cod Now that the albacore season is over many albacore fisherman are working the blue cod. Blue cod has beautifully flavoured, if delicate, white flesh and the best fish come from the furthest south for my money.

Much of the processed pork we see is made from imported raw carcass meat.

Labels may say this is a ‘product of New

Bluenose is a bloody good replacement for the bloody good Hapuku and all year round as well. But most still goes to Aussie.

Flounder Always some around, but the main flounder season is over and numbers in the market are low and prices high.

The season will kick in again in late spring.

Groper (Hapuku) This is still a bloody good time for Hapuku. Always bloody expensive – all the time.

Gurnard Always available and there are usually some small ones in the market at a very good price. Lovely fish you can’t afford to ignore.

Hake Quite lovely eating if treated gently. The short fresh season for this delicate red-listed fish is on, but will finish in October.

Hoki This is our largest commercial fishery and June saw the beginning of the annual hoki harvest. So, if for some reason you were hanging out for a fresh piece of hoki, you missed your opportunity. The season will be over by the time you read this; another fish on the dreaded red list.

Kahawai Still a good time for kahawai.

These will be ring-netted fish and therefore damn fine quality. I stick by my guns – at least as good as any other fish in the sea.

Kingfish This is one of our best fish, especially for sashimi. It is damn hard to find as there is never enough quota.

Ling The fresh season for ling also started in June and will run till November. The frozen and smoked product is also available.

Moki (Blue and Silver) The season for this beautiful fish is again under way and this is a very good option at this time of year – reasonably priced too.

Monkfish (stargazer) I cannot give this

Zealfresh . 09 419 9165 . Unit 2, 84-90 Hillside Road,Wairau Valley, Nor th Shore

www.zealfresh.co.nz

36

Market intelligence

fish enough raps. It has an interesting texture and flavour reminiscent of crayfish and more and more kitchens have caught on to its value.

Mullet Less of this beautiful fatty fish for a while but there is always a few.

Orange roughy The fresh roughy season is almost over. But don’t worry you people who think it’s a great fish; trawlers have been scraping the sea floor clean of everything that lives and you will be able to eat some of these 125-year-old red-listed fish ‘frozen’; yum yum.

Red cod must have mothers so someone can love them. Do not be confused by anything masquerading as English or British cod, this is still just your good old crayfish bait.

Salmon, quinnat (sea cage) Plenty available and all three producers have good quality fish.

Sardines We have lots around our coast and now you can get them. You can order direct at Salty Dog Seafoods, 0-9-433 7002. Can be supplied fresh or snap-frozen free-flow and you can designate the size.

Sharks Still a good time for doggies (rig, spotted dogfish etc) and school sharks, and they are all great eating. I have given up trying to get a bite of a great white.

Snapper The season has past its peak, but they are starting to school again with improving supply and still the smaller plate-sized fish are the best price.

Tarakihi The main season is finished, but there will be some around as always.

And there is the eternal frozen product.

season is all year in the North Island.

South Island eel has started again.

Smoked eel is always obtainable.

Trevally This fantastic common fish is usually well priced. The main season is over so there is less in the market. By the same token at the moment this fish is of markedly better quality as trevalley at this time of year are caught using ring nets around inshore reefs; fresher, less squashed and tastier. The main season starts again in November.

Koi That pretty pest of our waterways, the koi carp, is also now available from the Auckland Fish Market; well priced, but bonesville.

Tuna This is the season for bluefin tuna but you will see bugger all of these giants in our market (it has the highest fat content so it all goes overseas). This tuna is at the top of the red list and if we kept these fish to ourselves instead of allowing our exclusive economic zone to be raped for a short-term gain perhaps we could have a sustainable bluefin fishery. Most of the tuna we see here is big eye tuna from the Fiji area although there are also a few yellowfin on the market.

Salmon, quinnat Some good fish available and the fish are larger from now on.

Turbot and brill come from the west coast of the South Island and have always been a specialty in the area, but now a few of these wonderful large flatfish are turning up in our other fresh fish markets. These tend to be a bycatch species.

Warehou This is another southern species. The main season is on and the price is always reasonable.

Yellow eyed mullet, sprats if you will, are now more available fresh and not just for bait. Try them – great eating and great buying.

FRESHWATER FISH Catfish are now available, try them.

Soles The major catch is over and from now on it will be by-catch stuff. These are a much underutilised, premium fish at a relatively low price.

Eel, longfin and shortfin The fresh

Salmon, organic sockeye These delectable salmon are no longer available. More on this sad story in the next issue.

Whitebait Yay, we are away again. Tis the season to be jolly tra la la la bla, bla bla etc.

SHELLFISH Bluff oysters Done and dusted.

Clams Restaurants will find the Golden Bay variety of cockle (littleneck) still okay, and the southern version always in good supply.

Omega Seafood has a chef-ready, graded-in-shell, precooked and vacuumpacked product. I tried this product recently and it was very good and easy to present either hot or cold.

For my money northern cockles are still the premium shellfish, but there have been big problems for the pickers with beds constantly washed out by heavy rain. Things have improved just lately with the quieter weather.

Clevedon Coast oysters are always good, but are now at their very best.

Farmed Flat (Bluff) oysters in the shell, live, are now available from Tio Point Oysters and a mighty fine oyster they are too. Giant farmed Bluff oysters are available from Solander in the pottle under the Southern Glory Oysters brand and are also a great product.

Solander . 0800 555 548 . seafood@solander.co.nz . Cross Quay PO Box 5041 . Por t Nelson 7040

www.solander.com

37

Market intelligence

Geoduck, sometimes called king clams so as not to frighten the punters, are even more oyster than oyster and delicious and at an average weight of a mere 450gm (that’s 1lb in the old parlance) somewhat more substantial than your average shellfish. For prep hints go to Market Intelligence on our site www.grill.co.nz.

Kiwi surf clams (hard shell) and Pacific surf clams (triangle shell) You can always get these shellfish but be aware that the meat-to-shell ratio is not as good as most other shellfish.

Mussel (New Zealand Greenshell) This is our endemic mussel and a very fine thing it is too. It is always available live in the shell and fresh or frozen on the half shell. And again Omega has a very good precooked chef-ready product.

New Zealand scallops This is the season so go get this lovely fresh fat New Zealand shellfish.

Octopus When it’s fresh it’s the best mollusc from the sea, and smart enough to wander out of the kitchen on its own.

markets. The rain has been a real problem for supply recently, but supply should improve if we get a little more settled weather.

Razor Clams Call them what you will, horse mussels, Chinese scallops, whatever. They are bloody tasty and bloody good for sashimi. As Kiwi chefs we have spurned this delicacy, but we shouldn’t; try them. Solander or Moana are good bets for a supply.

Squid The main season for arrow squid finished in May and will start again in December. But the broad squid (sometimes mistakenly called female squid) is a different species and a better eating one, and is available fresh – and we can always get the frozen product.

Tuatua (deep water) Yes, you can get them now and forever.

Tuatua (inshore) I feel these have the best flavour. They are getting harder to source as inshore pickers are having a hard time of it at present due to compliance costs and the water is bloody cold too.

Pacific oysters will be at their best and fattest now; supplies of this shellfish should be good and the price reasonable.

Whelks (sea snails) are caught in baited pots. Usually available in one uniform size of around 65-70 pieces per kg at least the ones from Solander are.

The meat is oval white, flushed with dark tan. Texture is firm, very slightly chewy and a taste not unlike crayfish.

Paua (farmed) This smaller version of the wild paua from D’Urville Abalone is available live from Solander.

CRUSTACEANS

Paua (wild) This is the seabed and foreshore packaged in a shell. Use it all year if you have the cash.

Pipi Very, very good eating, though usually only in local

Crabs Quota for the tasty deep water spider and king crab has been allocated for a couple of years now, but it appears no one is that keen to go out and get them and very few are turning up at the fish markets.

Paddle crabs and soft shell crabs are available live and chilled and at good

prices and a very good product too.

A top crab will always be a live crab, however, for convenience New Zealand crabmeat is available frozen and a cheaper lesser quality frozen imported crabmeat (usually from Vietnam) is also available.

Crayfish The main season should have started again but bugger all in the market and exorbitant at about $90 per kg. So have a look at the Karitane crays – they are smaller but a lot better priced per kilo.

The reason – Karitane crayfishers are allowed to take crayfish with a smaller tail length than elsewhere, following research into breeding circumstances of the local stock. I see Solander has them.

Koura (farmed organic) The season is away shortly. The only producer is still New Zealand Clearwater Crayfish in Marlborough.

New Zealand prawns are available from the hot water prawn farm at Wairakei near Taupo.

Imported prawn Ideally the only good prawn is a fresh one.

New Zealand scampi Always expensive and always exquisite; all frozen. The fresh live ones that occasionally came into the market no longer seem to be available.

grill magazine would like to acknowledge our sponsors and the following for their support in the gathering of the unbiased information used in the collation of this column.

Zealfresh, Prepared Produce, Solander, Wilson Hellaby and Neat Meat.

Solander . 0800 555 548 . seafood@solander.co.nz . Cross Quay PO Box 5041 . Por t Nelson 7040

www.solander.com

38

fish TAKE

Wake up and smell the fish Our sea is full of ideas and brilliant flavours.

W

e live on the edge of the world’s largest ocean, Te Moana nui a Kiwa, with fish resources to at least match those of nations with great seafood cuisines.

Given our unpolluted cold sea/ warm sea situation and all the richness of our raw material we still manage to do a less than adequate job with our fish cuisine.

Aside from a relative few, (Peter Thornley at Kermadec and Andrew Brown at Pescatore spring to mind), the only conclusion one can reach is that New Zealand restaurants are still on the colonial boat waiting to be introduced to the local seafood.

