Go wild in the kitchen (+recipes)

Wild food. Photo / Babiche Martens

This week I have been inspired by the Monteith's Wild Food Challenge, which is now in its 13th year. Its aim is to team Monteith's beer (I like the sound of that) with interesting ingredients that are found a little off the beaten track.

Keen chefs in cafes and restaurants all over the country have been rustling up creative concoctions, and home cooks can be just as imaginative. The inspiration is wild food - defined as ingredients found in the wild or not raised on traditional farms. Failing that, if it all sounds a bit too hard the dishes can just be presented in a "wild" manner. So there are no excuses not to get involved.

Though I haven't exactly been out in my gumboots hunting and gathering, I have procured a tasty array of ingredients. We kick off with field - or portobello if in a supermarket - mushrooms roasted with smoked kelp and served with buffalo mozzarella as an entree salad. I suggest pairing this with Monteith's dark and spicy Winter Ale.

Razorback wild pork is the main course, roasted and served with purple urenika potatoes and green beans. Match this with a crisp and dry Celtic Red.

Dessert is pears - but not any old pears. These are poached in kawakawa tea and honey then baked into an almond pudding before being drizzled with pear syrup. This sweet treat is scrumptious served with a glass of fruity Radler beer with its hints of lemon and lime.

Use the Wild Food Challenge as an incentive to forage for new and unusual ingredients and surprise your dinner guests with a very different meal.

CHEF'S TIP

Razorback wild boar is free-range. The pigs are farmed in their native habitat before being brought down to lower ground to feed on tender grass. Consistency of both flavour and texture can be controlled this way, resulting in very tender meat. Razorback, Pacific Harvest smoked kelp seasoning, LV Kamahi honey, buffalo mozzarella and the pear syrup are all available from Farro Fresh in Auckland. Kerikeri lemon, ginger and kawakawa tea can be found at Huckleberry Farm stores in Greenlane and Glen Innes and at Harvest Wholefoods, Grey Lynn.