Perfectly Inspired By Pure Wasabi

Many people don't realise this, but you are often getting an imposter alongside your Japanese meal! The wasabi paste that's alongside your sushi or in a tube from the supermarket shelves is unlikely to be ‘real’ wasabi. Pure wasabi can be quite expensive, so more often that not it's  just horseradish, alongside with synthetic colour and flavour. Did you also knoiw that if you're not using pure wasabi, there are no guarantees against toxic pesticides and other harmful sprays.

At True South Dining Room we've recently started using Coppersfolly Pure Wasabi. Pure wasabi paste is the ground root of the wasabi herb plant. It is sometimes known as ‘Japanese horseradish’, however it is not actually part of the horseradish plant family. It has a similar hotness to horseradish, but what really sets pure wasabi apart is the aromatic flavour!

Once you try the REAL wasabi you won't want to go back! It opens up a whole new world on your palette. So much so that it inspired me to create a fantastic monkfish dish, made using BBQ Monkfish, oyster, Coppersfolly Wasabi, soy beetroot. rice cake and dashi.

First I cooked the monkfish sous vide in a Teriyaki-style glaze. 

Next up for seafood, a Bluff oyster is poached in dashi stock. The stock is then strained and poured over the dish at the table. I used our supplier Stewart Island Oysters, as their Bluff oysters from Stewart Island are MASSIVE, fresh and delicious - basically a superb product!

For the vegetables, I marinated red and golden beets in soy, soy beans and spring onion.

Then I really got creative! I made a of panna blancmange using rice milk, tofu and Coppersfolly Wasabi. Experimenting even further, I made a variation of rice cake using rice mixed with egg white and rice flour before cooking. 

I finished it off with some toasted sesame seeds and voilà! The dish to showcase authentic Wasabi is complete!

When You Cross Southern Lakes with Scandinavian

Scallop season fast approaching- have you checked out the new Winter menu? You may have even noticed a slight Scandinavian influence …

... well, I recently got back from a Scandinavian holiday, where we ate out at some Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen and Helsinki. Although different countries, there were similarities in the flavours used and I came away with plenty of inspiration!

When I got home, the first dish I came up with was a venison dish. Common flavours that I found were malt, liquorice, chocolate, rye bread, wild berries and herbs, milk (they drink A LOT of milk!) and reindeer. So this dish has aspects of those except the reindeer (unless you know a supplier) that is replaced with venison.

It consists of braised venison osso bucco with a dark malty beer, wrapped in chocolate pasta, with braised lentils beneath. Around the outside is malted parsnip puree, licorice puree,ground cocoa nibs and crispy chervil. On top are parsnip crisps and the foam is made using milk, the braising liqueur from the venison and licorice root and malt extract. It tastes delicious, even if it does look like a cigar!

Coming soon will be the second of my Scandinavian/girlfriend-inspired recipes. I gave a little preview teaser at the Rural Women demonstration. Based on a common Finnish snack called Karelian pies (obviously that has been translated!) which come from the Karelia region on the Russian border (this is a bit controversial, as the area was Finnish but they lost parts of it to Russia in a war).

My girlfriend made these for me at home saying I would never like them, but I loved them! In Finland I ate plenty and got very well acquainted. Basically, they are savoury rice pudding but using pearl barley (they call it porridge in Finland). This is then semi-wrapped in rye pastry and baked- they look a little like moccasins. Most commonly served with egg butter (boiled eggs mixed with butter).Get the full recipe here!

Along with our Pastry Chef, Ben we have developed a dessert version using rye pastry to make a tart and filled it with a sweet creamed pearl barley (like rice pudding), flavoured again with malt and vanilla. Basically a sweet version of Karelian pie! We will be serving this with rye friands, rhubarb and beer ice cream (beer is also popular in Finland).

