I’m not going to lie to you, it’s been pretty full-on around here. As I write, team Cuisine is coming up for air after what is unquestionably the most challenging few months of the year for us. The awards, and their many layers of planning and execution, are a mammoth task. The assessment period is for me a time of great anxiety as we work our way to announcing our Cuisine Good Food Awards winners, followed by immense pride as we celebrate excellence within our New Zealand hospitality industry and the allocation of our coveted hats to the restaurants that we feel are stepping up and helping to make Aotearoa a top dining destination. Of course, with all of that comes the task of having to provide feedback to those restaurants and chefs that did not make our list this year. No one working at the premium end of this competitive and sometimes cut-throat industry would think of themselves or their restaurant as anything less than excellent and deserving of recognition; they work way too hard to be in it for anything less. So I do understand their disappointment and I take the responsibility of our decisions when allocating our awards very seriously.
Having said that, the monumental list of requests for feedback on our restaurant assessments is overwhelmingly positive, proving that these awards are very much valued as a respected benchmark by the industry. Now I can’t wait for our guide to be published. A great restaurant can provide a very special and emotional experience through its offering and although dining in New Zealand is sometimes hard to define, the constant is an ability to present excellence across a diverse menu. You are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out and so having someone you trust to advise you on options, someone who has already ventured out on your behalf, knife and fork and chopsticks at the ready, well that’s a useful tool to have to hand. And that’s where we come in with the 108 restaurants in our 2019 Cuisine Good Food Guide that showcases the names and the places that should be on your radar for the next year. Keep an eye out for it in our January issue, on sale Dec 16. Here’s a sneak peek of the stunning cover to look out for. Shhh! Don’t tell anyone… #curiouscroppers
(Photograph Aaron McLean, recipe & food styling Fiona Smith, art direction Fiona Lascelles for Cuisine)
Speaking of chefs…
For me, the chef’s snacks are often the most exciting part of a menu. Spectacular little bites served at the start of the meal according to the chef’s selection alone, and offering a cheeky glimpse of the level of creativity and style of the chef. With that in mind, I asked some of our Auckland culinary stars to put their best seafood snack hats on and share a recipe that can be easily achieved at home and will amuse the bouche out of the most jaded canapé crowd.
These Green-Lipped Mussel Beignets from Leslie Hottiaux at Apéro are my faves. The mussels are stuffed with grated zucchini, garlic, shallots, lemon zest and fresh herbs before being dropped into the beignet batter and rolled in hot oil until puffed and golden. One crispy delicious bite of New Zealand in one hand, an icy cold beer or bubbles in the other. Now that’s a party starter!
(Photograph Jason Creaghan for Cuisine)
Click on these sensational chef’s seafood snacks for more party inspiration. Sid Sahrawat’s Oyster Pakora with Tomato Kasundi & Sorrel, Gideon Landman’s Thinly Sliced South Island Squid with White Beans & Samir Allen’s Trevally Tartare with Preserved Lemon, Pomegranate & Sumac.
Kiwi Classic or Cultural Cringe?
A Facebook post by Auckland caterer, food writer and superb dinner-party bad boy Grant Allen caught my eye recently and the ensuing debate over the relevance and taste of the classic Kiwi mayo (made from sweetened condensed milk, malt vinegar, mustard powder and salt) was both educational and highly entertaining, resulting in this fabulous article by Grant who insists it should still have its place in the pantry. Do have a read, it’s a good’un…
(Anna Crichton for Cuisine)
I love to pursue stories that provoke food memories and take a look back at the tastes that have shaped our food culture. Grant also included his recipe for Stuffed Curried Eggs and I wish he hadn’t as it sent me down a rabbit warren of research on the weekend when I really should have been doing something else. Problem is, I am a sucker for a good stuffed egg and I’ll take them whenever I can get them in almost every conceivable variation. It’s hard to imagine you not knowing how to make one but just in case… the eggs are medium to hard-boiled, then split and the yolks removed. After mashing the yolks with ingredients such as mayonnaise, mustard, paprika and other flavors, they are replaced inside the egg whites to become devilled eggs. The devil bringing the kick from the paprika, mustard or chilli sauce.