It is time for us to wake up and

By John Clarke.

smell the fishes. Great chefs are those who develop a culinary legacy based on the raw materials with which they work. Sure we may be a relatively new country and our restaurant culture even newer, but who amongst our Kiwi chefs is going to leave such a legacy.

It is not as if there is nothing cultural to hang a hook on; we were a largely seafood-eating nation before te Pakeha turned up. Auckland for example, a region wedged between three of the world’s greatest harbours with a sailing culture of which the whole nation and indeed the rest of the world is now aware. And that yachting culture is based on what? On fishing

that’s what; fleets of centreboard racers known as mulleties, whose speed was essential in getting to market first so their owners could secure the best price for their catch.

But today in how many restaurants in this great city can buy you a decent feed of mullet?

Talk about wasting a dream, we have the seafood resource and we have the talent to turn those resources into a fantastic cuisine, one that is vigorous and original. Surely we have an opportunity with the Rugby World Cup coming up to show the world that we are the maritime nation that we purport to be. An opportunity we can turn into our pride and profit.

fish TAKE

39

Scandal or exemplar

John Clarke and hapuku.

Jimmy Gerard and elephant fish.

Back in 1986, New Zealand initiated an unproven regime to privatise our fisheries and introduce the quota management system (QMS). The QMS sought to encourage economic efficiency while preserving our fish resource. This, a form of private property right, was given away as Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) entitling the lucky owner to harvest fish in perpetuity, (or just sell or lease it out).

An independent review of New Zealand’s fisheries sector undertaken in 2008 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that New Zealand fisheries management is amongst the world’s best. However, the report also identified that there remain some significant challenges that will need to be tackled if the considerable potential for economic, cultural, social and environmental value from New Zealand’s fisheries resources is to be fully realised.

The Great New Zealand Fishing Scandal, a documentary film by Kiwi Guye Henderson screened, buried deep on pay television; it looked at some of the issues highlighted in the PwC review.

The film raised concerns that foreign fleets are fishing our waters unconstrained by our standards, many without official observers on board leaving local fishermen to bear the brunt of compliance costs.

The film suggests that billions of dollars that could have accrued to our national economy have been lost through loss of value, taxes and wages.

In the next issue we take a look at the concerns raised by both the PwC report and the film.

In the meantime get the DVD and view the film and check out the fish taste while we still have fish to taste.

www.grill.co.nz

40

fish TASTE

White fish – an introductory tasting There are more fishes in the sea, chef. Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

A

nd the Auckland fish market is open every day with these fishes fresh off the boats – get up, get down, have a look.

Then employ a fish broker to do it for you.

We did; and this was on a bad day, following a week of high winds and shitty weather. But despite the horrendous prior conditions this is what we found.

Sharks and rays, various mackerels, frost fish, leather jackets, stargazer/monkfish, moki, Warehou, pink mao mao, red cod, flounders and many others, plus the fish selected for the tasting that follows.

THE TASTING The goal of this tasting was to examine the different textures and flavours of some of the fish available fresh on the day in the marketplace. Fish were sourced green at the early morning Auckland Fish Market.

Fish were then mongered and samples were prepared for tasting in two ways: raw in the sashimi style (five samples); and, cooked simply – pan seared without skin (all). For comparison four samples were also cooked, skin on.

Trevally Raw, skin off: Very light nose, fresh; texture semi firm but slightly chewy –

but good; flavour delicate and mouthfeel soft, sweet, and juicy, somewhat short on the palate.

Cooked, skin off: Nose fresh; flesh is delicate, moist, firm then soft; a good flavour profile with a mussel note; mouthfeel soft.

One taster said tastes of the ocean, one a short palate, and another, holds together really well. All round considered a very good fish.

Kingfish Raw, skin off: Nose was sweet and fresh; texture medium firm and elastic, (one taster said stringy, another said pleasant rich and velvety); flavour somewhat strongish and metallic with a longish finish.

Cooked, skin off: This example was considered not that special by most, very average; a couple found the bloodline overpowering; two said this fish needed big flavour companions.

Grey mullet Raw, skin off: A fresh, oyster, stone nose; firm texture and nice bite; flavour full and slightly earthy, clean oily palate; mouthfeel, dense, nice and clean, but a slightly short finish.

Cooked, skin off: Good strong earthy

grill magazine would very much like to thank: • The Auckland Fish Market (AFM) and staff for allowing us to photograph on the floor of the market, and most importantly for the fish.

Seafood broker Jimmy Gerard of Jassid Fish Limited for choosing, collecting and preparing the samples and for coordinating the whole tasting.

• Harbourside Seafood Bar and Grill for providing the venue and cooking the fish.

By John Clarke.

flavours, but a little short; a soft to firm texture that hold its structure very well; two commented this is a fish that could handle big flavours, olives.

Kahawai Raw, skin off: Pinkish hue; nose sweet, clean and fresh; texture is slightly soft and flaked with gentle bite; flavour mild and sweet.

Cooked, skin off: Nice nose with moist, slightly creamy texture; flavours reminiscent of trout, earthy and a long flavour.

One taster found it dry and bloody.

Ling Raw, skin off: Nose fresh; flesh was surprisingly fresh and delicate; texture firm but slightly stringy; mouthfeel chewy, but not overly.

Cooked, skin off: For such an ugly and not overly popular fish this was a pleasant surprise to all. Clean nose; savoury, fresh and delicate long flavour with a sweet finish was the consensus; great textures, flaky, succulent, moist flesh.

Highly recommended.

Brill Cooked, skin off: Nice nose; flavour sweet,

fish TASTE

mild and delicate; creamy, soft texture but with bounce. Considered a good entry fish by the tasters. Ranked in the top three by all. Brilliant.

Lemon sole Cooked, skin off: Good light interestingly fishy nose; most considered this fish delicious with a fine balance of soft and firm textures. Short protein strands, soft sweet and beautiful. Nice and “would be very versatile in the kitchen”, was a general comment.

Blue cod Cooked, skin off: Not amazing. Sadly this fish did not meet with much approval.

Custard textured – always a bad sign.

When told this sample’s species those who knew this fish considered that this was not a fair/good example.

Snapper As all tasters knew this fish well the snapper sample was used as the initial taster and a baseline that other samples could be measured against.

Cooked, skin off: Nose fresh; texture firm and flaked well, cottony; flavour sweet and typical; mouthfeel a little dry.

Cooked, skin on: A far better fish with the skin on, slightly tougher but far more depth of flavour and mouthfeel. Consensus: skin-on sample held flavour, moisture and fats better; consequently textures were far better.

Scorpion fish (granddaddy groper) Cooked, skin off: Good nose; texture good and firm. Flavour comments were: boring, bland, watery, light, lacking depth, but one taster did find it flavoursome.

Gurnard Cooked, skin off: Tasters commented on the lovely aroma, fresh and interesting; a nice typically gurnard texture, succulent, firm and bouncy; lovely flavours, sweet light with nice structure that holds well and considered by the panel very versatile.

Recommended.

Cooked, skin on: Even more so.

The tasted.

Tarakihi Cooked, skin off: Nose was okay, but texturally soft and watery, oily with not enough flavours. Comments were: fresh, lacked flavour, texture average, slightly stringy, poor structure with little cohesion. Possibly this fish was spent as most believed they had tasted better tarakihi.

Porae Cooked, skin off: Nose was fresh and clean, seawater; texture excellent.

Comments were: firm and slightly flaked; excellent complex subtle flavours, earth, meaty, oily and long; mouthfeel complex moist and good finish, beautiful oily fish. This sample was the find of the catch and considered far superior to its close relative the tarakihi. Wow – unanimously the best fish.

Cooked, skin on: Was ever better.

Elephant fish Cooked, skin off: Aroma fresh; texture firm, but flavour somewhat metallic, sweet and coppery with a character of overcooked cabbage; mouthfeel floury, watery but dry and grainy. Not nice.

Rig Cooked, skin off: Some tasters thought this sample was not worth a comment, another said “fish and chips”. Nose fresh; mouthfeel dry and grainy, metallic and dry. Short protein strands.

Piper Cooked, whole, gilled and gutted: Nose okay but lacked that distinctive piper character; elegant texture and delicate flavour; soft but firm creamy flesh, possibly a little rubbery.

This is a fish that does not keep long and would have been even better if fresher.

Sardine Cooked, whole, gilled and gutted: Nose is oily and strong but okay; flavour strong and oily – perfect for Mediterranean flavours. Brutish was one comment.

41

THE PANEL The Waiheke contingent: • John Clarke – grill resource editor, ex fishing guide and chef.

• Tony Moss – lately exec chef Stonyridge and about to open his own bistro/café on Waiheke Island.

• Marco Edwards – exec chef Te Whau Vineyard Restaurant.

The City contingent: Jimmy Gerard – Director, Harbourside Seafood Bar and Grill, chef and fish broker.

• Lennox Bull – Head chef Prego.

• Nathan Lord – Sous chef Prego.

• Ross Birch – Head chef Cargo.

And grill journalist and photographer, once again along for the ride.

A good fish broker – what, how, why, why not and who

• What Theoretically an experienced fish buyer who will buy fish for you or on your behalf and charge you a fee. A good broker will know the boats, their operators, their reputations and how the fish are caught and processed on board.

• How You explain what you require.

He/she will get up bloody early and check out what is in the market and procure fish at wholesale prices often at the fish auction. He/she buys (theoretically) what is best and at the best price. She/he will have the fish mongered to your specs and delivered to your kitchen door all before prep.

• Why You will get the best at the best price; you will not have to get up at 4.30am, and you will have a relationship with a real person who you can kick up the ass if he/she doesn’t perform.

