International chef Vangie Merrall to offer more than sausage and bread

Vangie Merrall spent years cooking for ambassadors and dignitaries in Singapore.

Visitors to the parish market at St Peter’s Church this weekend can tuck into something a bit more than the standard fare of sausage and bread.

Among its membership is Vangie Merrall, who spent more than a decade as a consular chef at the Turkish embassy in Singapore, regularly cooking banquets for foreign dignitaries and diplomats by the score.

Merrall, who moved to Palmerston North with husband Graeme in 2022, can turn her hand to a smorgasbord of different styles as she grew up in the Philippines, yet learnt to cook a range of traditional Turkish and Arab dishes, while she herself has a penchant for Indian-style cooking.

She became so adept at preparing traditional Turkish food that national representatives would often send their compliments to the kitchen.

Now, she will pick up a pair of tongs this weekend, challenged to come up with an easy dish for Kiwi palates suited to a weekend market.

An example of the lumpia dish that will be prepared by Vangie Merrell at the St Peter's Church market this weekend.

Merrall has plumped for two dishes from her childhood that fit the brief; Adobo, which is a Filipino national dish of chicken, garlic, onion, soy sauce and vinegar served on rice, while Lumpia is a type of spring roll filled with vegetables, minced pork and noodles.

She said special ingredients that once might have been difficult to find in Palmerston North are easy to come by with two Filipino grocery stores opening, making it easy to prepare authentic dishes.

In addition to the specialty dishes, there are stalls selling plants, “trash and treasure” jumbles, cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, sauces, collectables, crafts, jewellery and scarves. There will be raffles too - and a sausage sizzle.

The market will be held at St Peter’s Church on Ruahine St on November 9 between 9am and 12 noon.