It's All About the Cheeks for the Country Connoisseurs

Last month, as part of my New Zealand Beef + Lamb Ambassador role I was part of a food demonstration for the Winton branch of Rural Women New Zealand – they have the Ambassadors do this annually.

The brief I was working to, was a three course menu themed ‘restaurant food at home’, which of course had to use beef and lamb. I had to devise three dishes, recipes and tasters for all the ladies on the day.

It was a lovely drive to sunny Winton, where the demo was held. Firstly, I had to set up my section and get ready to serve the tasters. I was lucky to have two enthusiastic ladies assist me. Finally, it was time for the much-anticipated show, with plenty of entertainment. We didn’t take things too seriously and it seemed everyone enjoyed themselves.

Last but not least, I did plenty of advocating for the Rural Women’s ‘A Good Harvest’ preserving book. I may not have been the best ‘promo boy’, but it really is an essential book that ties in nicely with my belief of knowing where your food comes from. Better yet, grow your own and preserve the excess!

We had a great response, with lots of positive feedback and even some positively glowing letters! Even though the women have homekill meat, some of them had never eaten beef cheeks! It was great to introduce them to such a delicacy.

It's always enjoyable sharing my knowledge with an audience of foodies. In exchange for my time up the front, I received an awesome present of red and black merino socks knitted by some very kind rural women (for the Christchurch earthquake charity, 'Aftersocks').

What To Do During the Humble Fig Season

Figs are a bit like nature’s equivalent to Marmite; you either love them or hate them!

 

Down here in Southland, the fig season only runs for a few weeks and that short run is coming to a close now but that doesn't deter us because figs are a great ingredient to use, as match well with both savoury and sweet foods. Unique and very distinctive in both flavour and texture, they make for a very interesting piece of ingredient to use.

Our True South Dining Room kitchen’s supply of figs comes from two of our favourite produce suppliers; Goodies from the Gorge and Aspiring Organics. This gives us the luxury of being able to source two varieties; Brown Turkey and Adriatic.

Because the season is so short, it makes sense to use various way to preserve some of the figs, so we can extend the season a little bit longer for many of our guests to enjoy when they come into the especially restaurant.Our answer to this has been to dehydrate them, but if you are looking for a far longer shelf life then poaching and preserving is definitely the way to go.

From the dehydrated figs we've create 'Baked Alaskas', which can then be frozen. This basically involves taking the top off and carefully scooping out the middle pulp and filling it with ice cream them putting the top back on and freezing. We then cover that with Italian Meringue and bake. Truly delicious!

They're on our Tasting Menu over the next fortnight for a limited time, so be in quick all fig lovers!

Day in the Life of a TV Chef

A lot of pre-planning goes into a TV appearance for what often turns out to be a few minutes airtime. I think my own personal record was a total of 6 hours filming to get a four minute film segment. Luckily for me, today's appearance on TVNZ Good Morning went smoothly thanks to a lot of prior planning and the great crew that looked out for me.

I arrived in Auckland late last night, with a chilly bin full of local produce, pre-prepared in vacuum-sealed bags and ready to go for the big morning ahead of us. Being a chef, I tend to run on a late-night schedule, so the 8am start was a bit of a shock to the system.

Fiona welcomed me in to TVNZ's Good Morning Show in Auckland, showing me the Green Room (still not sure why it's called that!), Studio and Prep Kitchen. There was no shortage of helpers and most of the hard yards had been done in the True South kitchen, so I had plenty of time to kill before I would be showcasing my Taco dish in the first of three segments in the show.

After a quick once over in the make-up chair and having a microphone fitted, I was in the studio with host Jeanette, showing her my canape rendition of Crisp Lamb Tacos with Blue River Vintage Feta and Red Pepper Mousse & Greek Salad. Aside from a bit of getting used to the induction stove, the dish went well. The crew behind the cameras were enticed over afterwards by the delicious smell of Cardrona Merino Lamb.

