I loved the 7 baby beetroot we received last week in our CSA box. The colour was glorious and the flavour intensely sweet after cooking. I grated a couple of beetroot with carrot for a balsamic vinegar salad and roasted them chicken and again for a roast vegetable pasta. Roasted beetroot is by far my favourite way of eating beetroot but I almost had kittens the next day! Consider this a public health warning.
To get more efficient in our grocery shops this winter, we are replacing the 2 to 3 trips per week to the market, with a weekly CSA delivery of fruit and vegetables. I plan on topping this up with a fortnightly trip to (or maybe even delivery from) traditional supermarket and a fortnightly trip to Nosh (a local gourmet food store). Local CSA project OOOOBY has a great concept and ethic and we are in week 2 of our subscription. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables Half a cauliflower (conventional sprays) 1 big red kumara (certified organic) 8 carrots (conventional sprays) A huge bunch of red russian kale (certified organic) 7 baby beets (certified organic) Fruit 6 pink lady apples (conventional sprays) 10 gold kiwifruit (certified organic) Only 2 varieties of fruit this time, and while my list and email both suggested that I was to be gettting mandarins or tangelos, they didn’t arrive in the box. The weirdest thing in the box is: Kale. I’m looking forward to using it because for some reason it isn’t …
Our first week trial run of local CSA company OOOOBY was a success. Every single item from last Tuesday’s CSA box was eaten before the next box was delivered although for a moment it looked like we weren’t going to get through all the fruit. But a solid weekend of fruit eating got us through the lot. I picked up a trick via Youtube on how to prepare kiwifruit and having pieces of ready to eat fruit on a platter made it more enticing. It was so much fun peeling kiwfruit this way, once I started, I couldn’t stop. Last week our CSA box included: Vegetables 1 garlic (self certified organic) 1 red skinned turnip (self certified organic) 6 carrots (conventional sprays) 1 fennel (certified organic) 2 brown onions (certified organic) A couple bunches of silverbeet (certified organic) 6 agria potatoes (certified organic) 1 large bunch of Italian parsley (Certified Organic) Fruit 6 newstead gold apples (conventional sprays) 3 mandarins or naval oranges (BioGro certified) 9 green kiwifruit (certified organic) Meals for week 1 included: Baked …
CSA CSA is a way for locals to support their local food growers and producers but subscribing to a set price per season (or month) in return for a weekly delivery of produce. I’ve written about CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in 2009. Back then I wasn’t in a hurry to sign on because of lack of control over what we received. 3 years on, I appreciate the concept more. CSA is a great way to get variety into your weekly meals with local, seasonal and organic produce. It connects local growers and their communities together in the most efficient way possible. CSA usually involves fruit and vege, but there is also CSA for meat and eggs, and CSF which stands for Community Supported Fishery. In the summer, I adore my walks two to three times a week to the various local markets to buy fresh food. But now that it’s winter, the days are short and cold and it’s dark by the time I get home from work. No part of me wants to leave home and walk …
Celebrate The Koala and I have been together for 10 years, and we recently celebrated our third wedding anniversary. As with any good relationship, good eating has been and will probably always a part of our relationship. To mark 3 years, we treated ourselves to a degustation dinner at Kermadec in the Viaduct. Two years ago, our first official anniversary dinner was unplanned. It ended up being at KFC in Hamilton. It was scoffed down, on the way home from a wonderful weekend in the Bay of Plenty, but we can’t help thinking of how far away a degustation in the Viaduct is from “Kaccas in The Tron”. Degustation A degustation is a tasting menu, designed by the chef. You get to sample a range of delights over many courses, and the number of dishes usually ranges from 6 courses up to 12. It’s considered the best way to sample a chef’s skill. Instead of choosing what you want to eat, you completely surrender your choice to the chef. Degustation can be matched with wine …
