Kapiti Kitchen Space

The smells and taste of the Middle East came to Kapiti on Friday evening. 24 participants paid $50 per head to attend a chef-less cooking class at Kapiti College. Organised by Keryn Mells, the first Kapiti Kitchen Class, in teams of three, cooked recipes from the Ottolenghi book Simple. Although there were a few mishaps, the food was successfully turned out in less than two hours. Following laminated instructions, the participants cooked nine dishes that included chicken with ginger, miso and lime; mustardy cauliflower cheese; and fish cake tacos with mango, lime and cumin yogurt. Simple indeed.

Ruth Pretty's Cheese Roll Recipe | Murray Lloyd Photography

I have even noticed a few much neglected asparagus spears popping up in our garden. However you will need more than a few spears to make the Toasted Asparagus and Swiss Cheese roll recipe from Ruth Pretty's latest book.

Ruth's book was a great project to work on as the food images were complemented by editorial photography, landscapes and photos of garden produce.

Ruth's recipe is a healthy  version of the famous Dunedin cheese roll.

Toasted Asparagus and Swiss Cheese Rolls

3 Xmas Recipes from Star Chef | Murray Lloyd Photography

Zibibbo’s Adam Newell was the latest chef to grace the demonstration kitchen at Wellington's city market. Having photographed A Consuming Passion, the first cookbook by Newell a few years ago, I was keen to see him in action again. Newell introduced three recipes which included two versions of en’papillote - French for “in parchment”, and a caponata.

Cooking class at Wellington's City Market

While chatting and chopping his way through the caponata, Newell reflected on changes in New Zealand’s restaurant food.  He believes the fusion of the 90’s “should be illegal”, (my wife calls the same phase ‘confusion’). He went on to say the scene is now about emphasising seasonal ingredients and not about playing around with the food too much. Newell reckons we’ve even caught up with Europe – a slightly optimistic view to me.

Fresh New Zealand Salmon

The first of two en’ papillotes involved salmon sourced from a passionate Akaroa Fishery  Newell said he would be serving this at Christmas, leaving his mother-in-law to deal to the turkey.

Adam preparing at the market

The BBQ class was billed by the City Market as the Thriller in Manila . While struggling to see the link with boxing I guess it could have been the vanilla which received rave reviews by Newell. It’s used in the sugar syrup poured into the en’ papillote and Newell says the dish screams “eat me, eat me, its summer” as the perfumed steam envelops the diner once the parcel is opened on a plate.

en Papillote summer fruit

En Papillote salmon and caponata at Wellington's City Market

The dessert can be made up to one hour ahead of time and Newell says his chefs at Zibibbo know they are in for a busy night if the en’ papillote is on the specials list (not being a cold pre-prepared dish).

The guests enjoyed being served by the Michelin starred chef (one of only two in New Zealand) as Newell delivered the fragrant packages to the tables. Scents of fennel, thyme and fish were followed by fruity fragrances and hints of mulled wine as the gathering pierced the sealed parcels and munched away happily. The $25000 Gaggenau kitchen stood up to the BBQ test well, easily competing with the hooded cookers that will be seen in most kiwi backyards this summer.

Vegan Pavlova Recipe at WOAP | Murray Lloyd Photography

“The world’s first vegan pavlova!” claimed Professor Kent Kirshenbaum, while giving a presentation at Ruth Pretty’s unscheduled WOAP event. He thought he may have also produced New Zealand’s first vegan meringues, but was surprised to find Angel foods (an Auckland-based vegan supplier) had beat him to it. Kirshenbaum, a New Yorker, was in New Zealand to help celebrate the 2011 Year of Chemistry.

Kitchen Chemistry

Luxuriating in the space the commercial kitchen provided, Kirshenbaum and his assistant Anne McBride took us on a world tour of mysterious ingredients. First was the Chilean Quillaja Saponaria- its soapy properties can be used to make extra head on low alcohol beer, fire fighting foam and of course the vegan meringues. The inner bark of this tree has also been linked to methane reduction in dairy cows and lowering of cholesterol in humans.

Kitchen Chemistry

After being served an unusual warm syrupy drink by Ruth Pretty, the Professor introduced us to Salepli Dondurma the Anatolian stretchy ice cream. The stretch ingredient in the ice cream is called salep and is derived from rare Turkish orchids – so rare the Turkish authorities have banned the export of this plant extract. I found out my syrupy drink was made with salep – apparently sourced in Wellington!