I Googled to see what the current status of the stuffed and the devilled egg is in the recipe world. Up came the 38 stuffed egg recipes you MUST make. Nothing much out of the ordinary here, the classic, Romesco, smoked salmon, herb crumb and bacon and blue cheese versions all still looking very much like the essential ’70s American cocktail canape. A further Google presented information claiming that devilled eggs have been with us since the Roman Empire, becoming a popular party menu item in the ’40s. At this point, my Aunty Shirl’s back yard soirées under the Hills Hoist came flooding back and 1970 called to me, I desperately wanted my hors d’oeuvre back, but has the stuffing of eggs evolved or is it best left in the past?
(Eva Kolenko for Bon Appétit)
Food mag heavyweight Bon Appétit claims that theirs (pictured above) is the greatest devilled eggs recipe ever. And, of course, the Americans do have a lot of experience with stuffing their eggs. In Appetites the late, great and so very-much missed Anthony Bourdain offered up versions of his caviar eggs, anchovy eggs, hot & spicy eggs and Mediterranean eggs saying a good devilled egg improves everything, particularly a party. “Because who doesn’t like devilled eggs?”
The NY Times delivers theirs 5 ways, my favourites are pickled with rice vinegar, light brown sugar, kosher salt, peppercorns and red onions, or pesto filled. Rachel Ray Magazine loves their devils Greek-style or loaded with beetroot. Jennifer Chase at the Washington Post says devilled eggs take to a Middle Eastern treatment so well these hummus-spiked eggs might become your new favorite way to enjoy them, while Epicurious offers an authentic Indian-flavoured devil, with the inclusion of mango chutney and garam masala. Aji Amarillo gives these Peruvian eggs a bit more than the average bite and the soy sauce in this Chinese variation is interesting. While we are on soy sauce, these beauties from David Chang’s Momofuku are not stuffed but I love them; they are great for keeping in the fridge to use in a multitude of ways and his kimchi bacon devilled eggs sound like definite winners.
Chef Yves Camdeborde is making sure the French still take the stuffing of their oeufs seriously with his whites marinated in soy sauce and pomegranate vinegar and a filling of crab meat with apple, avocado, and chives at his stand-up bar L'Avant Comptoir de la Mer in Paris and David Lebovitz writes of a devilled egg at Le Mary Celeste, Paris, filled with mayo, fresh ginger and topped with deep fried wild rice, saying it is the one dish he refuses to share. Unfortunately, there is no recipe for this dish, but I’m willing to experiment as it sounds delish.
The British, although not as devoted to the devil as the Americans, are still partial. Nigella Lawson says there are not many recipes that will get her squeezing a fancy-nozzled piping bag, except this classic using English mustard, tabasco & chives.
“As many as I make, I never have a single one left over.”
You can make all of the fancy canapes and snacks you like but there must be good reason for the fact that you never see a leftover stuffed egg? To finish up, this idea from the lovely White On Rice Couple with their devilled egg bar. I think I might take a little inspiration from all of the ideas above and make my own version for New Year’s Eve…
Interestingly, research commissioned by the British Egg Council has discovered that a person's favourite way of eating eggs can predict their personality type, their job and even their sex drive. Sadly they only considered, boiled, scrambled, fried, poached or omelette lovers. No stuffed. A grave error in my opinion.
Random Bites…
According to the latest Waitrose food report seafood is slowly catching up on the more traditional meats with ‘Seacuterie’ being the trend to try in 2020. I think our Cuisine Good Food Awards chef of the year Vaughan Mabee at Amisfield Bistro is leading the way here with his magnificent paua salami. Pickling, fermenting, smoking and/or ageing seafood has definitely become a new playground for chefs.
How far does your asparagus travel? Not so much of a problem for us when in season in NZ. But how as a consumer can we navigate the many ways our food purchases affect the world around us? A question tackled by National Geographic in this great article by Tamar Haspel. A terrific chart of carbon emissions for common fruits and vegetables shows that in the USA asparagus bears a significantly higher carbon footprint than other vegetables (six times higher than avocado).
And while we are on veges, at the edge of the French capital, an urban farm is being built that will supply residents with a tonne of food a day. Currently being renovated, the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is set to become home to the world’s largest urban rooftop farm next year.
And I’ll leave you with this absolute gem unearthed by Sam Sifton at the NY Times. It was written by the great Washington Post critic Phyllis Richman in 2013, responding to a letter she received from Harvard in 1961, asking her a personal question about her application to graduate school. To give you a bit more context: In 1961, Phyllis Richman applied to graduate school at Harvard. She received a letter asking how she would balance a career in city planning with her ‘responsibilities’ to her husband and possible future family.
Fifty-two years later, she responds.
Please do share these little morsels with people who love food and share your bites with me at any or all of these social servings.
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