I had another 40 minutes break so finished off what little prep was left and had a much-deserved cuppa. After that I was chatting to host, Matai, about our Lap of Luxury competition and the Tasting Menu at True South Dining Room. I prepared Smoked Southland Venison with Cucumber, Gin, Beetroot& Dark Chocolate Oil, a similar but simpler version of one of our Tasting Menu dishes. Having previously been accustomed to the strong, gamey venison in Scotland; the subtle, milder flavour of the Invercargill kind is a refreshing change. I think I even managed to bring Matai over to the venison-lovers side with that one, as he previously was not a fan!

After a quick touch up in make-up, my final slot was up with host, Rod. He must have been the third person that day to identify my Bristol accent - it seems more Kiwis are familiar with Bristol than the average Briton! The finale was a Frangelico Pana Cotta. Frangelico is a hazelnut liqueur from Northern Italy, so it seemed fitting to add some rougly-crushed hazelnuts into the mix. Add to that warm Golden Queen peaches caramelised in honey and it was the perfect mix of hot and cold on the taste buds.

While the viewer at home only sees twenty-four minutes of you on-screen, hours and hours of creating recipes, planning logistics and doing prep goes on behind-the-scenes every time you see a chef on TV. For me, it can be a lot of fun, I have met great teams of people and it is always worth it when you hear fantastic feedback from the viewers!

Seasonal Foraging in the Local Sweet Spots

It’s amazing the delicious seasonal produce you can find locally, if you just stray from the beaten track a little. And no, I’m not referring to the Farmer’s Market, but to the path less travelled known as ‘foraging’.

Edible, wild growth can be found in abundance throughout New Zealand, even in our towns and cities. Of course, our beautiful Central Otago is teeming with tasty treats if you just know where to look. I was initially inspired to forage in Scotland when I had a wild foods supplier, but it was too brief to really get involved as I would have liked.

Since then I have missed the taste of wild mushrooms and I actually see them all the time here, it’s just so much easier to just pick up the phone and order them. With a bit of egging on from my colleague, also called Ben, we have pushed each other to finally get out and start doing it. Our latest foraging expedition ranged from Frankton to Queenstown. You can’t get more local than that!

Autumn is the best time for mushrooms and we managed to find a few varieties. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough mushrooms to use in the restaurant, so to prevent waste we had to eat them ourselves – they were tasty nonetheless.

Most of you will be familiar with the humble field mushroom. They are often available in supermarkets, but are also known and pop up all over the place. The wild variety certainly has far more flavour and texture than shop bought. With these (and with most of the mushrooms we found) I simply fried with butter, garlic, herbs and a squeeze of lemon. As the mushroom count was few and far between, we basically just had them as a snack to get an idea of texture and flavour, for future reference.

The birch bolete grows only under silver birch trees and is in the same family as porcini, so quite similar and very, very tasty. The painted bolete grows exclusively under douglas firs, also in the same family as porcini. These are everywhere so I found quite a few on Sunday. I had a few friends over to try both boletes for size (and we are all still alive!). After taste-testing I found the birch bolete to be far superior. I wasn’t overly impressed with the painted bolete, so although the supply is thriving I haven’t gone back to get more.

Giant puffballs are edible while they are young and still white inside. They are actually very common if you know where to look. I have found them all over but they are usually where you least expect them. I found two on the side of Frankton Road that we had pan-fried. They are very savoury, with a slightly rubbery texture which we likened to scrambled eggs. I experimented with pickling some, which may even make their way into the True South kitchen!

Shaggy ink caps are the ugly ducklings of the mushroom family; I think that’s why people shy away from eating them. These pop up a lot too, usually on walking tracks. They are one of the easiest mushrooms to identify as there’s nothing else that really that looks like it! Pick them when they are white, not black, as this is when they are at their best. This image shows one starting to turn black, which was within a couple of hours of picking, so they deteriorate really quickly. They are very delicate, but are worth it as they taste good. Also very fibrous, for me they have a similar texture to meat.