• Why not Prices and species in the market can fluctuate.

• Who Try Jimmy Gerard of Jassid Fish.

He has been in the game for a long time and cooks the same fish in his own seafood restaurant, Harbourside.

And no this is NOT an advert just a bloody good idea!

The tasters. www.grill.co.nz

42

WINE taste

Heads and tails of NZ Chardonnay Have we learned much about terroir since we made our first modern Chardonnay 50 years ago?

I

t may be unfashionable, but chardonnay remains the fine wine world’s favourite source of dry white and it continues to produce the best white wines in New Zealand. It is also ubiquitous, being found wherever in this country there is wine growing, and so it presents a perfect opportunity to see how New Zealand winemakers are addressing the particular demands of their local conditions – are they, in fact, developing a pattern of New Zealand terroirs?

Terroir has become a most fashionable term in the wine business, as important for delivering a message of sophistication in the 21st century as ‘classical’ grape varieties were half way through the 20th.

But for most of New Zealand’s winegrowing history our vineyards have simply been too young to lay the foundations for a genuine terroir character in our wine.

Even in rare situations where vineyards have some age on them, there has been a limited winemaking experience to forge some sort of association between winemaking practice, climate and soil.

Now, 50 years after Chardonnay was first made seriously in this country, grill has taken a look at the terroir issue in a specific selection of Chardonnay wines from opposite ends of the country. From Northland, including Auckland, there is

a long history of growing chardonnay that dates back to early Corbans’ experiments in north-west Auckland.

In some pockets, such as at Kumeu, the notion of terroir has what could arguably be called its best local expression in the winegrowing and making of Kumeu River. Here, under Michael Brajkovich, a history of Chardonnay has emerged that is as closely linked to individual vineyards as any in the country, with the added advantage of indigenous yeasts that deliver a most unique local expression to the wines.

On the other hand, Central Otago, while it has a history of winegrowing as old as any region in the country, with the exception of Northland, does not yet have the time bank of experience that the Brajkovich’s offer. What it does have, however, is the experience of working with chardonnay in an entirely different climate and with soils unlike anything found in the North. So what Central offers is the length of experience of the quality Chardonnay making community, applied to its most recent winegrowing region. This of itself makes a comparison between wines from the two regions a worthy experiment.

It also offers a contrast in those physical parameters of terroir – soil, geography and climate. In Central the soils are The tasting panel from left to right: Keith Stewart, Danny Schuster, Ben Dugdale.

mostly sub-alpine, with high rock content that is often schistose in origin, from some of the oldest weather soil material in the country. Wind-blown soils (loess) is also a feature, as it is throughout the South Island, while in the North there is an abundance of uplifted sedimentary soils, recently submarine, with clays of both sedimentary and volcanic origin throughout the region.

Climatically the two regions represent extremes of New Zealand’s winegrowing experience. Northland/ Auckland is often termed sub-tropical, as a simple way of explaining the high humidity and late season heavy rains, rather than its unusually high temperatures. Northland rarely sees growing season temperatures above 35°Celsius, or below 12°Celsius, with moderate day length, regular winds and the moderating influence of the sea. In short, a warmtemperate maritime climate, similar to that of Bordeaux.

Otago, on the other hand, is as continental as any climate in New Zealand gets, with hot dry summers accentuated by long daylight time in mid-summer, becoming markedly shorter as the season progresses. Where warmth is virtually universal in the North, in Otago site selection considering aspect, slope and al-

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Photo: Allan Johnston Photography

WINE taste

titude is a critical factor in ripening all fine wine varieties. Similarly the North is not in need of any assisted watering, while irrigation is common in the far South, while conversely fungal spraying is an essential activity in the humid North.

Given these two extremes, grill asked two experienced winegrowers from both regions to consider a selected group of Chardonnays, all with the reputation for being amongst the best in their respective homes. From the South, Danny Schuster provided his experience of growing in Canterbury, as well as his long-term involvement of developing winegrowing and winemaking techniques suited to South Island viniculture.

From the Far North, although living closer to Auckland and operating as a consultant in the Matakana district, Ben Dugdale has been making wine at Karikari Estate, the northernmost vineyard in the country since it began producing wine. This is effectively a Pacific Island vineyard, located as it is on a peninsula that juts out into the ocean north of Kaitaia.

Overall both judges felt that there was ample evidence of terroir influence on the top wines, in particular those of Felton Road and Kumeu River. The Central Otago style was in general more

minerally, focused and crisp, with some wines overplaying their use of oak to the detriment of the wines. Auckland and Northland wines were fatter, richer and more overt in style, sometimes more coarse. They carried oak with more flair and with greater ease. Karikari Estate was something of an exception (see notes) as big as its fellow Northern wines, but with surprising mineral edge to it.

Classic Otago Chardonnay: Linear, lifted aromas, a tendency to thinness, good minerality and apple and citrus fruit notes.

Classic Northland/Auckland: A broader range of styles, but primarily big, ripe fruit wines with enthusiasm and abiding generosity. Soft rather than firm.

KUMEU RIVER 2009 MATE’S VINEYARD Kumeu

Bright wine with immediate vinosity, focused and well integrated.

Complex nose precedes some fine lees characters on the palate which delivers texture as well as flavour. Classically structured, fine and linear, with lovely balance, crisp nature and fine minerality.

FELTON ROAD 2009 BANNOCKBURN CHARDONNAY Bannockburn

THE OUTSTANDING WINES

An elegant, focused style with a perfumed nose and marmalade notes on the palate. Complex with lees and a fine long finish balancing the fresh acidity. Delicate and fine to the end.

KUMEU RIVER 2008 HUNTING HILL CHARDONNAY Kumeu

FELTON ROAD 2009 ELMS CHARDONNAY Bannockburn

THE INDIVIDUAL WINES

Perfumed nose with a lean manner. A bright, focused wine with fine texture and hints of lime and minerality. Very balanced, dry finish. A very elegant wine. Excellent balance of complex flavours, well distributed throughout.

Concentrated, lifted bouquet with a dash of mellow oak. Delicate floral characters on the palate with greater minerality than its stablemate. Very long, delicate finish with good flavour density.

Auntie Hine - robust, full bodied and both barrels in your face. www.grill.co.nz

WINE taste

Photo: Allan Johnston Photography

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The vineyard, Ransom Wines - Matakana.

ALSO IMPRESSIVE KUMEU RIVER 2008 ESTATE CHARDONNAY Kumeu

Slightly curious bouquet suggests old books, but finely balanced with positive fruit and nice lees complexity with layers of flavour. Very together wine.

KARIKARI ESTATE 2009 WILD FERMENT CHARDONNAY Muriwhenua, Northland

Bright, complex nose with ripe stonefruit characters. Lees flavours and texture complement the well integrated oak and broad flavours. Big wine with a mineral tone, well balanced and bold.

ROCKBURN 2008 CHARDONNAY Central Otago

Apple and citrus nose is fine and focused with nice aromas.

Delicate palate with lees and mineral flavours and a trace of green fruit. Fine finish. www.rockburn.co.nz.

Mt DIFFICULTY 2008 CHARDONNAY Central Otago Light but firm from its citrus touched nose to its final, mineral and clay-like finish. Has a distinct earthy character, good complexity and precise balance. Good wine craft on display here. www.mtdifficulty.co.nz.

MICHELLE RICHARDSON 2008 CHARDONNAY Central Otago

Elegant, more generic New Zealand style than the rest of the Central wines.

Lovely balance and fine winecraft on

display. Has a sense of being made-notnurtured. Expensive oak and delightful fruit. In need of some bottle age yet.

OTHERS TASTED MANGAWHAI RIVER 2009 FIELD OF GRACE CHARDONNAY Matakana

Developed, robust wine with tropical fruit notes and plenty of oak. Generous, full bodied wine with modest acidity and a soft finish. Quite oxidative.

OLSSENS 2009 CHARCOAL JOE CHARDONNAY Bannockburn

Hints of asparagus on the nose with suppressed aromatics. Phenolics on the palate add to a sense of being disjointed. A winemaker’s wine rather than an expression of place.

CARRICK 2008 CHARDONNAY Central Otago

Reduced nose. Lees and lemon characters on the nose with elements of yeast as well.

Pleasant wine.

WESTBROOK 2008 WAIMAUKU CHARDONNAY Waimauku, North West Auckland

A characteristic style, enthusiastic wine with ample malo-lactic and oak influence. Full from bouquet to finish, with lees age complexity and good intensity.

A touch coarse at the finish.

STONYRIDGE 2008 ONETANGI CHARDONNAY Waiheke Island

Full blown, both barrels style. Toasty with some lees complexity. Robust and full bodied, slightly over the top style.

MAKING CHANGES Chard Farm made an assault on New Zealand’s Chardonnay heights with Judge and Jury Chardonnay, a wine that in its early days was given lavish oak treatment and all the wine craft typical of Chardonnay at the time.

While it attracted plenty of attention, Judge and Jury never quite made it to the elevated status of other Chardonnays grown further north, and Chard Farm’s winemaking team began moderating their oak inputs and working towards a style that was more about Central Otago than about grabbing every possible ingredient for the recipe.

Subsequently, wine critic Michael Cooper has commented of the wine that it ... “shows a Chablislike elegance and tightness in some vintages, and is fleshy and generous in others”. A bit like being from both the far North and the far South.

But in recent years the standard for Chard Farm Chardonnay has been set more and more by its Closeburn Chardonnay, which, while it lacks the emphatic character of Judge and Jury, has more of the classic minerality and firm, crisp demeanour that the judges found to be typical of Central Otago.

Keith Stewart had a look at this wine from the currently available vintage, which is proving very popular amongst Sydney’s classier restaurants, and made the following observations.

