<![CDATA[The Local Food Kitchen - The Local Food Kitchen Blog]]>

<![CDATA[The Local Food Kitchen - The Local Food Kitchen Blog]]>Mon, 23 Oct 2017 18:15:09 +1300Weebly<![CDATA[Matakana Old and New......... times they are a changin'. Part One.]]>Wed, 02 Aug 2017 04:59:25 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/matakana-old-and-new-times-they-are-a-changin-part-oneI often think about how much Matakana has changed since we first came across the place. We used to travel through Matakana regularly as Aucklanders driving to our old family bach in Omaha in the late 80's. In those days there wasn't even a roundabout or a Farmer's Market, yet alone a village to speak of. The Rusty Pelican pizza place and also a petrol station is all I remember. Matakana was just a place you drove through en route to the beach.

However in saying that we mustn't forget a few of the 'Matakana originals' who arrived in Matakana in the 70's and 80's and who paved the way for the rest of us. The iconic
Morris & James on Tongue Farm Rd, just minutes from the centre of Matakana is the first one that comes to mind. M&J was set up by Anthony Morris and his wife Sue James in the late 70's. It was originally designed as a creative community for artisans to create aesthetically pleasing as well as useful pieces of pottery which would be bold and last the test of time. M&J pieces are of course now known for their bold form and vibrant colour glazes. The first business to put Matakana on the tourist map, M&J is still there and more famous than ever, having now established a wide client base throughout New Zealand as well as internationally.

Heron's Flight Vineyard, planted by Mary Evans and Dave Hoskins in Sharp Road during the late 80's, is one of the other Matakana 'originals' set up way before the rest of us even knew Matakana existed. These wonderful people have always endeavoured to be respectful of the land and adopt sustainable practises. The first people to start growing the Italian grape varieties sangiovese and dolcetta grapes in NZ, they are now famous for their boutique wines. Their very limited release wines are well-regarded, and can be found on the wine lists of many top restaurants and specialist wine stores. Mary and Dave are still running Heron's Flight and are the most friendly welcoming couple - their cellar door is open everyday for wine tastings.

Finally, Rainbow Valley Farm, at the forefront of the permaculture movement along Matakana Valley Road must also take pride of place amongst the pioneers of Matakana. RV Farm was also established in the late 80's and was the vision of Joe Polaischer and his wife Trish Allen, both of whom shared a deep commitment to environmental awareness and practices. Having taken over a steep, gorse-infected 20 hectare block of land, the couple set about transforming it into a permaculture and education centre in their quest to educate people to avert what they saw as an environmental catastrophe on the horizon. Twenty years of hard work saw the property metamorphose complete with an earth house with grass roof, garden tee-pee, drumming circle, forest, sugar cane field, rice paddies, orchard, happy animals and all number of plants growing - and all the while practicing sustainable small farming and permaculture practices. I was lucky enough to visit Rainbow Valley farm myself whilst Trish still lived there - and attend one of the permaculture courses on offer. Sadly Joe died suddenly in 2009, and although woofers were regular helpers at the farm, Trish found with all of her international travel and growing number of speaking engagements as an authority on permaculture and other environmental issues, it was all a bit much so she moved on. Not however, without taking the wood they had milled from the trees they had grown, with her to build her own eco-house in Matakana Village. What an amazing story -and it's true!

It is interesting to see all of these three pioneers of sustainable rural living finding themselves in what was then an unremarkable unknown spot on the north Auckland map, drawn by no other than the beauty of the place and it's natural resources - just waiting to be nurtured with the greatest respect for the land. Remarkable people I say!! 'Matakana Originals' - respect!

Well times they have a changed! Now, on a busy Saturday morning it is not unusual for 5,000 visitors to pour into the village to check out the Matakana Village Farmer's Market, the boutique shops and cinemas, and have the choice of plenty of cafes and restaurants . Looking at the 'new' however, will have to wait until next time..........

]]><![CDATA[And the Blogger's will blog...........]]>Sat, 08 Jul 2017 23:10:39 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/and-the-bloggers-will-blogThread.co.nz has been featuring regular blog posts on NZ fashion and culture since 2001. It has sections on local art and culture, hair and beauty, film, and music. There is a special fondness for promoting upcoming talent - so we were delighted to see them writing about us!! So instead of me blogging this week, I am going to share with you their article. For the entire blog post along with some fabulous foodie photos click here.......