For the past 3 years, The Koala and I have been heavily involved with the Japanese Art Festival. Neither of us are Japanese, but we have a fondness of Japanese art, culture and food. It all began when a friend who was helping with the organisation for 2010’s festival asked if we wanted to submit some artwork. Since then, we’ve not only submitted work, but also branded, advertised, promoted and helped to organise different aspects of the event. The festival was well advertised this year with flyers and posters distributed all across Auckland, magazine advertising, radio advertising, and of course the mother of all advertising for free events: Facebook. It’s a fairly big task logistically and it all paid off seeing all the people that came to the festival to enjoy the art and various events over the 3 days. It’s been a great learning curve for us and it’s great to have a hand in something like this. The festival is now in its fourth year and is held at the Aotea Centre in the heart …
Post 2 of my 3-part review on Urbis Designday which was on Saturday the 24th March. I’m going to post about 3 blog-specific aspects of Urbis: post 1: Bunny, post 2: eats and post 3 (sometime in the coming week): design. This post is all about the delicious delights to be found at Urbis Designday. I had been looking forward to the Fisher & Paykel exhibit and this year’s The Social Kitchen did not disappoint. Last year, it was in a huge inflatable structure in Auckland’s Britomart Station area and this year’s reiteration at The Cloud on Auckland’s Queens Wharf was a great step up. The Cloud was the venue for many of the Rugby World Cup events including a special edition of Taste of New Zealand. You can read more about that event here. Brilliant and light, The Social Kitchen at The Cloud is a 50m+ installation/exhibit/buffet line/kitchen line/processing plant while the rest of the room was made up of long tables and coloured stools to sit and enjoy the creations. To say this …
Today, armed my sister, Joey, and our cameras, we tackled my first Auckland Seafood Festival. I always suspected that it would be an expensive exercise that wouldn’t be worthwhile. I was wrong. This festival really celebrates New Zealand seafood and the new location of Wynyard Quarter is perfect. Surrounded by water and boats old and new, the festival was beautifully decorated and it was often hard to figure out what props had been brought in to entertain the sea theme and what were already there. We arrived a little after 11am to a queue shortly after the doors opened. Greeted by seafood on ice, this was a nice preview of what was to come. If you don’t like seeing eyes on your food, then keep walking. We made our way around and quickly found something we couldn’t turn down. The Wild Seafood Challenge. There were 6 different items for $2 for each item or $9 for a platter of all 6. This included: kina, prawn killers, turbo shells, sea cucumber, octopus and kina shots. The …
I’ve been gorging myself on seafood lately. Prawns, salmon, white fish, sea cucumber, squid, more salmon, more prawns, more salmon…That’s just the last few days. I do love seafood and it generally seems to be the more politically correct “meat” to eat. It’s a long weekend here in Auckland as we celebrate Auckland Anniversary weekend. The Auckland Seafood Festival is on all weekend so if you are a seafood lover, it’s worth checking out. This will be my first time at the event so stay tuned for my report back this weekend. My sister Joey and I will be going on Saturday armed with appetites, cameras and general silliness. Tickets are $20 each and more more info can be found over at the event website: www.aucklandseafoodfestival.co.nz Things I have my eye on at the Auckland Seafood Festival: Scampi – If you like prawn, you really should try it’s hulking cousin. The meat is sweet and firm. Wild Seafood – If you’re into eating non-farmed food and are feeling a little adventurous, there is a Wildfood Seafood passport …
David Schofield is the 2011 New Zealand Chef of the Year this year and it was a pleasure to see him whip up some quick and delicious dishes on Sunday morning at the Grey Lynn Farmers’ Market. This was the very last of a national series of cooking demonstrations at farmers’ markets organised by Kylie and Blair from Out Standing In Their Fields. Farmers’ markets celebrate seasonal, local food and buying at your local producers is a great way to show your support. The stars were hot smoked salmon, flounder, oysters, and free range bacon. David had a wealth of knowledge and it was clear how passionate he was about his food by the trivia he shared with the crowd. He encouraged questions and interaction from the audience. Having plenty to talk about, David disclosed right from the start, “I waffle”. His veering was hardly offcourse, never pointless or uninteresting and I enjoyed his tidbits of foodie folklore. Toothsome trivia from David: The demand for perfect produce encourages imports. If we happily buy odd shaped and …