CHARD FARM 2008 CLOSEBURN CHARDONNAY

Pretty, pale yellow wine has an immediate mineral cut on the nose with a sense of earth and rock as well.

Very inviting, firm with just a waft of lime flowers somewhere. It tastes firm but supple, with fluid rock notes and a keen edge of acidity. Dry and bright all the way to the finish, this is a delightful marriage of mountains and sunshine. Gold, even.

Chateau Prieure Lichine.

WINE taste

Yet another ‘Vintage of the Century’ – 27 to come THE SCHUSTER REPORT – AN EXCLUSIVE TASTING.

T An en primeur primer This is a method for purchasing wine early – effectively ‘wine futures’.

Essentially, the wines are offered for sale before they have been bottled and punters agree to hand over their cash in advance of receiving the wine, (for Bordeaux about 12 months from the harvest).

Why? En primeur is potentially the best opportunity to obtain wines from a great vintage, (that’s why we get the hype) such as Bordeaux 2000 and now 2009.

Crucially wines may be considerably cheaper during the en primeur period than they will be once bottled and released on the market. For example, the 1982 vintage of Château Latour was sold at $600 a case en primeur in 1983, while valued in 2007 at $21,000.

When it works well it can provide a means for the restaurateur to obtain fine wines at a less extortionate price.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work, there is no guarantee and some wines can and do lose value over time. And beware there are also con men out there.

Therefore always deal with a reputable well-established merchant or better still, stick with just one or two famous names.

he ‘en primeur’ campaign for the ’09 Bordeaux vintage in the summer of 2010 appears to bear similarities to those of 2006 for the ’05 vintage or 2001 summer for the wine of 2000. All have been hailed as the “vintage of the century”. The wines of each of the three vintages were backed by high scores and praise by the wine press on both sides of the Atlantic. But aside from the euphoria of the growers, makers and marketers, wine collectors could be forgiven for feeling just a little jaded.

On closer inspection, despite the arguable quality of these fine vintages, the wines themselves and the economic climate (in all key markets) for fine Bordeaux could not be more different.

The famous trio of the vintages in question all produced superbly ripened grapes expressed in generously flavoured, full bodied tannic wines. But three once-ina-century events in 10 years – yeah right.

The ’05s, perhaps the most robust and opulent, came closest to Californian models from Napa, the 2000, whilst robust and tannic, retained more of the typical classical Bordeaux style and structure.

The ’09 seems to stay within the Bordeaux frame, combining the firm tannins

of the ’82 with the aromatic quality and sensuous texture of the 2000s.

Deceptively supple in generous fruit texture, the ’09s are structured with massive tannins and flavour concentration reminiscent of the great past vintages of 1959 or even 1947 in their youth. The wines tasted certainly appear fresher than the ’05s did at same age, even though the ’09s seem to have less acidity. Their apparent early drinkability may well be the result of their remarkable concentration of aroma and flavour, as well as their high levels of super-ripe, fine grain tannins. Time will tell, but they may well age into great, (and I mean great), bottles of wine with age.

So is the ’09 the vintage of the century? Who knows, wait another 90 years and find out. But is the ’09 the vintage of the decade? Very likely.

So for what it is worth, and they will be worth a lot, these are the ’09 wines (ex barrel tasted – this European summer 2010) that show the greatest early potential. They are listed by commune but in no specific order.

ST. ESTEPHE: Cos D’Estournel, CalonSegur, Montrose, Phelan-Segur, Les

Photos: Paul Treacher - Ballande New Zealand Limited

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WINE taste

47

The 2009 Bordeaux Season

Chateau Prieure Lichine barrel cellar during fermentation.

Ormes de Pez and Tronquoy-Lalande, Margaux, Margaux palmer, BraneCantenac, D’Angludet, Malescot St Exupery, Rauzan-Segla and Siran.

PAUILLAC: The big three – Lafite, Latour and Mouton, plus Grand Puy Lacoste, Lynch-Bages, Pichon-Baron, Pichon-Lalande, Clerc-Milon and Pontet-Canet.

ST. JULIEN: Ducru-Beacaillou, GruaudLarose, Lagrange, Leoville-Barton, Leoville-Lascases and Leoville-Poyferre.

GRAVES (white): Carbonieux, HautBrion, La Mission Haut-Brion, Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut-Lafitte.

GRAVES (red): Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion, Haut-Bailly, Pape-Clement, Smith Haut-Lafitte and Domaine de Chevalier.

SAUTERNES/ BARSAC: This was another fine vintage for the sweet wines in both areas. ’09 appears richer textured than the ’07 or ’08, and perhaps less opulent but more aromatic than the excellent ’05. Reminiscent of 2001 and due to good yields should be well priced.

Doisy-Daene, Doisy-Vedrines,

Guiraud, Coutet, Suduiraut and LatourBlanche are all very good.

POMEROL: Clos L’Englise, FeytitClinet, Gazin, Petrus, Lafleur-Petrus, La Pointe, Lafleur Pomerol, Le Gay, La Violette, Nenin and Trotanoy.

ST. EMILION: Canon-LaGaffeliere, Pavie-Decesse, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, La Mondotte, Madelaine, Angelus, Beausejour, Canon, Figeac, Clos Fourtet, Pavie, Larcis-Ducasse, L’Arosee, PavieMacquin and Troplong-Mondot.

From the point of view of hedonistic wine drinkers, the ’09 will deliver quality at a high price. For those looking for value in the ’09s, seek out the second labels of the top growths or, at a fraction of the cost of the three superstar years of the past decade, enjoy the wines from the earlier developing ’01, ’06 or ’08 vintages.

But for those seeking value amongst the fine ’09s, (if there is one to be found amongst bottles on the shelves), seek out: Cantemerle, Latour de By, De Gironville, La Lagune, Chasse-Spleen, Palmer’s Alter Ego, Pavillon Rouge of Margaux, Croix du Beaucaillou, Clos du Marquis de Leoville Lascases, Le Forts de Latour, Pagodes de Cos D’Estournell or Chapelle de Auson.

The weather in 2009, unlike the super hot 2003 or hot and dry 2005, was balanced to perfection without the extremes of either. The cold winter with ample rainfall, an average timing of bud-burst, followed by sunny but moderate conditions prior to flowering gave little indication of what was to come. For many the flowering/set proved fine, for others hailstorms in mid-May dropped the yield by half or more, with the most affected of fine wine areas being a section of Margaux, northern Graves and eastern parts of St. Emilion.

From end of June on the sunny and dry conditions prevailed leading to a long and trouble-free harvest period in September to end of October. Yields throughout were low to moderate with the minimal green harvest required by most growers, harvest condition for both white and red were as good as any in the past 20 years. The vintage was a little late, stretching for reds to end of October on the left bank (Medoc) and a little earlier for the right bank where merlot and cabernet franc dominate.

The downside in ‘09, apart from the crop losses to hail for some, proved to be the timing of the harvest with some slightly under-ripe (green) early harvested cabernets seen in Medoc and overripe, even jammy merlots in the wines of the right bank. High alcohol apart, the best wines of the ’09 vintage have the balance, concentration and ample tannins to achieve longevity and eventual greatness with their terroir-specific typicality being an added bonus.

Danny Schuster looks at the 2009 Bordeaux vintage and takes an opportunity to taste the wines from the great labels’ pre-release.

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Foodservice

A pinch of salt SALT – TOO MUCH MAY KILL YOU, BUT TOO LITTLE WILL KILL YOU.

C

SOURCE BITE Other common salts: Saltpetre (potassium nitrate) is used for gunpowder, fertiliser and preserving foods – it gives that lovely colour to hams, though these days its use is restricted to minute amounts.

Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) is used as a drawing ointment, bath salts, an emetic and even as a coagulant for making tofu.

ommon salt is composed primarily of sodium chloride and is essential for animal life. Salt flavour is one of the basic tastes, and salt is the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasoning. Salting is still an important method of food preservation.

Pure salt is a clear, cube-shaped crystal; its impurities can cause salt to appear white, gray, yellow, or red. It is these impurities that can change the flavours in salt and make some salts so appreciated by gourmands.

All salt begins as salty water; brine from seas, oceans, and salt lakes. When an area of saltwater becomes enclosed and evaporates under the sun and wind a deposit is left – salt. This is how our Marlborough salt is created.

Himalayan ‘rock salt’.

Marlborough’s Lake Grassmere, the home of Dominion Salt, is one of those rare (and beautiful) sites naturally furnished for a solar salt-works enjoying intense sunshine and strong drying north-westerly winds during the summer months. It is a remarkable place with its pink ponds and white salt cliffs.

The creation in 1943 of the late George W Skellerup, Dominion Salt harvests salt from evaporation ponds using the pure waters from Cook Strait and the simplest natural production methods. The ponds have in turn been colonised by brine shrimp creating an amazingly complex environment for wildlife. The works have turned out to be an ecological godsend for the area

Foodservice

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Auntie Hine – humans even use common salt to murder gastropods; bastards.

providing food and secure nesting sites for a wide variety of our wading birds.

Dominion Salt produces salts for a large number of applications (from agrisalt for animal health, to salt for glass and soap manufacture) including, of course, its use in the food service industry. The flaking process of its premium product, Marlborough Flaky Salt, is totally dependent on the natural chemicals that are dissolved in the seawater. This seawater is gently evaporated to a level where the salt just naturally flakes out.

Dominion’s salts, Pacific Natural Salt (the unrefined version) and Marlborough Flaky Salt, are Bio-Gro certified organic products and damn fine salts; both are marketed here by Cerebos.

Salt is also evaporated from seawater by boiling, the most famous example being Maldon Salt from Essex in Britain.

