There is a wealth of Malaysian dishes to try, effervescent Champagne to sample and comforting, regional North African recipes to cook.
Ponsonby Rd’s yearly celebration is here
Eat, Drink, Love Ponsonby is a month-long celebration of the food and drink outlets on the iconic Auckland street, and it’s back this
Bake something delicious from the Butter, Butter cookbook
New Zealander Petra Galler’s new book Butter, Butter is a celebration of her Jewish heritage, featuring a collection of recipes she holds dear “with a strong Middle Eastern influence woven throughout”. Alongside recipes for cookies, slices and pastries are some showstopping cakes like Petra’s Persian Love Cake, and Knafeh, made with Kataifi pastry which Petra says is a threadlike dough popular throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean often referred to as shredded filo dough. Her Knafeh is filled with a mixture of cheese, citrus and sugar. Viva has three recipes from the book to try, including the Ginger Kisses, the Tahini and Babka Loaf and the Ricotta, Yoghurt and Honey Tart. Butter, Butter, $50, is published by Allen & Unwin and is available now.
Book in for a Mother’s Day high tea
It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 14, and a lovely way to celebrate is with high tea. Cordis always throws a good one, and this year is no exception. Sandwiches, scones and sweet treats will be served on a three-tier cake stand and beautiful TWG Tea crockery (the luxury tea brand established in Singapore in 1837). High tea is available on Saturday 13 May and Sunday 14 May 2023 at 11.30am, 12pm or 3.30pm and costs $99 per adult and $48 per child (12 years and under). Bookings for Mother’s Day High Tea are essential by emailing cdakl.eats@cordishotels.com or phoning (09) 300 2924.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Spotlight on: Mangawhai Honey
Louis Smith took a leap of faith creating Mangawhai Honey in 2015, having been fascinated by bees since school. He pivoted from a career in building to beekeeping and hasn’t looked back, with a boutique honey-making operation recognised for its flavour and quality. He’s a regular fixture at the Mangawhai market, sharing the story behind his glass-jarred honey with customers. Louis has completed a 6000 sqm native planting on his family’s land by the Mangawhai estuary. “This will be great for the bees and our ecosystem. I look after the bees and they look after me with perfect honey and honeycomb.” Find Mangawhai Honey, $32 for 260g, at Scarecrow, Ripe Deli, Daily Bread, Little Grocer, The Nest and more specialty food stores.
Forest restaurant is moving
Plant-based restaurant Forest just closed the doors on its Symonds St restaurant to begin work on a new fit-out at 243 Dominion Rd. Chef/owner Plabita Florence says she hopes to be open in the next two months, all going to plan. The new space on Dominion Rd has room for a garden, and while the essence of the restaurant will remain the same, the space will feel more intentional. “We’re moving to be somewhere bigger,” says Plabita, “where we can fit more guests and more team. We’re also looking forward to being in a part of town where we can feel part of a neighbourhood, as opposed to so close to the CBD.” The new premises will have a purpose-built kitchen that speaks to the spirit of Forest. “My brother and I pretty much built everything with what we had [in the old space], on a very minimal budget. I feel now that Forest is at the point where it’s ready to grow a bit, and to have a bit more of a specific space for what it needs. Forest was always intended to be an unpretentious example of comforting, interesting, and delicious food that just happens to be mostly made from plants. It’s a space that feels a bit like a friend’s living room, and that’s a feeling we hope to bring with us.” Until then, follow @Forest.akl for updates.
Clevedon Buffalo Co has two new cheese products
It’s been four years since award-winning family-owned business Clevedon Buffalo Co brought a new cheese to market and now they have two to share. Lucky us. The first is Clevedon Buffalo Co Whipped Cream Cheese, which won a Gold in the Fresh Unripened category at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards. Light and airy, this spreadable cream cheese has a nice tart, salty finish to it and can be used the way you would any cream cheese product — on bagels, in sandwiches, or try it with crêpes, pancakes, omelettes and baked eggs, and as the base for a dip. The next new product is the Clevedon Buffalo Co Spiced Orange Marinated Buffalo Cheese, which contains a mix of spices like star anise, coriander seed and bay leaf to complement the orange in this soft, spreadable cheese. Try it on bread, crackers or crudités; it’s great with fish, prawns, chicken and duck and lovely dotted through a salad. Clevedon Buffalo Co Spiced Orange Marinated Cheese, 300g, $18; and the Whipped Cream Cheese,150g, $11.50, from the Clevedon Village Farmers Market, Farro, Sabato and selected specialty stores.
Store your bread in a linen bag
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.A bag for your bread? Yes, that’s what New Zealand company Bagstille offers with its 100 per cent textured linen bags, ideal for taking to farmers’ markets, bakeries and specialty stores. The linen is said to absorb moisture from the air to keep bread fresher for longer, and the bags are designed to be hung up or placed on the kitchen bench, and look chic while doing so. The new Très Grand Bagstille accommodates the largest loaves, adding to the collection of Baguette and multi-size Bagstilles. From $40, from Bagstille.nz
The Blue Breeze Inn turns 10
Perennial Ponsonby Rd favourite and Viva Top 50 Auckland Restaurant The Blue Breeze Inn turns 10 this year. It’s hard to believe they’ve been slinging those famous pork belly bao and Blue Breeze Mai Tais for that long, but here we are. To celebrate, the “modern Chinese” restaurant with a tiki bar twist is introducing its 10-Year Extravaganza Platter, which includes tiger prawn-stuffed chicken wings, duck and chive spring rolls, soft-shell crab, crispy squid, and smoked snapper pâté. The restaurant is also making every day in May Duck Sunday, which means the Peking Duck is always on the menu. Plus, you can order a bottle of Billecart Nature Champagne for $80 a bottle. Cheers to that. 146 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby.