Taste at the Cloud has been running at the Cloud on Queens Wharf since September 13th. Today is the last day. I highly recommend you check this out today if you are heading around the city. It’s your last chance! There is no entry fee, you only pay for your food and drink ticket. Tickets come your choice of 2, 4, 6 or 8 dishes with matching beverage. Prices $17, $28, $42 or $54. The more dishes you buy, the cheaper the average price per dish. We didn’t realise until after we had bought our three separate tickets that we could split 1 or 2 big tickets between us. Oh well. Hopefully this info benefits someone else. There are menus from four themed kitchens: Seaside, Urban, Rural and Winery/Orchard. Each offering four kiwi showcase dishes. You can choose to mix and match any of the menus. You simply queue at the kitchen of your choice, collect your food and then your drink. We checked out the food at the Cloud yesterday and Now I wish …
2011 will be my third Taste festival and I’m looking forward to trying and buying new delicious things and soaking up the good atmosphere down at Victoria Park. Taste of New Zealand kicks off this evening in Victoria Park, Auckland and the menu can be found on their website here or scroll to the bottom of this post. The dishes range from 8 to 20 crowns and a crown costs $1. This year, there are 13 restaurants offering 35 dishes. Quick breakdown: Dessert 5 Shellfish 5 Fish 5 Venison 3 Beef 3 Pork 3 Lamb 3 Duck 2 Chicken 2 Rabbit 1 Mixed grill 1 Vegetarian 1 There are loads of dishes for omnis and pescis, but only 1 vege dish of portobello mushroom. I ordered 4 dishes last year (all the ones on my wishlist) and I recommend 3 or 4 dishes per person for dinner. Don’t forget to make room for all the samples on offer. It’s great to have someone with you so you can sample their dishes too. Last year, we tasted …
Auckland Art Gallery has been prettied up and re-opened a couple of weeks ago. 15,000 or so works in the collection with 800 on display at any one time. We visted twice in one day and noticed things that were there in the afternoon that weren’t there in the morning. They must really be having fun with switching around the artworks. It’s been years since I visited and there were many familiar pieces as well as new ones. Bill Hammond’s Japanese painting is one of my favourites there and worth visiting just for that. Most artworks are not to be touched. But one exhibition encourages interaction with kaleidoscopes and tables of paper, stencils, paper punches and colouring pencils. Afternoon craft time is fun for kids both big and small.
This week, I convinced Miss A to try out Al Brown’s new restaurant at Sky City: Depot with me. It’s had great reviews and what I read about the food really appealed to me. If you haven’t read the reviews, this place is small. The are no real chairs, just stools that you perch at. This means your bags and coats may need to find a hook on the wall. It also means that you’re unlikely to get cosy enough to let your dining experience drag on. Smart. Third time’s a charm. We had failed to get a table twice the night before – at about 7pm (full) and then at about 10pm (kitchen closed). This time we were joined by Uncle and more determined to eat. It was lunch so the turnaround was faster and that means better odds for a table. They don’t take bookings here and they get busy. You have been warned. We took one end of a large table. If communal dining isn’t your thing, then you might want to say …
I had a good time at the Food Show in the weekend and I bought much more than last year’s show. This year felt less busy than last year. I don’t know if it was just more spread out or if there were less visitors/exhibitors. There were lots of new things to taste and we got wine glasses around our necks for easy boozing. My picks of the day… Best looking display: All Good Bananas and Pam’s. Meat tasting of the day: Heller’s brand new fresh chorizo sausage (not yet available in stores) Wine of the day: Coopers Creek “The Clays” Huapai Malbec 2008. Cheese of the day: So many excellent cheeses. Too hard to call. I bought a peppered havarti though which is unusual for me. But it’s creamy peppery bite was pretty special. Interesting foodie concept: Kapuka Pork’s Adopt A Pig scheme. Adopt a pig, get updates on your free-range pig at the farm and when it is ready, it will be processed, packaged and sent to you. Interesting products: Namida Wasabi Spirit. Tastes like wasabi …
