I’m still on a high after a magic weekend at Taste of Auckland #TasteOfAuckland. Our Fisher & Paykel Social Kitchen™ Theatre #fpsocialkitchen was a huge hit. All weekend the theatre was full of conversation, laughter and attentive faces tuning in to learn tips and tricks from the amazing group of chefs and food bloggers who graced the stage during the festival.I’m sure any of you who had the chance to attend one or more of the sessions will agree that it’s those little golden gems of information you learn from people who live and breath the perfection of their craft every day that ignites new discovery in the kitchen. Over the weekend I heard lots of you talking about the gems you had picked up. How to thermally shock your ice pops out of their moulds, and that a perfectly shucked oyster doesn’t need the force of Rafael Nadal’s left arm but rather the right knife and a simple twist to unlock the oyster’s hinge. Pizza dough should never contain oil as it burns during cooking and wipe your mixer bowl with half a lemon before you whip your egg whites to ensure it’s clean from any egg white deflating traces of fat.
The Summer of YUM pop was the perfect salute to what felt like the first real weekend of summer weather, if you were lucky enough to try on of our pops we would love to get your feedback! I’m currently brainstorming a list of potential pop recipes which will feature on Our Kitchen over the summer so check back for more recipe ideas and don’t forget to claim one of our awesome limited edition ice pop moulds here. 
And who was brave enough to try Sara’s brain child Jafa sausage? They were good huh? Who would have thought….apart from Sara of course….Genius! A big thanks to Neat Meat for bringing our Jafa sausage dream to life and the ‘grill guys’ Jordan, Andrew, Guillaume and Rich for manning the grill, sharing their grilling secrets and for being down right awesome (proud mama bear).
Outside of the Social Kitchen™ Theatre I managed to try a few tasty treats but hands down my favourite bite was hands down Ben Bailey’s take on a pork bun prepared in the Hangi. It was amazing….um….’hello Ben… what was that secret concoction that was in that piping bag?’ Mighty delicious thank you. I was seriously considering lining up for a second round of pork bun when I spotted the oysters at depot and floated on over with a tight grip on my carrot shaped helium balloon and proceeded to consume my fair share very enthusiastically.
My favourite new wine was a toss up between the Man O’ War Exiled Pinot Gris and to be true to my southern roots the Gibston Valley China Block Chardonnay. The Man O’ War is a medium sweet Pinot Gris, much sweeter than my usual preference for dryer whites however something about this drop was singing in my soul so I had second glass just to confirm the relationship between my tastebuds and my brain was accurate. After the confirmation I bought a bottle to take home. Chardonnay – both my favourite and most cringe worthy wine variety. This one rocked the party, just delicious and a timely reminder me of how much I’m looking forward to getting down to Central Otago at Christmas time.
For now it’s a wrap, but we’ll be back to live, love and share Taste with you all again next year.