Drink Dom Pérignon’s famous 2013 Vintage at Kingi
To celebrate Dom Pérignon releasing its vintage 2013 in New Zealand, the French Champagne maison is partnering with Kingi for an exclusive five-course tasting menu paired with 2013 Dom Perignon by the glass. Chef and co-founder Tom Hishon has created a menu to complement the sensory values of Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013, which are intensity, precision, tactile sensation, complexity and minerality. For course one, expect Oscietra caviar and Kyoho Grape, and Te Matuku oysters with melon rind and chardonnay granita to represent “intensity”. And for “complexity” Tom has created a bluenose, potato, swordfish bacon and curry leaf dish (pictured). Viva’s Dan Ahwa was lucky enough to try the experience and says: “Tom Hishon doesn’t disappoint with a well-thought-out out menu that complements the Champagne’s elegant fizz poured into one of their universal wine glasses. A highlight included the tart combo of kingfish crudo, oyster cream, finger limes and Granny Smith apple; and a crayfish toast with peach, mustard and kaffir lime eaten the way it should be — with your hands, a giant bite and a glass of Dom.” The partnership runs until the end of May. To enquire or book the Kingi Private Dom Pérignon tasting experience, which costs $549 per person and requires a minimum spend, contact events@thehotelbritomart.com.
Cook the flavours of North Africa with a new cookbook
Twenty years in the making, The North African Cookbook is the definitive and largest collection of traditional North African cooking with 445 recipes for home cooks. Focusing on the Maghreb region of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, The North African Cookbook explores the region’s vast culinary diversity and history. As well as a range of recipes from across the Maghreb, the book looks at daily life in North Africa today through a food lens. The pages are colourful, vibrant and bursting with flavour. Viva has three recipes from the book to try — look out for them in the coming week at Viva.co.nz — including the Triangular Stuffed Briouats with Fresh Cheese and Herbs, the Festive Lamb Couscous with Nuts and Raisins, and the Jam Cake, a specialty of eastern Algeria, which is a shortbread-like cake smothered in jam — usually apricot. The North African Cookbook by Jeff Koehler, published by Phaidon, $80.
The Toastie Takeover is back
If you’re pressed for fresh lunch ideas, here’s some tasty news; The Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover is back for 2023. Cafes and restaurants around Aotearoa are firing up their grills and slicing and dicing pickles, with 185 eateries participating in the three-month-long event. Twelve finalists are revealed in May, and a winner crowned in June, and until then, all bets are off, but the heat is on. A fixture of our nation’s culinary landscape, toasties are a passionately debated topic (they certainly are in the Viva office). Sandwich bread or rustic loaf? Pressed or sealed? This year’s line-up contains both classic iterations and radical contenders. Rules are clear — McClure’s pickles, cheese or a vegan alternative, and two slices of bread — and leave plenty of room for some wild (or, dare we say, cooked) concoctions. Pictured is Cheese On Toast’s gouda and mozzarella toastie with slow-cooked beef and plenty of pickles, onion and dill; we expect nothing less, given their name. What are you waiting for? Find the full list and vote for the People’s Choice Award at Toastietakeove.com
Try some signature Malaysian dishes
Auckland has a dearth of brilliant Malaysian restaurants, many of which have crafted their own signature dishes that are well worth a trip across town. At Selera in Newmarket it’s chicken satay with nasi lemak bungkus, at Taisumyun in Northcote it’s Sarawak laksa, and at Mama Kopitiam in Greelane it’s chilli meepok and claypot bak kut teh mee sua. Writer Lincoln Tan has rounded up some of these unique dishes for this Viva story, and says all of them are on offer during a celebration of Malaysian food in Auckland in May called Truly Delicious. The event is aimed at promoting Malaysia as a destination for culinary adventure in partnership with 16 Malaysian eateries including Bunga Raya, Sri Pinang, Uncle Man, Mutiara, Sim’s Kitchen Malaysia, Selera, Jom Que and Petaling (find the full list on the Tourism Malaysia NZ Facebook page.) From April 29 to May 14, if you share photos of any Malaysian dishes eaten at these restaurants on social media (tag Tourism Malaysia NZ and Lincoln’s Table and hashtag #malaysiatrulydelicious), you’ll go in the draw to win a trip for two to Malaysia. Eating delicious Malaysian food and being eligible for a holiday? It’s a win-win.
Buy tickets to a wintery food and wine festival in Hawke’s Bay
Winter F.A.W.C! Food and Wine Classic is back this year with 50 events running across Hawke’s Bay throughout June. Now in its 10th year, the festival is just the kind of event the hospitality industry needs after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle. The line-up has just been announced, and festival goers can expect everything from fine wine to delicious food, luxury gatherings, and incredible experiences. Some events to look out for are Hastings’ venue Craft and Social teaming up with Alpha Domus for a Sunday lunch, and Cellar 495 working with acclaimed Auckland chef Ben Bayley for one night only. (Viva sampled Cellar 495′s food last year and it comes highly recommended.) Winter F.A.W.C! runs across four weekends in June (June 2-4, June 9-11, June 16-18 and June 23-25), with ticket prices from $17 to $320 depending on the event. Find the exciting programme here.
