I take immense pleasure from food. Whether I am standing barefoot in the kitchen on a sunny Sunday morning blending herbs from the garden to make a quick pesto, planning a 3 course meal for a mid-winter dinner party, or standing over the stove surrounded by preserving jars, elbow deep in jam, I am happy.
My love of food has been fostered by many things. My Mum, who cooks the most delicious meals from a seemingly empty kitchen, is a constant source of inspiration and advice. I attribute my curiosity for all foods new and unusual to the time I spent in Asia as a teenager where chickens are bought live in the market, wrapped up in newspaper and tied up with a piece of string doubling as a handle. Where the most prized of fruits, the Durian, is banned from hotel rooms due to its pungent smell. And where the fish markets overwhelm the senses, boasting daily catches of almost unimaginable sizes, colours and textures.
For me food is constantly evolving. It adapts to the contents of your fridge or pantry, to the age or tastes of your guests, or most simply, with the seasons. Food can evoke a sense of nostalgia. It soothes and comforts, fuels and nourishes, surprises and satisfies. It brings us together.
More recently it is my vegetable garden and a new found passion for cooking fresh, seasonal, unprocessed food that inspires me. The process of selecting ingredients and experimenting with flavours, textures and colours that compliment each other is at once both challenging and rewarding. And when at last sitting down to eat, it is the company of good friends and family which is always the perfect accompaniment to any meal.
25th October 2011
Coconut panna cotta with black sesame tuiles and rocket flowers
Of late I have been inspired by flowers. Perhaps due in part to the arrival of spring under which the slender branches of our cherry tree hang heavy with frilly pink blossoms. It is only recently that I discovered that these blossoms are in fact edible and impart a light, fruity fragrance to whatever they [...]
12th October 2011
Cocoa Granita
When I discover a new recipe I feel as though a whole new world unfolds before me. New methods, flavours and textures all tumble forth to reveal themselves, a jumble of potential combinations waiting to take shape.
3rd October 2011
Squid ink pasta with clams and white wine
As frosty mornings give way to evenings bathed in the gentle glow of spring light it is at last apparent that winter has let slip its icy grip on our fair island nation. Afternoons are no longer suddenly swallowed by night. Instead the light stretches out, filled with bird song, the playful chatter of children [...]
1st October 2011
Black & White
This month we bring you black & white, a celebration of the Rugby World Cup, and more importantly a celebration of our boys in black. We decided to get a little bit inventive and experiment with colours and flavours, with textures and tones and we are happy to say that we are pretty damn pleased [...]
27th September 2011
Jalapeño, lime and macadamia nut popcorn
On asking the boys in the design studio what their ideal rugby watching snack might be, they replied that it was anything they could eat without having to pull their gaze from the flat screen or remove a hand from their ice-cold beer. This fits the bill perfectly. The combination of jalapeño, lime and macadamia [...]
22nd September 2011
Spaghetti el limone
This dish is inspired by a recipe of the same name from a River Café cookbook and is one which exemplifies simplicity at its best. It contains a mere 4 ingredients (pasta not included) which come together perfectly to create a zesty and refreshing summer pasta dish. It is even better when it is made [...]
5th September 2011
Auckland Homeshow 2011
Last week was a big one. It had been months in the making and last Wednesday when the doors to the Auckland Homeshow finally opened, we revealed our latest dining experience, Yum. The stand was suggestive of a Kiwi bach. A sustainable deck stretched out beyond the kitchen displaying our premium products and beyond this,
4th August 2011
Taveuni, you stole a piece of my heart.
In all my thirty years I had never, until last week, set foot in any one of our Pacific Island nations. To me it was a world undiscovered, a world which despite our geographic proximity and our close connections, I had spent little time contemplating. Oh how quickly this all changed!
1st August 2011
Office favourites – part 2
Food and cooking for me is about three fundamental things. The first of these is the evolution of food. The more I cook, the more I learn and develop my skills and techniques, which in turn means that the food I cook evolves. Secondly I find that cooking is incredibly meditative,
29th July 2011
Chocolate, hazelnut & whiskey cakes
This month I had decided to go decadent. I had set my sights on a cake of extraordinary proportions, a multi-layered creation of dizzying heights, lavishly sandwiched with dark silky chocolate ganash and decorated with a deep red cherry compote and hazelnut praline.
19th July 2011
Cherry, lime & whiskey cocktails
Given the plethora of ingredients, both alcohol based and otherwise, and the infinite potential combinations with which to create a cocktail, it was no mean feat designing the liquid offering which would begin our wintry dinner party. However, given the celebratory nature of our evening I figured that an apt ingredient upon which to build [...]
29th June 2011
Mushroom soup
I live with four people, a number which expands and contracts from one day to the next as girlfriends and boyfriends come and go, as friends and family fill spare beds, and as weary travellers find a place to rest their weary heads. Our spare room is more often than not occupied, if not by [...]