A prestige product, Maldon Salt is hand harvested in the traditional manner it has been for 200 years. Maldon Crystal Salt Company is still a small family-run business operated by the fourth genera-

tion of the Osborne family. Maldon’s pure white, flaky texture has made it a favourite in many gourmet circles. It has a distinctive and unique flavour, free from the bitter aftertaste associated with some salts.

Salt is also mined from the ground, a notable example of which is the wonderful pink salt from the Himalayas. It took about a quarter of a billion years to get where it is now, but it was created the same way as all salt, by evaporation of seawater. Yes, the Himalayan Mountains were once a mere shallow seabed. Sediments were deposited over this salt, leaving veins of ‘rock salt’ below the surface.

We even get salt – Murray River salt is a good example – from overly saline aquifers that man himself has helped create due to clearing, irrigation and poor management. The Murray-Darling Basin was once a shallow sea and when the sea retreated it left behind enormous quantities of salt.

For further stories on salts of the world go to: www.grill.co.nz.

Himalayan Harvest is derived from an ancient ocean source of over 84 minerals and trace elements including iodine, zinc, selenium, silica and magnesium that are essential for good health. Subjected to immense geological pressure over 250 million years, BioGro Certified Organic Himalayan Harvest Salt has a unique crystalline structure that makes it easy for the body to absorb the naturally occurring minerals.

Salt trivia

• Early trade routes and many of the first roads were established for transporting salt.

• Many ancient civilisations levied taxes on salt.

• Salt was considered so precious that it was traded ounce for ounce for gold.

• In ancient China, coins were made of salt and in the Mediterranean regions, salt cakes were also used as money (you could lose money on a wet day).

• The English word ‘salary’ is derived from the Latin word sal meaning salt.

Also ‘salad’ for that matter, from the ancient Roman technique of salting leaf vegetables.

• There is no such thing as rock salt, (salt from rocks) – it all comes from evaporated salt water. What we call rock salt is just bigger lumps of any sea salt.

Pink Mineral Rock Salt

Our range of products includes fine ground and coarse grade Rock salt, Volcanic Black Salt, refillable salt shaker a stylish ceramic grinder and kelp salt.

“The Himalayan pink salt has become my only choice of salt from the first time I tasted the product. It has a delicate flavour and is pleasant on the palate. To boost, the rock salt looks great. I don’t use any other salt in my kitchen.”

Kevin Blackman, Chef.

We offer wholesale and great bulk rates to the trade for use in your kitchen or on your tables. Please enquire now to tony@healthysalt.co.nz or call (09) 4765412 and quote “Grill” to obtain a sample bag and/or obtain our special pricing. Using this salt in your business will improve your image as well as your food!

grill_halfPage.indd 3

delicious nutritious www.healthysalt.co.nz

24/08/10 10:13 AM www.grill.co.nz

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Wrap up

Chill over the plastic Plastic film has revolutionised chiller storage, but there are some basic rules.

T

he story of cling film began with Saran, the brand name that Dow Chemicals gave to the new product it released in the early 1950s.

How Dow came up with Saran nobody knows, but it may have a Freudian twist to it. The name is close to Sarin, a deadly form of nerve gas, and the polyvinylidene chloride from which Saran was originally made has since become a health risk as an endocrine disruptor.

Saran wrap quickly became a boon to everybody storing food under refrigeration. It was soon one of the largest selling packaging materials in the United States as its use by professional and domestic kitchen workers burgeoned. Easy to use as a seal on open-top containers to shut air out of food stored under refrigeration,

it was as useful in simple domestic refrigerators as it was in restaurant and commercial cool stores where working kitchens maintained their temperature control systems.

Simply put plastic film, also known as cling film, or by its most popular brand names, Saran wrap and Glad wrap, enables food to be sealed off from oxygen when in cool or freezer storage. At its best this provides for protection from freezer burn – although in this case most professionals turn to a thicker gauge of film – as well as from cross contamination in chillers in which a large range of foods are stored.

Indeed, so effective is cling film at creating a simply applied consistently impermeable barrier that it serves as both a freshness seal and a protection

By Keith Stewart. against cross contamination of volatile aromas that persist under refrigeration conditions. The film also insulates foods from contamination by bacteria, and fungi which are either initiators of food poisoning or extraneous flavour contamination.

The problem for the original form of cling film was its production from PVC, in the form of PvdC, with the introduction of a plasticiser that made the film suitably flexible for its various applications. This plasticiser, or what technologists call a monomer, is a molecule that when included in the plastic recipe delivers a finished product that is supple and pliable while retaining its film and barrier qualities.

Unfortunately PvdC has become linked with health concerns over the leaching of endocrine disruptors into

“P lastic film provides for protection from freezer burn as well as from cross contamination in chillers.”

Wrap up

the food it comes in contact with.

These molecular sized components then have a detrimental effect on the health of those who may consume them.

The endocrine system is a network of chemical triggers that stimulate basic activities in the human body. The triggers are what we call hormones, and anybody who has lived through puberty, childbirth and menopause will be keenly aware of the influence on the human body of hormones.

Unfortunately the disruptor molecules can cause all sorts of problems, from reproductive disorder to diabetes and cancer, and the use of PvdC

film is one of the key suspects in this emerging area of public health.

Consequently, when SC Johnson bought the brand Saran Wrap from Dow Chemicals, it changed its formulation from PvdC to Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and this is now the standard material from which most domestic cling film products are made.

Unfortunately many commercial operators continue to use PvdC wrap because it is less permeable to oxygen, and consequently to various degrees of spoilage, than LDPE. Latest research shows that PvdC should not be used in food contact, although plastics manufacturers argue

51

that this is not the case. As with another culprit in current concerns about endocrine disruptors, bisphenol A, the trend is for health authorities to ban its use in food situations.

Should this happen, there will be no choice for chiller management than using LDPE film, but the good news is that it remains as easy to use as the old version. The key point to always consider is that prior to storage the food concerned is completely sealed off from the ambient chiller environment by a secure wrapping of film. Chiller hygiene is as simple as that – keep out the air, keep the flavour and texture of your food pure.

COMPANY PROFILE

A Healthy kitchen environment – CRITICAL! The importance of ventilation and temperature control for food safety and the health of employees cannot be underestimated. kitchen ventilation solutions, distributed in New Zealand by Ravenscroft’s, have been awarded the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Certificate as a sign that requirements of the HACCP certification programme concerning food safety have been met. These kitchen ventilation solutions are designed to create and maintain optimum indoor climate conditions for hygiene and energy efficiency in commercial kitchens.

Improving the indoor environment of a commercial kitchen not only provides better comfort for its occupants but can also be one of the most cost-saving elements of the kitchen’s design. Five to 10% of an average restaurant’s expenses come from energy bills, and evidence exists to prove that improved indoor air quality has the potential to increase

productivity by reducing absenteeism and minimising staff turnover. A highefficiency ventilation system enables major savings on annual operating costs for a commercial kitchen, contributing to the profitability of the whole food service operation.

Ravenscroft’s is a privately owned New Zealand company specialising in technical solutions for the provision of better indoor air quality with reduced energy costs.

Their product range includes chilled beams, displacement ventilation systems and kitchen hoods.

Call Ravenscroft's Nationwide +64 3 389 2231 or if in Auckland call +64 9 533 0311 or go to www.ravenscroft.co.nz

Photos: THINKSTOCK

High contaminant removal efficiency is necessary to protect the health and wellbeing of chefs and other kitchen staff, not to mention customers in front-cooking restaurants where diners are seated close to the cooking site.

Negative pressure in a food processing area exposes food to a large amount of contaminants and chefs working in badly ventilated kitchens are exposed to mutagens and carcinogens released into the air by cooking fumes. These health issues dictate that the exhaust air flows are well managed. Halton

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52

Wrap up

Food safety in the chiller

Modern commercial chillers are designed to store foods at temperatures below 4°C. However, even when foods are below 4°C but above freezing, bacteria can still reproduce, only they do so at a slower rate. So foods can only be kept in the refrigerator for a certain number of days before they begin to spoil or pose a foodsafety threat.

The Danger Zone

Whether storing, cooling, cooking or thawing, all foods must spend as little time in the food danger zone as possible. The danger zone is the temperature range between 4°C-60°C. When preparing or storing foods, (or leftovers), it is important to bring food through the danger zone as quickly as possible. Foods that stay in the danger zone for more than two hours must be thrown away because no amount of cooling or cooking will be able to kill the amount of bacteria present.

These are the rules – you know them – but here they are again.

• Ensure your chiller stays between 2°-4°c.

• Keep all perishable foods in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

• Keep raw meat and chicken away from other foods and below ready-to-eat foods in the refrigerator.

• Marinate food in the chiller or fridge, not on the bench. Discard leftover marinades that have been used with raw meat, poultry or seafood.

• Thaw food in the chiller. You should not defrost food at room temperature.

• Cover and refrigerate food as soon as possible after cooking. Throw out perishable foods that you have left at room temperature for more than two hours.

• Label everything in the chiller with the contents and date and for goodness sake rotate.

• Sound, robust and clean food storage containers and shelving are essential in your chiller to manage food storage safely.

wine

53

The great cheese partnership

By Keith Stewart.

S

o New Zealand makes great sauvignon blanc; at least that is the current popular belief, and here at grill, after we tasted the great line-up of sophisticated sauvignons for our Winter magazine, we’re convinced that we certainly make some very fine wine indeed. Not least being those made by Mahi, Dog Point, Cloudy Bay and Te Mata.

It follows that a culinary expedition was required to discover a suitably cosmopolitan local cheese that could partner our best sauvignon blanc on those occasions when a sensory duet is required to impress visitors or simply to satisfy local indulgences.