]]><![CDATA[The MEDIA loves our 'Local Food Experience']]>Wed, 07 Jun 2017 05:06:57 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/the-media-loves-our-local-food-experience

Last weekend we featured in the New Zealand Herald WEEKEND magazine - where the feature writer took the readers through her Local Food Experience with us. She and her friend were just the nicest people and we really enjoyed having them for the day. I have so many pictures that I could share, but as I am just starting this blog business I will start by keeping it short and working out how this whole system works. Maybe by my next post (in 2 weeks time) I'll have a better hang of it - and be able to post a whole collection !
The main thing is that our Local Food Experiences are really unique. We did a lot of research both here in NZ and overseas to investigate for ourselves first hand, exploring what was on offer in various places, and what we enjoyed the most.
In the end we designed a format that we felt bought the best bits of everything we had ever done together, in to one package.
We are just so blessed to live in such an amazing foodie heaven up here in the Matakana Coast region. In the past 12 years since we left Auckland city (which is only 45 mins away) we have got to know so many wonderful people, producing all sorts of amazing food products. Some grow them, some farm them, some produce them - but what they all have in common is their love for their products. I really hold my hat off to these people as it takes such a lot of hard work and often a real commitment to the land and nature - to do things properly and sustainably - which they also buy into up here.
We have people working with bees, hunting wild boar, naming all of their water buffalo, tending their gardens with great respect for the soil, upcycling stuff, making beeswax wraps to avoid using clingfilm, making gelato out of their own organic lemons.......I could go on and on - but I don't need to tell you about all of them at once. At the end of the day- we have this amazing slice of paradise in New Zealand, which is absolutely a favourite emerging food destination. Mark and I know and love all of our local foodies. Our 'Local Food Experience' which runs on a Saturday (if you want to include the Matakana Village Farmers' Market Tour), or during the week (with food producer visits instead) - is our premium food experience product, and it is where you get to meet some of these amazing people and get an insiders view into their products. It is a day that involves all the senses - firstly taking in all the sights and sounds of the local village Farmers market, listening to the stories of some of our local artisan food producers and taking in the aromas and tastes of the food, whilst also doing some hands-on cooking with Chef. No wonder our media guests loved it !
More on this great foodie experience next time.

]]><![CDATA[Clean eating start up success story]]>Tue, 21 Feb 2017 08:30:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/clean-eating-start-up-success-story

Introducing Kathryn Jansen from 'The Vegery' who shares with us her 'Vitality Wrap's journey from home kitchen to dedicated production facility – helped by The Gourmet Within incubator kitchen and Chef Mark Griffiths' expertise.

"A few years ago, I was seriously overweight, addicted to sweet treats, delicious wine and cheese and deluding myself any of my health problems were in any way related to what I was eating. A visit to the Doctor soon put paid to any of that and she pointed her finger at me, saying “you’ll be diabetic by tomorrow, so start your diet today, when you leave this office”.

That was the fright I needed to kickstart a cleaner way of eating – dairy free, gluten free, tee total, mostly plants. I lost over 20 kg pretty quickly and rolled back the pre diabetes diagnosis successfully.
What I did find was that I really missed the convenience of bread – sandwiches, wraps, burritos weren’t the same and the gluten free options just didn’t taste that great. I’d gone “high raw” which just means you eat mostly raw food so I was getting a lot of recipe books from the library to get inspiration. A number of them had recipes for dehydrated wraps so I borrowed a friends dehydrator and got drying.
A lot of trial and error and I found a recipe I really liked and started sharing it with friends and family. Great feedback and pleas to start selling them. How hard can that be? As it turns out, quite hard.
I was lucky to know Chef Mark Griffiths had a great commercial kitchen (I work with him on a lot of the brilliant Corporate Events) so I started working in there on small run productions and took them along to the Auckland Food Show to determine what the market might say.
At that Show I got my first retail store asking to stock them and great feedback from people who wanted to be able to purchase them.
Back to The Gourmet Within kitchen to fine tune the production method and get first orders out to the stores.
The ability to rent space at a really well equipped, clean commercial kitchen gave me the confidence to thoroughly trial the product before moving into a dedicated production facility of my own. I absolutely recommend using an incubator kitchen such as The Gourmet Within and the support from a qualified Chef to bring a new product to market."

Go Kathryn - we wish all the very best with your rapidly growing empire !

]]><![CDATA[Bottoms Up!]]>Fri, 25 Sep 2015 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/bottoms-up

8-Wired's haul of medals, including golds for Hippy Berliner and Hopwired IPA.

It's been hard to ignore the accolades coming out of this area this week, with both food and brewing awards happening - and Matakana locals grabbing up some of the action.

