Auckland Food Show 2011

The annual Auckland Food Show (28 – 31 August 2011) is a foodie-in-training’s little paradise. For the $25 ticket price (or $22.50 if you purchase online and bypass the queues), you get an invite (along with over 50,000 others!) to a world of new products, flavours and tips on how to expand your culinary horizons by over 450 exhibitors. There are multiple tastings at every stall, and some of the more popular ones had crowds of eager punters. I love that the artisan producers are out in force, and the gourmet food markets (Farro Fresh and Nosh) are supporting them to exhibit. 

This year I made the trip with Mum and Little Z who asked to come along on our expedition. Little Z was a trooper, and impressed us with his palate, - he refused processed cheese (specially packaged for children) and meats, and asked for seconds of salmon gremolata and gourmet frozen yoghurt. I don’t recall being this ‘evolved’ at 4 ½ years old!

Being a teetotaler (completely due to my allergy to alcohol I assure you, not by choice), I merrily skipped past all the wine and alcoholic beverage producers (of which there were many) to the gourmet confectioners, seafood, meats, non-alcoholic beverages (to my happy surprise, there were many as well, - is my fantasy of Kiwiland becoming un-boozy coming true?), frozen desserts and condiments galore.

Some of the tasty offerings this year were:

The fantastic gremolata was from Salmon Man

Fresh baked baguettes and pastries from Paneton Bakery

Sublime chicken liver pate and duck liver parfait from L'Authentique
(available from Farro Fresh)

Indonesian Kek Lapis (layer cake)

This is a somewhat non-traditional recipe for Indonesian Kek Lapis or layer cake, - this recipe calls for 7 whole eggs, rather than the typical 15, or even 20 egg yolks. For the uninitiated, kek lapis is a very rich (read caloric) cake, with high proportion of butter and egg yolk, and is only served as small slices during festivities (e.g. Chinese New Year and Hari Raya) in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The recipe is easy, - the tediousness lies in making the layers, which have to be grilled a layer at a time. If this wasn’t challenging enough, these days, making kek lapis has become a bit of an art (especially in Sarawak), with various patterns, flavours and colours. There is no substitute for the pretty millefuille effect of the many layers, the fragrance and taste of all that butter, egg, spice and brandy.

The recipe comes from an old Betty Yew (Malaysian culinary expert, and prolific cookbook author) cookbook, which I scribbled down in a notebook many, many years ago.

Osso buco with fennel and orange

Osso buco is Italian for ‘bone with a hole’ and refers to cross cut pieces of veal shank, and also the braised veal shank. Those Italians certainly get a lot of mileage from their words. Veal has become much more readily available in Auckland with the mushrooming of gourmet food markets and specialty butchers. I purchased the osso buco from Farro Fresh (Lunn Ave, Mt Wellington), one of my favourite food stores.

I have had a copy of ‘Bones: recipes, history & lore’ by Jennifer McLagan on my shelf for several years now, and this was the perfect opportunity to try out one of the osso buco recipes, though I varied some of the ingredients with what I had on hand.

The recipe is a bit fiddly, but trust me, it tastes amazing. It’s in the oven for 1 ½ hours, so you have lots of time to prepare the accompaniments, - I served this with buttery (and truffle-oiled) mashed potatoes, roasted beetroot and garlicky sautéed beans. This is best cooked in a cast iron pot, as you need to heat it both over a stovetop and in the oven.

Yam chiffon cake (version 1)

When is a yam not a yam? Surprisingly (or maybe not), when it's a taro or a sweet potato.

Yam chiffon cake (also known as Taro chiffon cake) is a somewhat confusing misnomer here in NZ. The NZ yam (a small red or orange tuber Oxalis tuberosa) is not the same as the Asian yam. And to make matters worse, what we call ‘yam’ in Asia can be one of several tubers. There is the purple yam (Dioscorea alata) which is the tuber commonly used in making Filipino cakes; and taro (white fleshed Colocasia esculenta, known as ubi keladi in Malay) which is used to make kuihs, bubur cha cha, etc. Plus we have a very purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), which is also sometimes known as yam.

Yam (or taro) chiffon cake is typically lavender in colour, so it’s by default, it’s not the white taro. I went around the various Asian supermarkets in Auckland to see what I could find. In Dan Hua Supermarket (Cnr Torrens St and Ti Rakau Dr, East Tamaki) I found frozen purple ‘sweet potato’. And at Lim’s Orchard (Apirana Ave, Glen Innes), I found frozen grated purple yam. Frozen and fresh taro can be found at most Asian supermarkets.

Slow cooker lamb tagine

Winter is the perfect time to drag out the slow cooker from the recesses of your cupboard, and try out some new recipes. It is also the ideal way to fend off those I-seriously-cannot-be-a**ed-cooking-tonight sentiments as you trug home from work. I have been having several of these days (I blame it on all the cold wet weather we’re having).