Kitchen Chemistry

Not deterred by the unavailability of salep Kirshenbaum and McBride zapped us up a topping for the meringues using versawhip, xanthan gum, sugar and raspberry sauce. Xanthan gum also has links with our dairy industry as it can be derived from whey, the by-product of cheese making. We got to eat the raspberry-topped meringues (recipe is below) – the dessert had good texture but the herbaceous taste of the meringue had me thinking I’ll stick to egg whites.

Kitchen Chemistry

The Professor had clearly done his research on New Zealand, with his next topic being the barbecue. Obsessed with the smoky flavours of the BBQ, but unable to use one at his apartment (“I’d be arrested in New York if I started one”), Kirshenbaum was drawn to analyse liquid smoke. He deduced it is probably safer to use than untreated-wood smoke due to the carcinogens being removed. Could this be the end of this bastion of New Zealand culture?

The perfect steak? The exact time for a fillet of salmon? Precise times for cooking an egg? Try out sous vide cooking (precise temperature control). How about reductions without heat, centrifuges and rotovaps - it all sounds like science fiction but science in the kitchen is already nearby - think Martin Bosley, Ferren Adria, and Hesten Blumenthal. For more about molecular gastronomy check the Experimental kitchen collective headed up by the very engaging Professor Kent Kirshenbaum.

Recipe for vegan meringues

• Mix 60ml water with 3ml quillaja saponaria

• Add 5ml lemon juice and 15ml Campari

• Beat to form soft peaks, then add 65g granulated sugar one spoonful at a time until stiff peaks form. Sift in 40g confectioners’ sugar and quickly beat to disperse.

• Spoon meringue on to baking sheet lined with parchment paper

• Bake at 225F for 1 hour, then turn oven off and let meringues cool for 1.5hrs.

Heavenly ham and salmon | Murray Lloyd Photography

Ham and salmon were the stars on the menu at a recent 21st party we catered. A ham from Waikanae Butchery was ordered - the pork came from Murrellen Pork in Canterbury. It was cured for three days and given a hint of wood smoke before being glazed. Picked up on the morning of the party, all it needed was half an hour in the oven.

The salmon was purchased from Moore Wilson's in Wellington. It was marinated with star anise, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil for 4 hrs before being baked in tinfoil for an hour (it was 3.5kgs). The only advice I have is make sure you have a large platter to serve the fish.

Washed down with 1990 Te Mata Awatea (21yrs old) the ham and salmon were highly praised  including the response "eating this salmon is like being in Heaven". The two dishes easily fed the 45 guests (with salads and spuds). I absolutely recommend the Waikanae Butchery for any meat, and this is the recipe for the salmon by Ruth Pretty.

Soy, star anise and ginger whole baked salmon for Ruth Pretty cookbook

Walnut recipes by Ruth Pretty| Murray Lloyd Photography

Having only eaten walnuts sporadically I was intrigued to find although the nut has culinary use, the shells are used for making dynamite, oil paint, plastics and helping to drill oil wells. I am sure the dynamite discovery must have come from some lateral thinker watching the walnuts 'explode' from their husks before falling to the ground.

Fresh walnut ripening on tree

The walnuts (roasted) go well with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Champagne...

Whole Parmiganio Reggiano cheese with cheese straws and champagne.

...but if you desire something tasty on a smaller budget try this salad from Ruth Pretty

Ruth Pretty's pear, celery and walnut salad with honey vinaigrette.

Ruth Pretty Hamburger Recipe | Murray Lloyd Photography

When I read the rugby sevens crowd was going to eat 12000 hamburgers  on the weekend  it made me think how the humble burger (particularly  Mac - burgers) are often targeted by critics of the fast food industry.

On the other side advertisers try various approches to make us eat more. If you want to get away from mass production and the products of Hamburger University try the Lembastic burger from Lembas Cafe in Raumati South (Now named Raumati Social Club) which  took out the title of Wellington’s best burger.

If you are looking for an inspiration for the BBQ try this hamburger recipe from Ruth Pretty. Wouldn't it be great for stadiums to have this standard of food.

Classic hamburger with fries for Ruth Pretty cookbook