We found loads of elderberries, which it seems taste a lot like blackcurrants when you add sugar to them! Last year we made elderberry pate de fruit for our petit fours. We were really happy with the result so have done the same this year - it lasts a long time so is great for both in the restaurant and at home. The rest (there really were a lot!) I have pureed and frozen until I find more inspiration for them. I will definitely try a jelly to serve with the pine needle ice cream.

The pine needles aren’t something you would add to a salad, but due to their refreshing scent and flavour I was able to use them for a pine-infused ice cream. Next up I am going to play around with extracting an essence.

I’m no foraging expert, I only know a few mushroom varieties by heart so usually it’s a game of trial and error. Generally,I find something new and take one home to identify on the internet or in my books, but sometimes it’s the reverse and I am keeping an eye out for something I am hoping to find. Mostly I just like to dabble and try to find things.

My key tips would are to be inquisitive; smell things and touch things. Research what you pick until you have a good idea it’s safe, then taste a little to see how it goes and take it from there. Be very careful as there are lots of things in nature that look the same, but one may be tasty and the other deadly! Start with some safe bets like the shaggy ink cap to gain confidence, then you will become more adventurous. Take a guidebook with you if you have one.

If you have some free time and nice weather, foraging is the perfect way to while away a morning. Just be sure to always ask permission before harvesting from private property; and wash everything thoroughly before use in case it has been exposed to contaminants. But above all, have fun!

Behind-the-Scenes with B-Guided TV

Recently,  B-Guided TV (BGTV) came to film The Rees Hotel as part of the Air New Zealand in-flight video for Queenstown, which includes me whipping up a few culinary delights! 

BGTV is a quality travel show created specifically for travellers, to inform and engage, ensuring they experience the "real New Zealand" and come away with an authentic experience. Part of the BGTV mantra is that "by meeting the locals [travellers] will get a taste of [the] regional culture." 

This makes them the perfect partner for us to work with. At True South Dining Room our guiding force is using locally grown produce wherever possible and creating a local culinary culture, unique to our place in the world. That way, when guests come to our restaurant they are experiencing new flavours, that they could only try by coming here. This is part of the magic of Queenstown and what keeps people coming back!

We have worked with the crew from BGTV before and they are a great bunch, so hopefully there are more projects with them on the horizon!

If you've ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes on a shoot like this, I will give you a bit of a run-through.

Firstly, the film crew do some general filming around the hotel. This will be used to give a good overview of The Rees Hotel, including our lakeside view, the rooms, apartments and the restaurant.

Next up, I cook a dish. It’s best not to go with an overly complicated recipe as it will all be edited down to a quick clip. We went with the strawberry trifle that is currently on the menu. It not only tastes great, but it looks good for the camera and has an easy flow while making it (perfect for a short video).

Put this all together and voilà, there you have it - several fantastic reasons to come and visit!

Passionate Foodies & Taste of New Zealand

Being recognised for your culinary passion and what you believe in is always going to be an amazing feeling. 

I was fortunate enough to experience this first-hand at the recent Taste of New Zealand Awards  (TONZA) when I received a  'Premium Award' at the Taste of New Zealand Festival that is dedicated to recognising leadership in the creation of a New Zealand culinary identity.

Taste of New Zealand was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, share knowledge and gain a new perspective from the other award winning chef's who share similar beliefs to myself about the importance of using local, quality produce.

I was so impressed with the inaugural awards ceremony, as well as the entire Taste of New Zealand festival. The whole event, from start to finish, was extremely organised and well run.

Fantastic to be invited from the very beginning, and I can only see this event exponentially getting better and better as the years go by. It is backed by such a passionate team and supported by an equally passionate industry of foodies.

Checkout this showreel from the Taste of New Zealand awards ceremony as it sums up the entire time for me nicely: Incredible food ... wine ... people and experience!