8-Wired Brewing in Warkworth scooped the pool with 12 awards out of 13 entered! Great news for them since the terrible accident at the brewery in the first week of September, when one of their giant kettles exploded, putting two of their team in hospital with serious burns. Latest news is that they are recovering well, but it'll be a slow and careful process...

The Sawmill's Chocolate Stout, mmm...

The Sawmill Brewing Co's new premises well underway.

Jessie and Maree, founders of I Love Pies, with their new award-winning snag rolls.

The Sawmill Brewing Company also had a large presence at the awards, with their Chocolate Stout winning gold, and other beers pulling in a host of silvers and bronzes too. Their packaging also won - that multi-coloured box of Pilsner cans is certainly a hit with us.

Incidentally, the new Sawmill Brewery build is going great guns on Matakana Rd, just past the Matakana Country Park. The roof is on the main building, and a glorious cylindrical wooden edifice is going up beside it... however, it's not a giant beer barrel, but a hi-tech water tank. They'll be sharing the space with the Whangaripo Buffalo Cheese people - their beautiful water buffalo are already in the paddocks nearby, watching the build with interest!

New owners of the Cider Shed on SH1 north of Warkworth, the Forbidden Brewing Company, had a delightful welcome-to-the-area present after their hectic move (30,000 litres of cider on the road from Long Bay!). They've only won best cider in NZ at the Brewing Awards - congratulations, guys. They're keen to show off their prize-winning brew, so get on over there and help them celebrate.

Over at the NZ Food Awards, the Lovely Little Food Company (we are addicted to their I Love Pies range) won the Frozen Category for their Really Good Sausage Rolls - can't wait to try some. The meat is free-range, the pastry is their usual amazing sour cream-style crispy goodness and they have no dodgy bits in them at all. Hooray! These girls are not actually Matakana locals, but we feel they are, since their gorgeous pies are always at the Matakana Markets of a Saturday - for special prices, too.

I'm sure those sausage rolls would love a bit of chilli sauce - and who knew? The last item on our awards roundup: after buying a very tasty green chilli sauce recently, I liked it so much I googled it - Culley's Tijuana. And found out that NZ has recently won best in the world in three categories at the VERY prestigious World Hot Sauce Awards - in Louisiana, no less. Full story here. Chilli-heads take note. We are on the map.

]]><![CDATA[Would you like a truck with that slider?]]>Sat, 12 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/would-you-like-a-truck-with-that-slider

The iconic Melbourne lanes with it's funky bars and cafes.

This edition is about new food trends and upcoming events - beginning with a roundup of what's going down in Melbourne right now. The Gourmet Within had a friend over this week who's recently moved to Melbourne and she confirms what we all kind of knew: Melbourne is the food capital of the South Pacific. However - what goes down there, goes down here - sooner rather than later these days, since we're pretty onto it too!

Interior of Top Paddock restaurant in Melbourne.

Food truck at Splore Festival.

Cooking demos at Taste of Auckland.

Time Out Food Awards have just been awarded, with Japanese restaurants scooping many of the gongs on offer. Restaurant of the Year award went to Flinders Lane Japanese restaurant Kappo. Minamishima in Richmond scored Best Fine Dining Restaurant and Hakata Gensuke won Best Bang For Buck for their amazing ramen.

Viva Magazine's recent article about top restaurateur Nathan Toleman's tips for what's hot in Melbourne was quite fascinating. His latest must-be-done restaurant is opening soon and will join destination restaurants Top Paddock and Kettle Black.

Toleman is cashing in big on what is essentially free advertising via Instagram pix taken by his happy diners - he's upped the game by using gorgeous hand-made crockery, napery, table props and even textured surfaces so that his customers can show his food in its best possible light!

He reckons that in Melbourne sustainability ideals are getting stronger, with people wanting to know the sources of food - the closer the better. Some restaurants are even 'closing the loop' by composting vege leftovers and sending it back to their suppliers.

No Melbourne food establishment would, of course, be seen dead without its serious in-house barista - no such thing as waitstaff whipping up a mere coffee. This is something that Auckland and Wellington have understood for years, of course...

Street food is becoming increasingly popular as the quality and variety gets better and bigger. Again - our two main cities are all over this. On a recent trip to Welly, we stayed on Willis Street opposite a permanent international food market - everything you can imagine and more in about 30 little stalls that were immaculately clean, busy and fresh, fresh, fresh! Mostly they came in around $10 for a solid meal, too.