After trying more than a few, and coming close to the Jean Hugel conclusion that for great cheese you need good beer, not wine, there was a flash. Notions of Saint Paul on the dusty road to Damascus came

to mind, amidst memories of the fabulous Loire Valley fromage that locals in that part of France chase down with a smart glass or two of best Sancerre. So we went in search of a smelly goat.

What we found after much trial and very little error, at least on the part of the cheese, was a splendidly aromatic little pile from Crescent Dairy in Taupaki that goes by the name of Dirty Devil. Sensational, especially with any and all of the classy wines mentioned above. Reminiscent of the Loire’s divinely pungent crottin diable, this is a hell of a cheese that has the fibre to match sauvignon’s most fanatical excesses.

Restaurateurs, if you are in search of that unequivocal New Zealand taste sensation to impress your most sophisticated diners, Dirty Devil and Cloudy Bay Te Koko could be it.

Subscribe and WIN Subscribe to grill & foodservice magazine for just $28.40 for 12 months (4 issues) before 31 October and you’ll go in the draw to win one of two gift packs of specialty foodservice products from Greg Heffernan Ltd worth over $200 each.

And you’ll be assured of getting every copy of grill & foodservice hot off the press.

Go to www.grill.co.nz/subscribe or phone us on 0-9-845 5114 and we’ll do the rest.

&

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wine

Syrah – NZ’s next top model grape

P

inot noir has been all the rage in the last few years.

And why not? Some consider it to be the finest red grape, and most would agree that it is the most seductive and sensuous wine.

Of course there’s another red wine waiting in the wings to become the next darling, syrah. So, is syrah the next big thing for New Zealand?

It was only an experimental grape two decades ago when Alan Limmer at Stonecroft released New Zealand’s first commercial

syrah in 1989 (in the modern era). And it took many years before getting some momentum in the mid 2000s when plantings started to increase with some significance, although it remains a minor variety in New Zealand.

Even in the Hawke’s Bay where two-thirds of the country’s syrahs are planted, the grape accounts for just under 10% of the red grape plantings there. Yet it receives more than a fair share of press and attention by wine enthusiasts and the trade. Well deserving too, because syrah is the most consistently excellent wine style made in New Zealand.

Hawke’s Bay rules syrah, in volume and quality, but there are an increasing number of excellent wines from other regions – Northland, Waiheke Island, Marlbor-

ough and Waipara. At a recent regional tasting of Waiheke Island wines, there were a number of impressive offerings indicating this grape may have a brighter future than cabernet blends.

Both 2006 and 2008 were excellent vintages in Waiheke.

Mudbrick, Passage Rock, Man O’ War and Obsidian Weeping Sands were impressive.

Hawke’s Bay has enjoyed a string of successful vintages with 2005, 2006 and 2007 offering a tremendous amount of delicious syrahs at every price point. Wines from the 2008 vintage are not as dense and powerful as 2007’s but the good ones seem to show refinement and balance with a refreshing palate.

In fact, New Zealand syrahs, with their perfumed bouquet and supple mouthfeel, are much better food partners than those grunty Aussie shiraz. Besides, syrah’s aromatic profile is very close to a ripe pinot, from red cherry and plum to dark fruits with occasional game and spice notes. The mouthfeel is also reminiscent of pinot, but in a richer and bigger frame.

Will syrah then experience similar exponential growth of pinot noir? Too early to tell and a long way to go, but the signs are encouraging for it to grow beyond the current minor status. Especially with your help, syrah will become a significant red wine style and make New Zealand more than a one-trick pony.

SAM KIM IS AN INDEPENDENT WINE REVIEWER, SENIOR WINE JUDGE, AUTHOR OF THE WINE ORBIT BLOG AND GRILL MAGAZINE’S LEAD WINE COMMENTATOR. For informative wine comment go to http://wineorbit.co.nz

BEER

Let’s hear it for (some) supermarkets

F

ollowing Countdown’s recent acquisition of several South Island supermarkets, beer lovers in Marlborough, myself included, fear a reduction in the variety of their favourite tipple available in the “gourmet province”.

Concerns were first raised in the Marlborough Express in August after Blenheim’s

Redwoodtown SuperValue was sold to Countdown, closed for refurbishment and then reopened with a vastly reduced range of craft beers.

Then, just a week later, news came that another Blenheim supermarket had also been sold to Countdown.

Boasting one of the country’s largest selections of imported and New Zealand-brewed craft beers, and even offering craft beer on tap, FreshChoice Springlands is much admired by craft beer lovers throughout New Zealand.

While the SuperValue, FreshChoice and Countdown chains are all allied to Progressive Enterprises (the Kiwi subsidiary of Australia’s giant Woolworths group), there’s a fundamental difference in the way they operate. SuperValue and FreshChoice stores are individually owned and free to source products from wherever they choose, but Countdown stores are controlled centrally from Auckland and, with few exceptions, are supplied exclusively from central warehouses.

Countdown’s centralised purchasing and supply system undoubtedly results in some remarkable bulk purchasing

deals, but the downside is the system’s inherent inability to allow individual stores to source locally-produced products like craft and specialty beers. Hence, when Redwoodtown SuperValue became a Countdown, most of its craft beer range – the majority of which was purchased direct from small breweries – disappeared overnight. At the large Countdown in central Blenheim locally-brewed craft beers have never been available.

Fearing a similar fate for the remarkable beer range at the Springlands supermarket I contacted its new owners Progressive Enterprises. I explained my concerns to the group’s senior liquor buyer Steve Sexton, who promised there will be a full review of the beer range at Springlands when that store is rebranded as a Countdown. He also assured me he intends to restore local craft beers to the Redwoodtown store and is considering allowing the store to stock other New Zealand craft beers.

Furthermore, he’s already invited two Blenheim breweries, Renaissance and Moa, to submit their beers for ranging.

In the meantime shoppers at Redwoodtown Countdown are being encouraged to submit requests for their preferred craft beers, in person, to the store’s liquor manager.

Meanwhile Progressive’s big New Zealand rival, Foodstuffs, is making hay while the sun shines. Recognising the growing popularity of craft beer, Foodstuffs is quick to

55

point out that its New World stores are locally owned and operated and are free to make stock-purchasing decisions.

“We don’t need to go to Australia or a head office to get that ranging in each of the different stores, the owner operators can make that decision based on the shoppers that walk through their door,” says New World’s marketing manager Fiona Stewart.

“Due to the location of New World stores throughout New Zealand we can align ourselves fairly closely with local breweries in each region,” Stewart says. “Therefore, if there is demand for a particular craft (or international) beer, New World store owners have the ability to offer it.

With the change in NZ drinking habits, this is a serious plus.”

Liquor manager Reece Drake, who looks after a range of over 400 different beers including more than 200 craft beers at Wellington’s Thorndon New World, agrees: “The beer market has changed massively recently.

Beer is becoming a focus in social groups and people are talking about it a lot more. It is good to see a focus on flavour coming through. People are grabbing something special for themselves or to share with friends. They want to try different beers.”

Foodstuffs certainly seems to be putting its money where its mouth is: New World was a major sponsor of this year’s BrewNZ Beervana events in Wellington.

GEOFF GRIGGS, grill’s BEER RESOURcE WRITER, IS NEW ZEALAND’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE COMMENTATOR ON THE SUBJECT.

www.grill.co.nz

56

RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION

Taste – becomes more than a mouthful

taste - the venue for the Restaurant Association Short Courses.

W

e have a brand new calendar, a brand new look and a brand new name.

Some things stay the same though and the Restaurant Association Short Courses will continue to offer the high quality ‘hit and run’ training for which taste has been renowned. taste continues as the name for the venue in which we hold our stimulating semester of hospitality education.

The next cycle of short courses started in August this year and will continue throughout September and October.

We promise yet another thought-provoking line

up of presenters and topics for both back of house and front of house alike including Neil Edmond on Wage Costs and Overheads; Tony Stewart on Concepts, Design and Branding; Jim Roberts with a Spotlight on Immigration; and Michael Dearth and his Head Chef Benjamin Bayly co-presenting Food and Wine Matching. We also have back, by popular demand, our Front of House Induction with Margaret Main and me and, as usual, numbers for this will be strictly limited, so register your interest early.

It’s also worth noting that this coming semester we’re taking our Profes-

sional Development on the road. In August, Steve Davis presented his seminar ‘Stop Your Losses – Increase Your Profits’ in Christchurch. Branching out of Auckland into New Zealand’s other main centres will continue to be a part of the new training calendar.

As part of the reinvigoration of the short courses brand we are about to launch a new website and all the information that was previously accessible through the taste website will be available on the Restaurant Association’s new-look website. Look for the Restaurant Association Professional Development

Series tab and access the training calendar, course notes, events and more.

We’re working hard to make the Restaurant Association Short Courses more contemporary and accessible as we continue to uphold our philosophy of “taking time out of your business to work on your business” and we’d welcome any feedback or suggestions.

Don’t forget to place the new semester’s calendar on the wall – you will find it in this issue of grill.

For more information go to www.restaurantnz.co.nz To book telephone the Restaurant Association at 0800 737 827.

The Restaurant Association Professional

MARISA BIDOIS IS THE GENERAL MANAGER

Development Seminars are now available as

OF THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION SHORT

podcasts on our website www.tastenz.co.nz.

COURSE CALENDAR.

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

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Redundancy: Employees, know your rights Employers, know your obligations E

xploring the possibilities of redundancy in business is often a very unpleasant task for all involved.

There is the pressure to make financial decisions that ensure the security of the business while balancing the wellbeing of employees.

What is redundancy? A general definition of redundancy, accepted by the courts, is when an employee’s position is superfluous to the needs of the business; this is important to bear in mind as it is always a position being

for employers to deal with employees affected by redundancies in an open and honest way.

