St Kilda Café & Bistro head chef Andy Kang has designed smoked eel risotto dish called Haukai o Tangaroa.
St Kilda Café & Bistro head chef Andy Kang has designed smoked eel risotto dish called Haukai o Tangaroa.
Waipā chefs are putting everything on table for the annual Matariki Dish Challenge.
The competition is run by hospitality promotion co-operative Waikato Food Inc. It challenges Waikato chefs to create a dish using native, local ingredients inspired by Matariki.
Matariki is the celebration of the Māori New Year and is the Māori name for a group of seven stars otherwise known as the Pleiades. It signals a time for giving thanks to the land, sea and sky.
Taking on the challenge from Te Awamutu is Cosana and The Redoubt Bar and Eatery. Entering from Cambridge is St Kilda Café & Bistro and Pony Bar & Provisions.
Cosana restaurant owner Diana Bowmar has designed a dish called New Beginning.
Cosana's dish, designed by restaurant owner Diana Bowmar, is called New Beginning.
There is mānuka-smoked pork belly on the plate, brined in Waikato beer, accompanied by artichoke and potato mash, native mushroom pearls, pikopiko (young, curled fern shoots), kawakawa chips, a steamed bun filled with watercress, kumara and pork, all seasoned with horopito pepper.
Cosana's dish is a representation of a journey from the ground to the sky.
Diana says the dish is a representation of a journey from the ground to the sky. She says the earthy flavours of the dish would be paired well with a chardonnay.
The Redoubt Bar and Eatery is putting forward a dish called Red Velvet Venison.
"Our dish is stimulated from our chef's personal experience of trying venison for the first time in New Zealand," says restaurant owner Lalit Arora.
Redoubt Bar and Eatery head chef Sujit Kolte.
"The seared venison is served with house-infused kūmara, Chioggia beet, watermelon radish, horopito leaf and maple jus.
The Redoubt Bar and Eatery is putting forward a dish called Red Velvet Venison.
"The dish is matched with the 2013 vintage Sebastiani Zinfandel which is accented with wild dark berries, white pepper and vanilla spice."
St Kilda Café & Bistro head chef Andy Kang has designed a smoked eel risotto dish called Haukai o Tangaroa.
"I wanted to explore less traditional native ingredients and combine these with Korean flavours to create a unique experience for diners," he says.
St Kilda Café & Bistro head chef Andy Kang prepares his smoked eel risotto dish.
"I have created a refined version of the traditional Māori creamy pāua concept, which reminds me of the Korean dish Jungbok Jook.
"By using black rice, diners are able to visually connect the dish to the night sky and the stars and remind them of the New Year. The eel is cooked once with charcoal, then smoked with mānuka chips to reflect the smoky element of a traditional Māori hāngi, but it is finished with Korean flavours."
"We will be pairing the dish with a crisp white sauvignon blanc from Lake Hayes, Central Otago. This wine's acidity cuts through the sweet, rich eel and complements the dish."
Pony Bar & Provisions in Cambridge has entered a dish called Mai i Te Whenua. The dish includes horopito-crusted kūmara gnocchi, native bush mushroom puree, wood smoked oyster mushrooms, leek ash, foraged sun chokes and whipped goat curd.
From now until July 14, the dishes will be available to order on the menu at the restaurants and cafes taking part in the challenge.