On this note, Food Space has started in Auckland. It's a hand-picked collective of mobile vendors which 'exists to celebrate, develop and open up the mobile food community in New Zealand'. The Food Space vendors are 'passionate souls who serve fresh, unique and conscientious menus out of trucks, vans, carts and pop-ups around the city'.

They'll also come to you to cater your big event. Keep in touch with them here. They'll be at Daldy Street in the Viaduct on Saturday September 12 for a launch party with DJs and delectables from 11am till late.

Finally for this update, tickets went on sale this week for the next big food thing in town: Taste of Auckland touches down in gorgeous Western Springs 5-8th November. They say "Yes, the rumours are true – we’ll be celebrating the amber nectar in the all new 'Brew Street' and there will be fire…" Hmm...

With tempting destinations such as the Dilmah Tea Garden, Social Kitchen, Gourmet Hangi we're excited. Spring is here and our tummies are rumbling!

]]><![CDATA[Father's Day ideas]]>Thu, 03 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/fathers-day-ideas

Dads. How great are they? They bring home the bacon (mostly), sort out that lawnmower (sometimes), go nuts on the football sidelines (usually) and they crack really bad jokes. What's not to love? Sadly, Father's Day has many dutiful offspring - and wives - scratching their heads for a gift. Why are they so hard to buy for?

Well, in fact it's easy really - it's got to be food related, since we all know that the way a dad's heart is through his wee tummy.

Our first idea (and yes, we're quite passionate about this) is a TGW bloke's cooking class voucher! Our industrial steel kitchen will have your dad feeling like he's in the ultimate man-cave. TGW chef Mark will bring forth a prize-winning meal from him that he never knew he could produce. Four hours will fly by as the group discusses the menu, cooks and then sits down to eat in the fresh new TGW dining room. Only $140 for skills that will endure - this is an added bonus for mums as well, of course. Get a group together!

Next on the list for the dad who has everything is a refillable glass beer flagon. These are now the must-have accessory for any bloke - they're funky, sustainable and look uber-cool. Lucky for us, the Sawmill Brewery does a fab one - and there are two sizes: the Growler and the Squealer. Just take your flagon to either the Sawmill Brewery or the Vintry (or Jervois Cellars if you're in Auckland) to get it refilled with a generous amount of an icy cold beer of your choice.

Finally - an obvious one for Matakana-ites - but this is also those from further afield who are visiting: a trip to the Matakana Farmer's Market on Saturday to choose a bespoke basket of mouth-watering goodies for the dad in your life. Choose from Whangaripo buffalo cheeses, smoked salmon, Italian sausages, oysters, nut butters, chutneys and pies. You'll even be able to buy the basket or stylish vintage wooden box to put it all in! Some French pastries for brekky in bed and you're 'set like a jelly' - as my Dad used to say.

]]><![CDATA[The Raw roar]]>Sat, 15 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/the-raw-roar

Raw food seems like it's here to stay. Thousands of people are discovering the health benefits of eating raw, and there are some folk turning it into an art form. And after a trip to Matakana markets where we sampled some new Raw Eats products, we're sold, too.

Rachael Drinnan, the founder of Raw Eats, lives with her family (partner Chris and their three small children) in the beautiful Whangaripo Valley, halfway between Matakana and Wellsford. We caught up with her and asked about her fledgling business.

What products are you making exactly?
I currently make decadent cheesecakes, slices and balls (all raw, gluten free, dairy free, no refined sugars and vegan). I'm also looking to make beautiful raw salads and wraps come summertime.

What gave you the idea of starting Raw Eats?
I entered the Whangaripo Valley Wild Food Festival last year, and made a raw coconut and wild blackberry cheesecake... and it was an absolute hit! It got tremendous feedback from the punters, so I thought - why not start a new little venture for myself?

After some research, I came across Little Bird Unbakery and really wanted to go and try some of their beautiful food. So my mum and I went down to their newish premises near Britomart - it was fabulous, the food was amazing and I was inspired. I thought "this is totally me, I can do this!"

I love the fact that when eating these delicious morsels I'm putting unbaked goodness into my body. I love seeing peoples faces when I tell them it's all raw, with no refined sugars, no nasty flours and chock full of superfoods - they simply cannot believe how something that looks so gorgeous and tastes amazing is healthy for you!

Where do you source your ingredients?
All my ingredients are sourced from local stores, and once spring and summer finally get here, I'll try to source as local as possible, especially for the raw salads. The main ingredient (and the most expensive for the cheesecakes) is raw cashews, so of course it's difficult to source these locally.

