Tūrangi Rotary Club's much-loved cookbook puts trout on the menu

Olwyn McNickle (left) and Joanne Booker, of Tūrangi Rotary Club, with the club's newly-released book, "Trout Recipes from New Zealand". Photo / Laurilee McMichael

If you're a keen angler, or have one in the family, sometimes you can be at a bit of a loss to come up with a different way of cooking the trout they bring home.

Never fear. Tūrangi is not only the trout fishing capital of the world, but the Tūrangi Rotary Club has come to the rescue with its newly released book "Trout Recipes from New Zealand", a collection of 79 of the finest trout recipes its members could source.

From variations on the staples of smoking trout to innovative ways of dishing it up, the book has everything from smoked trout chowder to Thai chilli trout, and a range in between. As well, there's a variety of tasty starters to make with trout, and sauces to have alongside it.

Club president Joanne Booker and treasurer Olwyn McNickle drove the book, which is a community fundraising project for the club.

They were helped by Peter and Monique Canziani, who sold a lot of the advertising, Joanne's son Leith Booker, a graphic designer who did the layout, and Leith's partner Hannah Boyce, who took on the editing and proofreading.

Joanne and Olwyn say everyone has their own favourite recipe for cooking trout but when they are looking to depart from the tried and true, it can be hard to know what to do. That's where "Trout Recipes from New Zealand" comes in.

The book was first published in 2007 in black and white and had two print runs of 500 copies each so the rotary club decided it was time for a reprint. But its new 2021 edition is bigger and brighter than before, with more recipes and a wider selection of dishes.

"We had people ringing us asking us for copies and would we update it," Olwyn says.

"It's been mooted around the club but it always came back to one person - me - so when Joanne came on board we got it going."

Most of the recipes from the old book were retained, but anything out of date was discarded and then the pair asked club members, the community, friends and family for their special trout recipes.

About nine delicious recipes, with photographs, also came from chef and outdoorsman Tony Smith of, "Trout Fisher Magazine".

"Nobody wants to give you their favourite fishing spot or where they caught their fish, but they'll give you their recipes," Olwyn says.

The final result is a 100-page book split into sections covering everything from platters and starters to barbecue favourites and dinner recipes.

Olwyn and Joanne have their own favourites. Olwyn, who for years has run lodges and camping grounds with husband John, has a simple but delicious microwave trout recipe which was her standby for whenever guests presented her with a trout they wanted cooked. Joanne, whose husband David is a keen fisherman, enjoys an adapted salmon recipe but says she also likes trout simply smoked and vacuum-packed.

The club has had 1000 copies of ">Trout Recipes from New Zealand"> printed and they are available at Hunting and Fishing Taupō, Paper Plus Taupō, Sporting Life Tūrangi , Naylor's Bookstore Tūrangi , Licorice Cafe Motuoapa and the Omori Store for an RRP of $25. Because the advertising in the book covered the cost of production, all proceeds go to Tūrangi community projects. In the past these have included new computers for Tongariro School, Animal Care Tūrangi , St John Youth, Tūrangi Blue Light, Tūrangi Foodbank and Tūrangi Bird Rescue.