In order to conduct a fair redundancy process an employer must consult with employees on any proposed decisions, before the decision is made.

The best platform for doing this is in a formal meeting. The employer should tell the employee the purpose of the meeting and advise the employee they can bring a support person or representative with them. a fair process would

“It is always a position being made redundant not the person.” made redundant, not the person. The redundancy process cannot be used in place of a disciplinary process; the courts look most unfavourably on those who use redundancy this way.

When considering redundancies employers must always consult any relevant employment agreement, and abide by any agreement insofar as notice and redundancy payment is concerned. Employers must have a genuine business reason for any redundancies and must be able to justify the removal of the position.

Section 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 states that the duty of good faith must apply when employees are being made redundant. As a bare minimum this means there is an obligation

include providing employees with all relevant information about proposed changes, and allowing the employee the opportunity to comment. It’s also advisable for employers to look for alternatives to redundancy and discuss these with affected employees. It may be necessary to have a couple of meetings, so employees have time to consider the information.

It is also advisable for employers to offer out-placement support to employees affected by redundancy. Work and Income has this service available to businesses at no cost.

These are only general guidelines and it is always advisable to seek professional advice before starting these processes.

Step by step: How the employer must proceed • Let the employee know that you would like to have a meeting with them about the possibility of their position being made redundant. Advise them they can bring a representative to the meeting if they wish. It’s a good idea to follow this conversation up with a letter stating you have arranged a meeting with the employee (time & date) to discuss the possibility of their position being made redundant. Remind them they can bring a representative to the meeting.

• At the meeting, again let them know you are considering making their position redundant; give the reasons why (financial, sale of the business, etc). If you are planning to keep similar positions in place, advise the criteria for selection of the roles being made redundant; for example you might want to use the ‘last on, first off’ principle.

The criteria must be fair and made clear to all employees involved.

• Invite the employee’s feedback on the proposed redundancy. Listen to what they have to say. Consider alternatives.

Make your decision. It may be necessary to adjourn the meeting to take time to consider the employee’s feedback.

• Never take a redundancy letter into the discussion meetings with you. This indicates that you have already made your decision. Write all redundancy letters after the final meeting with your employees.

Marisa Bidois is the Employment Relations Advisor for the Restaurant Association of New Zealand. Her experience and knowledge of the hospitality industry contribute to her ability to give sound advice to employers nationwide. www.grill.co.nz

58

ANIMAL LOVERS

Has the induced-calf saga dirtied dairy? he media blitz that followed revelations that calves die so that cows can produce milk was more of a commentary on the media’s poor research than it was on the dairy industry, but that brief scandal has put the focus on dairy’s once squeaky-clean image.

Following close on the heels of the melamine contamination scandal in China, New Zealand dairying now has some answering to do to the general public. The animal welfare image of dairying has long had a weak spot in the area of calves that are not suited as either replacement stock for the herd, or for fattening for sale as bull beef.

These young animals, fondly known in rural districts as bobby calves, have usually been collected for slaughter from dairy farm gates around the country and then trucked for further processing either as ‘veal’ or for production of rennet, an important ingredient in cheese production.

The real issue here is the treatment of these calves from farm to factory; in the distances they must travel and in the Above: This cow was not induced.

shelter they are given while waiting for the truck to pick them up. Bobby calf boxes vary between tiny, cramped, cold and leaky, to weather tight and roomy, but the fact that calves can stay in these for as long as 24 hours after having spent all their lives in open spaces has long aroused animal welfare concerns.

The sudden public exposure of induced miscarriages in cows so that they maximise their productive time as part of the milking herd may be a cynical commercial practice, but it is arguably not as bad as the treatment of bobby calves raised and transported off some dairy farms in this country.

Chief animal welfare inspector of the SPCA Charles Cadwallader agrees that the treatment of bobby calves falls well short of what he considers to be acceptable standards, but comments, “I guess the dairy industry is New Zealand’s big income earner, and the country is prepared to ignore the cost in animal welfare.”

As far as the practice of induced miscarriage is concerned, Cadwallader says, “What really concerns us is that some At least these calves went full term.

calves are not born dead, and rather than being put down they are left to die. Anecdotally we hear of far too many treated in this way.”

‘Legally induced miscarriage’ is not legal except where it is carried out in the health interests of individual cows, however this rule seems to be bent somewhat in most cases, with inductions being done in the interests of improved short-term farm profitability. The excuse often put forward by the veterinarians who carry out the inductions by injection, is that if the cows are not productive they will be sent to slaughter, so the induction effectively saves their lives.

All of which raises questions about animal welfare legislation in New Zealand, particularly the way in which it is exercised by vets and other professionals within the community. It should also address other welfare issues concerning dairy, such as lameness and the fertility problems caused by a breeding imperative that is based solely on increasing per cow production, not on overall animal health.

Photos: Hans kriek (safe)

T

FARMERS MARKETS

Fresh from farm gate to plate

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“Taste, talk, discuss, exchange, communicate, network and socialise, but most of all, support your local producers, buy locally made and taste the real New Zealand.” Chris Fortune – cook, dad, localvore

An exchange over the back of a cow Chris Fortune and John Clarke.

T

en years ago the seeds were sown and Hawkes Bay started the first farmers market in this country, followed closely by Marlborough and Otago.

Today there are over 50 independently owned and operated farmers markets from Invercargill to the Bay of Islands.

That’s over 1000 local growers, farmers and artisan food producers selling their wares directly to over 50,000 customers.

Vendors may only sell what they grow, farm, preserve, bake, smoke or catch themselves from within a defined local area. No flashing lights or milliondollar advertising budgets, just real people selling real food to consumers.

Things were fairly simple once; we ate meat and three vegetables, spread our butter thickly and enjoyed pudding on a Sunday night. Nice. Over the years we have been heading down the American path of food production and consumption. The problem could well be that there is no real historical eating culture that dictates what to consume and why; just one fad to the next.

Kiwis (all of us, chefs included) have

been suffering from the symptoms of the Omnivore’s Dilemma, an itchy reaction that happens when we are bombarded with marketing and so called nutritional information: additives, colourings, organics, sustainable, environmentally friendly, spray-free industrialised, homogenised, 98% fat free, 2% fat content, no added flavourings, 202, 201, 507, MSG, bio-diversity, food miles, free range, barn raised, gluten free, preservatives, guilt free, natural – not to mention pictures of cute little animals on our yoghurts and breakfast cereals.

But the French and Italians have food cultures that keep their nations of wine-swilling cheese eaters with lower rates of heart disease and obesity than us or the Americans. Why? They tend to eat smaller portions, they don’t go back for seconds, they eat less snacks, they prefer to eat local food made by real people, and their communal meals are long, leisurely affairs – to sum up, they enjoy their meals.

Perhaps we should look more to these cultures for our food lifestyle.

For more and more of us in foodservice, farmers markets have pointed the way – redefining how a tomato really should taste, how a ripe peach really smells. They have also allowed us to get to know the people who have actually grown the ingredients we use – New Zealand garlic, truly fresh vegetables, heirloom spuds, fresh corn before it goes starchy, apricots picked and sold fully ripe, and soft fruit such as mulberries and figs.

Farmers markets have also shown us that for a reasonable cost (and a little effort) we can use local produce in season, when it’s at its best, to create great dishes. They have reminded us why we became chefs in the first place.

Of equal importance for us as restaurateurs and chefs it is our business, nay duty, to encourage diners to slow down, enjoy the experience that good food and fresh produce has to offer.

That way patrons will appreciate our food, be less stressed out – and they will spend more time and money in our establishments.

Bob and Jennie Crum (right) are founding members of the Marlborough Farmers’ Market and Farmers’ Markets NZ.

www.grill.co.nz

60

Al Fresco

In the fresh

By Keith Stewart.

Pear Tree, Kerikeri.

A

l fresco dining has often been thought of as the most sophisticated form of restaurant dining in the country. Not because it is of any advantage to either customer or restaurateur, for the obvious reasons of exposure to the elements, but because it is different – it offers an unusual dining experience, more so because the advent of al fresco is a relatively new one in this country and it has about it the ring of cosmopolitan life.

Of course al fresco is a particularly Mediterranean dining style, casual but always with the benefit of a climate, at least in summer, that is not only benign it is also biddable. One day after another the countries that border the Mediterranean deliver balmy, settled conditions, which, with the exception of North Canterbury, Central Otago and possibly Hawkes Bay, is not normal for New Zealand at all.

So the first professional consideration to a restaurateur offering al fresco is to make sure that it does not compromise the profitable running of the establishment. This entails proving suitable service for the outdoor operation without risking a too high wage bill that could have a dire influence on profitability. Sure, on perfect days you can always sell all those outside tables twice over, but the risk of over-extending your capacity just for those days is hardly worth it.

There is also the need for a recovery position, whether you can provide quick shelter for diners suddenly exposed to a change of weather, without compromising their enjoyment of your establishment and service. This may require a flexible in-out situation, where total couverts are not changed by the offer of al fresco, so that the capacity can be held either inside or out.

The Puhoi pub.

This may seem less profitable than cashing in on sun at every opportunity, but it does make for happier clientele in the long run, and a more stable profit flow throughout daily operations. It also allows the kitchen to manage their service pressure with greater precision than that dominated by a changeable sky.

There are other options to keeping your weather exposure risk to a minimum, one of which is to give diners the option of part of their experience outside. A sort of al fresco bar situation, which is more relaxed than full dining room seating, with the potential of eating, tapas style, should appetites demand outdoor exposure later in the experience. In this situation the environmental essential is to be casual, where nothing is too much trouble, either in accommodating food and drink needs, or seating arrangements.