What feedback have you had?
It's been amazing - I was going into the unknown when presenting my unbaked goodness to the community and was a little unsure of how my new venture would go - but I've had nothing but praise and positive comments about my products! It's definitely encouraged me to continue what I am currently doing and think big about the future.

You've just started selling at Matakana Market - is there any other way people can get hold of your products?
Yes, I'm currently selling at the 'top' Market [outside the old Cream of Matakana], and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I only go if the weather is sunny and have babysitters at the ready to mind my three little ones. However I'm more than happy to take orders for full cheesecakes or slice blocks and come to an arrangement for pick up or delivery!

For orders, or more info, contact Rachael on
09 425 9755 or 021 922 447
Email rachris0@gmail.com

]]><![CDATA[Sore feet and salmon scrums]]>Fri, 07 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/sore-feet-and-salmon-scrums

What a lead-up we had to getting TGW to the Food Show 2015! There were weeks of planning around what we wanted our stand to look like to best represent Matakana as a premium food destination. We got some of our fantastic local food producers on board, and we showcased their delectable comestibles to 36,000 people.

Matakana Smokehouse salmon, Carew Kitchen almond milk, Heron's Flight verjuice and grape juice, Salumeria Fontana sausages, Matakana Nut Butters and Matakana Olive Oil strutted their stuff throughout the show. It became very clear to us that people are really interested in local, fresh, sustainable food that's created with passion.

The Matakana Farmers Market stand brought the true flavour of the markets to the Food Show. A cornucopia of fresh fruit, vegetables and micro greens really highlighted this region as the go-to place for lush produce.

We had some pretty exciting visitors too – Ray McVinnie of Masterchef, Tony Price who was a Masterchef runner up, Sachie Nomura of Sachies Kitchen, Alan Brown of the Complete Kiwi Pizza Book. Not one to miss an opportunity for a selfie, Kathryn grabbed as many of her chef heroes as she could, scoring closeups with Simon Gault, Sid Sahrawat and Brett McGregor!

All our producer partners were popular but the scrums around the smoked salmon on Sunday were rather extraordinary. Lee Sutherland of Matakana Smokehouse has such an incredible product.

The point of difference for his smoked salmon is the nigella seeds he uses. Nigella is an ancient seed which dates back to Medieval times and beyond - they were found in Tutankhamen's tomb!

Nigella seeds have been enjoying a rock-star moment recently, hailed as being able to cure anything from cancer to a broken leg. However, it's the oniony, peppery flavour Lee is after, and it's proving to be the people's choice, even more so than the more traditional brown sugar or coconut sugar cures he uses.

Lee also makes an exceptional gravadlax, which is layered with basil, coriander, dill, coconut sugar, limes and sea salt, vaccuum packed and refrigerated for two weeks. Score this tangy gorgeousness slathered on kumara buns, with cream cheese and capers at the Matakana Farmers Markets on Saturdays - direct from the man himself.

Last but not least are his smoked mushrooms. Need we say more? Get down to Matakana Farmers Market on Saturdays to buy all of these Smokehouse products from Lee - also available at Scarecrow Cafe in the city, Naturally Organic in Albany, or IE Produce in Takapuna.

Lee is a perfect example of what passion can do in creating amazing artisan products. This salmon really does spoil you for any other version. Call him on 0800 100 614 for further information. And see you at the Markets!

]]><![CDATA[We're going to The Food Show!]]>Sat, 25 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.thelocalfoodkitchen.co.nz/the-local-food-kitchen-blog/were-going-to-the-food-show

There’s a challenging and very exciting week ahead for The Gourmet Within. Our first ever appearance at the Auckland Food Show – and we’re taking a bunch of our favourite Matakana artisan food products, and their producers, with us.

Salumeria Fontana’s multiple award-winning sausages, Heron’s Flight Matakana grape juice and verjuice, Carew Kitchen’s almond milk, Matakana Smokehouse’s Akaroa smoked salmon, Matakana Nut Butters and Mahurangi Coast Olive Oil will all be sharing the big stall with us.

We’ll be right beside Matakana Coast Tourism, who will also be hosting a bunch of local foodie A-listers including Brick Bay, Plume Restaurant, the Matakana Pub, the Leigh Sawmill Café, Mahurangi Oysters, Matakana Tours and of course, the Matakana Farmers Market.

So – the area will be well represented and we’d love your support! There are a bunch of foodie giveaways and some serious Food Show savings vouchers on multiple products. Chef Mark will be cooking up tasty snacks utilising the delectable comestibles of their stall partners - come on over and get your taste buds involved.

See you there!

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