I’m a morning person (no, I'm not one of those sickeningly chirpy people in the morning, I just get up early!), so doing some chopping and assembling before work is a doddle. If you are a night owl, most slow cooker recipes are forgiving enough that you can assemble your ingredients at night, and in the morning, just add the wet ingredients, stir and turn it on.

Lamb tagine is a recipe which works really well in a slow cooker, as the flavours meld together beautifully. The ingredients below can be varied to your taste, - you can add canned chickpeas, remove the kumara, add cumin or paprika (if you want a bit of heat). 

Sarawak laksa

If you’re not in Sarawak, the phrase ‘Sarawak laksa’ is always followed by the word ‘party’. The only way to eat laksa is with a group of friends, preferably Malaysians. I count several West Malaysians as my close friends, and we often debate the merits of the various versions of laksa you find in Malaysia (e.g. Penang laksa, curry laksa, assam laksa, etc), but in my books, no other laksa comes even close to the sheer deliciousness of Sarawak laksa.

To have a laksa party, you have to procure some laksa paste. You have to beg, steal or bring some back from Kuching because you cannot buy these for love or money outside of Sarawak. Luckily, most Sarawakians have a well-developed network to maintain their precious stash (fingers crossed that my laksa shipment actually gets here, - does anyone know how reputable PosLaju is?).

Serafin Cafe and Bar, Mt Eden, Auckland

Serafin Cafe and Bar (225B Dominion Road, Ph: 09-633 0228) is a little tapas café located just off busy Dominion Road; with its entrance from Walters Road.

The interior is beautiful, with stunning origami-like pale timber ceiling and arty lights. One side of the dining area looks into a hidden internal courtyard. It’s a world of difference stepping off the hustle and bustle of Dominion Road into this little cocoon of coziness and warmth.

Sri Mahkota, East Tamaki, Auckland

The Sri Mahkota restaurant chain (three so far, in Epsom, Grafton and East Tamaki) has seemingly burst onto the Auckland food scene. However, the original Sri Mahkota in East Tamaki (22D Torrens Road, Ph: 09 273 9188), tucked away in a small side street off Torrens Road has been a destination for Malaysian food enthusiasts for many years. With the franchise in place, the tattered, well-thumbed menus have given way to shiny laminated pictorial ones, and the décor has been stepped up a notch.

Crazy Noodle Bar, Newmarket, Auckland

From the outside, this oddly named noodle bar doesn’t appear to hide any lunacy. The décor is utilitarian, the staff is attentive, the chinese tea is free and the menu is extensive, with your typical wantonly labeled mystery dishes, (i.e., beef and vegetables on rice, milk toast, etc). All pretty normal for a cheap eats noodle bar in Auckland so far…

Auckland Fish Market

When I was growing up in Malaysia, fish only came one way, whole and fresh. No cellophane wrapped fillets, or frozen pieces that clang as they fall out of the packet. Fish came from a fishmonger, - you chose the fish you wanted, and he would gut and scale it in front of you. Sometimes, the fish is still alive, and you have to avert your eyes while it is expertly ‘dispatched’.

I think it’s unnatural to never see what the actual fish looks like. I like to see the glistering silvery skin of the salmon, the surprising bright blue spots against the pink skin of the snapper and the dull green gray of the flounder, with its strangely positioned mouth. It’s good practice to ponder the brightness of the eyes, the springy-ness of the flesh and the redness of the gills as a measure of its freshness.

I’ve been meaning to visit Auckland Fish Market for quite a while. Auckland Fish Market boasts the widest range of fish and seafood in Auckland. I certainly don’t disagree, - the display was impressive. After you pick your fish, and it is weighed, they can prepare the fish to your specifications.

Teochew peach kuih

The name comes from the traditional shape of the kuih, which apparently looks like a peach (not any peach I’m familiar with, I’m guessing it’s a stylized ancestral peach). The Teochew peach kuih is a firm favourite with my siblings, and comes savoury (glutinous rice, mushroom and shrimp with optional meat) or sweet (sugared chopped peanuts).

The story goes that peach is the symbol of longevity and when peaches are out of season, Teochew people make these ‘replica’ peaches as offerings to the gods. Luckily for the rest of us, we're allowed to share in this tasty treat. 

Beef stew

Beef stew is the classic winter warmer, rich and hearty, especially pared with crusty bread or fluffy mashed potatoes.

This recipe is very forgiving, - add more of what you like, omit what you don’t, the main thing is that you have to simmer for 3 hours or more. I used a cast-iron pot to simmer, this distributes the heat evenly and I’m convinced, allows the flavours to develop better.