This opens up another essential

Opposite page: Al Fresco, The Puhoi pub.

Al Fresco

resource for successful al fresco operations – having portable support for all diners.

This may be extra tables as open-air groups spill over past their initial zone, a factor which can happen in streetside situations when passing friends come into contact with diners and the ultimate “join us” is delivered to already strained dining conditions. Not just chairs and tables, but also umbrellas and other weather protectors, even portable heaters that can ease exposure to cool winds as numbers pass boundary points.

Finally, there is consideration for changed security. Restaurant patrons are not known for absconding without paying the bill, but on the street, or in other situations where they are away from the physical presence of the till, or the attention of service staff passing in and out of the dining room and kitchen, tabs start to go missing, along with customers.

The French café system of waiter responsibility for volatile outdoor

sections is probably the most efficient form of security in these situations.

And for service staff who baulk at the responsibility of this, it is worth noting that it is also a system that delivers the best tips. Managers and owners need to be supportive of their staff’s responsibility for credit during service time, but once both sides are at ease the system works very well.

And finally there are the little

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things that can make such a difference. Small, individual containers of sunblock as freebies for your customers always leave a good impression. As do on-sale sunglasses (with your restaurant or a wine brand boldly stamped on them) and caps/hats. If you have an al fresco British pub there is always the option of a branded hanky with its corners knotted.

Have a great summer.

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62

dirty deeds done dirt cheap

LINE CHEFS

John Clarke gets to the hard core of every kitchen.

A

t the end of the bar at the end of the night, well clear of the gaggle of giggling women and braying young men, a solitary figure is hunched over his drink. This is your line chef, pencil in hand going over the next day’s prep list and orders sheet.

Our industry has many arms, legs and heads, but its backbone is the line cook.

What we mean in New Zealand by line chefs is rather different from what they mean in the northern hemisphere. We don’t have large kitchens with brigades of chefs, as they do in Europe where line cooks are required to be consistent, accurate and mindlessly repetitive. True, in New Zealand’s tiny, under-manpowered kitchens we need these skills too, but much, much more is required. For the restaurateur the line chef is solid gold.

Without these guys and girls the industry would fall on its face.

They don’t need to be the greatest culinary innovators in the world, banging out a new signature dish every week. Often the best aren’t classically trained and for many their first

honorific was not chef, it was probably dish bitch.

You know who they are.

They are the poor bastards you have just put the hard word on to come in at short notice. The ones you can always hit up to do back-to-back shifts. They may grumble, but they get there, even if they sweat like a pig for the first hour or so. Because after that one drink hunched over in your bar they go out to the hospo rat holes where our late nighters unwind from the tension of their jobs, usually until dawn.

Chances are the reason they do their jobs with such care and perseverance is not because they are sleeping with the owner, although it’s not that unknown. No, their reason for being there is just that line chefs are strange beasts and the kitchen happens to be their natural environment.

Line chefs tend to be nocturnal by nature and by the time they are any good they suffer from chefs’ leprosy and bad feet. They go to bed thinking about today and wake up thinking about today.

By the time they stagger in to work they have a pretty good idea what the shift will throw at them. They will be hoping the prep is up, but will expect it won’t be and have worked out the weaknesses in the brigade and will be prepared. They have their own favourite implements, usually well hidden from the kitchen riff raff, and spare cloths secreted in unlikely places.

Their mise-en-place is always completed without hassle and they cope quickly with any prep shortfalls.

These guys don’t plan, they prepare. Planning is for those who don’t think. And you need to think on your feet. They may not be great strategic thinkers but most are tactical geniuses.

As the line of dockets grows they are in the midst of service and suddenly the kitchen is slammed. This is when they shine.

Now is when all the preparations come together, when they need to be at their most efficient and when they will start bitching about lack of consideration out front; about the inability of waiters to organise a brewery picnic.

But if you have time to stand

Chefs’ leprosy: Considered part of the graduation process. Easy to diagnose; the lack of burns awareness during service. First indication; the skin stuck to the sheets when dragged out of bed for the next shift.

63

Illustration: Jan Michael David

dirty deeds done dirt cheap

their station, do the ordering for the next day and check the prep lists.

They might even grab that one staff drink the boss so kindly offers. Then they will probably slip across to the petrol station, on the way to some drinking hole to chill out, and grab a maggot pack – because the last thing they want to face is the food they have been bashing out all night.

You know that things will work when you walk into a kitchen as a guest chef and there’s this type of team. These are the professionals.

When you show them what you want they don’t complain, although they may gently suggest a few local variations before they settle down to it without hassle.

It is always gratifying to start in a kitchen containing a bunch of these guys, to slot into a hot night knowing that they’ve got it together even if you haven’t. You don’t have to look over your shoulder, you know it’s right and that they have the capacity to make any executive chef look as good as his or her reputation.

Given their role, the lifestyle of a

line chef is not generally conducive to placid domesticity, and there are too many examples of chef burn-out, of individuals swearing off the trade and kitchen pallor for life.

But there is a good chance that in six months time you will find them in another shop bashing pans again.

They answered a call, confidently walked into another kitchen and picked up the pieces. They can take up any station with ease, backing up and doing damage control. Coming from who-knows-where they pick lost establishments and help put them back on the rails.

Revivers and sustainers, good line cooks carry an immense store of knowledge and experience that makes them the core intelligence of our kitchens. They pass on a massive fund of tricks and skills to those they mentor, and are the ones who give the restaurant business its backbone.

Everybody in the hospitality business knows who they are, and they deserve our respect.

These are the guys that invented staunch and they will be back –tonight.

Photos: Lonestar, newmarket

back and watch them hold a kitchen together, you will see organisation and skill that at its best is ballet. They have the ergonomics down pat and all the moves – in a smooth kitchen there is no wasted action. The good ones are aware of whole operations and move with spooky precognition. There may be dangerous, hot gear all over the place, stressed waiting staff, orders piling up, but they keep all the essential balls in the air, and they do it with pride. This is their strength.

Between them line chefs will know every dish on menu and how to fix a quick sauce or patch a mistake without missing a beat or losing concentration. They quickly rearrange their timing when they need to react to the inevitable disaster. Most important they are fast and consistent, and they are inevitably clean.

The fact is most line chefs hope for a slow night, but the best thrive on pressure, (which is perhaps why the slow nights have the most cock-ups) and the hotter the service the better they perform. Then, after 300 or so couverts they turn to and clean down

Our industry has many arms, legs and heads, but its backbone is the line cook.

www.grill.co.nz

64

BAR NUN

The City – Down and Out

DOWN – AGENTS & MERCHANTS, RACKET AND 1885 – The same but different

The Bar Nun made nice noises in grill’s Winter issue about the admirable attributes of Christchurch’s Cartel. So in an attempt to relive that pleasant experience the nun slid DOWNtown to Cartel’s Auckland sister bars situated in sneaky Roukai Lane in the Britomart precinct. This precinct has outdone the expectations of critics by attracting to its outskirts an eclectic collection of tantalisingly quirky nightspots; Racket and A&M amongst them. The garish façade of Britomart Station is out of sight of the pair’s corridor-like outdoor seating area, nestled between cosy bricks illuminated by a cosy fire. Like their Southern counterpart, Racket and A&M both rely heavily on the attributes of the licensed alleyway that permits their customers to smoke outside in shelter and intimacy. The Bar Nun, snuggling into an armchair before the fire with a sly Mojito and a luxurious Cuban cigar, prayed that upon

her return in the small hours, the cloister boards wouldn’t creak.

Half a block from Roukai lane, the Bar Nun stumbled upon 1885, and the opening night for this new string to the bow of the Cartel crowd. Impressed by the restored brick and exposed Kauri interior, the Nun approached the bar with high expectations set by previous experience with these bars, and was suitably satisfied that quality is continuous throughout the set, though 1885 boasts a more polished service style and less rustic theme. If this family of collect-them-all destinations are starting to appear somewhat formulaic in their step-up approach to hospitality, mused the Nun as she observed the behaviours of those in attendance with grudging approval, to their great credit they are educating Aucklanders on how to enjoy responsibly and with a touch of class the finer ways to revel and roll. Leading by example, contemplated the Nun, is maybe the best way to direct the market to expect a little more from social expeditions than simply the provision of liquor and bassy music.

Somebody here has the right idea all right; but how long will it be before someone starts composing greater variations on the theme?

OUT – THE PUHOI PUB

The Bar Nun after a somewhat excessive downtown experience needed a Sunday retreat.

The Puhoi Pub just north of the pay-as-you-go Orewa tunnel is just far enough OUT of town to recover one’s perspective. This pub was established 1879 and it has developed a certain amount of character over the years.

With its interesting past reputation it was once a little fraught for city yuppie types but these days you don’t need to wear a black heavy-metal T-shirt, have big, mean looking dogs and a Harley Davidson as an accessory.

Cheerful and helpful, casual and unorthodox, the pub is run by Gillian Seymour, (daughter of the famous/ infamous past patron Rodney Collingwood Seymour) and there is something to be said for a wateringhole that’s been in the same family for 50 years. The décor is well, eccentric, and there’s lots of it that’s all this sister can say – but it works for the Bar Nun. And great coffee also – Puhoi Coffee of course.

• Drive more business to your establishment.

• Support your local region, its produce and its culture.

• Promote yourselves and your locality.

TONZA is a nationwide branding programme that will direct diners to those establishments supporting their local producers.

And it won’t cost you a cent to join!

To participate and gain recognition as a fine expression of the products and character of your local area, go to www.grill.co.nz and click on the TONZA logo or complete and return the form below.

To participate in the Regional Fare campaign, and the Taste of New Zealand Awards (TONZA) and receive a free annual subscription to grill (4 issues) please fill in your details below Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms

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