The Culinary Creative Process

Coming up with new and inspiring dishes is a complex creative process and it’s different for everyone.

I usually start off by choosing an initial ingredient to build the rest of the dish around. I try to use seasonal produce or and keep up with our suppliers new products or interesting cuts of meat. It’s great to have a new ingredient to work with and of course it’s always good to be taken outside your comfort zone every now and then to keep you on your toes! Chatting with suppliers often helps you remember some of the great ideas that you may have neglected or forgotten.

Once we have pinned down this key ingredient, we build on this with other flavours, bearing in mind textures, balance, contrasting notes and so on. This experimentation process helps the team and I to formulate an idea, develop it and solve how we can include all these harmonic elements into one dish. It's an evolving process of trialling different approaches until we come up with a recipe that we are all happy with.

One of our most recent creations was a chocolate, avocado, lime and chilli dessert. I guess you could say the initial inspiration for this was the fact that we acquired a chocolate spray gun! I wanted to create a dish concealed in a shell of chocolate. It’s very satisfying to crack open a chocolate shell to reveal all the hidden layers encased inside. The surprising layers make it so much more interesting to eat, due to the differences in flavour and texture.

I also wanted to experiment with a chocolate/olive oil/salt dish. We built on this by adding the acidity of lime plus the refreshing-ness of avocado – perfect for cleansing and added interest. From here we went in the direction of mexican guacamole flavours, adding a little chilli, raw cocoa and coriander.

Sometimes this tasting process can veer off in a new direction, reminding you of a taste you’ve had before or what you think it would go with, even sparking a forgotten idea or creating a new one. But in the interest of getting my way, I still ensured that we finished it off with some Marlborough sea salt and Central Otago olive oil!

I don’t consciously follow food trends, nor do I subscribe to any ‘foodie’ magazines or celebrity chefs. I try to just be myself and have inspiration come organically through a culmination of the influences I am surrounded by, rather than having to seek out.

Spontaneity & Mystique of Our Culinary Series

Our Culinary Series are 5-course meals with a difference. A range of contemporary New Zealand wines are matched with a seasonal and custom designed ‘mystery’ menu with a dash of my humour in the mix!

This differs from the regular approach as you would normally put complementary food items together to create a dish, but here we are basically deconstructing the wines and putting together all the foods that are a good match.

Every dinner in the series starts a few weeks out when three of us from True South Dining Room sit down: Chef, Sommelier and Restaurant Manager. We begin by tasting all of the wines one by one – tough work! We are looking to match wines or complement them with food so we try to pick prominent notes, flavour profiles, textures, aromas, mouth feel and sometimes just the way the wine can make you feel.

We list our findings, talk about possible foods that would go well with each wine and then refine the process further by tasting to arrive with our core ingredients.

I then go away with my notes and a few ideas impregnated in my mind, and generally, the dishes come together on the night for the first time. When the guests eat them we are trying them for the first time too – it all adds to the spontaneity and mystique!

We aim for three main outcomes - great wine, great food and having fun. It’s a relaxed atmosphere, not all wine toffs coiffing and deliberating. Everyone gets the chance to drink some great wines that may not be readily available, plus some slightly crazy food that gets everyone talking! For those who are keen, there is great knowledge to be gained from meeting the winemakers.

The most recent Culinary Series event starred Kumeu River Chardonnay and their winemaker, Michael Brajkovich M.W. This collaboration came about due to the passion of our Chief Executive, Mark Rose who is a HUGE fan of all their Chardonnays. Not to mention, all those ‘in the know’ are aware that Kumeu River is a world-class winery! We have received fantastic feedback, as well as a nice email from Michael himself.

Of course, everyone had their own favourite course or what they felt matched the wine best or an adventurous dish they weren’t quite sold on - but this is what it’s all about !

We want to see people think about, discuss, deliberate and dissect everything that is going on.

Diary of a Chef | Day 8: "My Downunder Dessert"