It’s Food Show time here in Auckland! Wahoooo! Last year we went for Miss C’s birthday and this year will be no different. Super food bargains and plenty of samples here we come! Many exhibitors invited me into their stalls to get better photos of their products. My SLR must say “legitimate photographer”. Hey, I guess I could say I’m from the press.Wordpress that is… Here are some of my photographs from last year’s show. There are lots of interesesting cheeses at the food show and lots of bargains to be had. We had just been to a cheese factory before last year’s food show so we missed out on the Food Show cheese. I swore that I would go on a cheese famine before this year’s show. Mega fail. I currently have 3 kinds of cheese in my fridge at home. Is there room for more? Maybe just 1 or 2? This year it is $22.50 and you can buy tickets and find out more info on their website here. Last year’s Food Show Tips …
For the past 8 years, Semi-Permanent has been THE design conference to go to if you live in Auckland. Originating from Australia, it’s been going strong since I was a first year design student all those years ago and I’ve been to so many I’ve lost count. I know I’ve missed at least one but it was with a very reluctant, heavy heart. SP began as a one day event of creative industry speakers from around the world, but now it’s ballooned into a two day event with a myriad of side events (art exhibitions, after parties, subtle mobs) running alongside the conference. It’s a super inspiring event and one that no creative should miss. I swear I come home super charged and ready to explode with things to explore/make/research. This year, the New Zealand organisers of SP, The Church have branched off from SP to do their own conference called We Can Create. The two design conferences are 2 weeks apart. SP is 12-13 August and WCC is 26-27 August. With limited WCC earlybird …
The Koala and I have been busy this last month with the lead up to the Japanese Art Festival. We’ve done all the graphic design for the festival, a 30+ page prospectus for one of the event sponsors and have been working on brand new paintings to exhibit. It has been a real work work work month. Well, the work has all paid off because the festival starts today. It’s free and it’s on from today until Sunday so if you’re in Auckland this weekend, come down to Aotea Centre and check it out. Saturday lunch-ish is the best time to go as there will be Taiko drumming and live art. There will be collection for Japanese earthquake relief and many artists will be donating full or percentage of sales. The Koala and I will be donating 50% of our sales to the Japanese earthquake relief. So please come! I leave you with a teaser from my pieces…
Opensouls, one of my favourite bands in the whole world, played their final show last Sunday. It was at Leigh Sawmill Cafe which is about an hour drive north. So we made an afternoon of it and packed the van with some friends. Clinging on to the last threads of summer, we visited the beach by Goat Island for a swim and a snorkel. It was a beautiful day in Auckland but as we drove north, the skies turned grey and by the time we’d finished swimming and snorkeling, it was pelting down. Swimming and snorkeling are a surefire way to work up an appetite and with Leigh Sawmill closed until 4pm for set up and every single shop in Leigh closed on a Sunday afternoon, we were forced to drive to Matakana for a munch. Matakana is pretty gourmet as far as small towns go and I realised I’d never been there before. They have a highly rated farmers market which I do hope to visit another time. As we drove down the main …
I made it to Love Your Mountain Day a couple of weekends ago. It was a sweltering summer day, not really idea for a mountain ascent. I wanted to go, but I didn’t fancy being a sweaty mess so I left it a little later in the day hoping it would cool down in the afternoon. It didn’t. It took about 2 hours to visit Government House, Eden Garden and the mountain itself including the walk to/from my house. All were free entry and there were guided tours for those that were interested. Government House The tour at Government House was led by a gardener. It was quite cool to listen to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about plants. When someone asked what species of grass it was, I thought it was a joke, but the gardener knew the answer in a heartbeat. This is the secondary residence of our Governor General. A big old Redwood Sequoia and 2 Nikau Palms. The lawns were really beautiful and I thought about our brown, sad looking lawn …
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