Culinary fare fit for almost every taste

By Jason Collie

Apec chefs' diplomatic and culinary skills are being tested to avoid boiling up an international incident with an inappropriate hors d'oeuvre.

Religious beliefs and national tastes have been acknowledged by a team of chefs who have designed menus for the official leaders' lunch and dinner which will keep United States President Bill Clinton and other VIPs fed and happy.

Apec catering coordinator David Williams said shellfish was out because many Muslim countries did not eat such fare, while other dislikes and requests had been noted to keep the party going during the leaders' Auckland Town Hall dinner.

But "special dietary requirements," like everything else involving Apec, was cloaked in security.

Mr Williams did confirm, however, that Mr Clinton had not made any special demands, not even for hamburgers.

The main course for the 400 leaders, ministers, delegates and business people will be Manawatu lamb - slaughtered in accordance with Muslim halal rules - in a meal designed to reflect the best of New Zealand food.

"We have got the special dietary requirements of the world leaders and their visiting parties," he said. "We will have a satellite kitchen at the leaders lunch and the dinner to provide any special dietary requirements.

"We will be monitoring it very closely with their liaison officers."

The menu showcasing the best New Zealand has to offer will include snapper from the Hauraki Gulf, Haast River whitebait, Akaroa salmon with Gisborne winter truffles and sun-dried Central Otago apricots.

Mr Williams has tasted and tested his way around New Zealand for conference fare four times in the past nine months. He spent the weekend in the Hawkes Bay choosing ice-cream flavours.

He and his team have tried to secure a reasonable geographical spread of food without sparking a war among the provinces, he said.

"We wanted to ensure it did not look like an Auckland dinner. It is about New Zealand, its people and its way of life here. We did not want it to be a pretentious French-style menu."