Food has the power to comfort us, help us feel calm, looked after, loved and filled up, physically and emotionally. This sandwich, crafted on our organic sourdough oozing with a selection of cheeses and ham off the bone, was inspired by this poem but is decadent, delicious and very tasty. It has the power to nourish, fortify and strengthen us in the face of anything we may encounter – no grieving here!
Patrick Evans’ passage made us think of the early days of preparing for Pasture. When we returned to New Zealand we lived in a couple of older rural houses with big hot-water cupboards. So we appreciated the aspect of checking in and tending to the progress of a ferment – it is so fascinating to make things from scratch and utilise a scoby, mother or bug passed down or begin ferments with ambient yeasts. We both find the progress of ferments interesting and inspiring – the flavours and philosophies of Pasture are based around this.
Ed has been working with koji (Aspergillus oryzae) for many years now. So his interpretation of this passage is a breakfast with some ferments using local produce; this is the kind of rustic, savoury food we love to eat – and we always have a loaf of Ed’s sourdough at home.
We understand most people may not be able to make a batch of miso, but hopefully the miso-macadamia butter on griddled sourdough is inspirational for a warm, autumnal breakfast, even if you use bought miso.
"At breakfast we always ate porridge with a yeast curd I made from a germ someone had given me long ago and which I persuaded to renewed life in my hot-water cylinder cupboard each evening." - Patrick Evans
I’m not a “signature dish” type of chef, and for years I have avoided that question entirely. But there are certain things about a breakfast that just shouldn’t be messed with. Here’s a dish that has been on our brunch menu from the first day we opened and will remain until the day we don’t. This dish is all about layering the ingredients in the right order. Timing is key, especially at breakfast.
This extract demonstrates both how good and how bad food can be. Preparing a meal for family and friends is an expression of love, and it would have been an easy choice for us to make a great handmade pasta with an intense pesto, or a wildly exuberant seafood platter. But where’s the love in that unwanted schnitzel slung out of a uncaring kitchen? We’ve reinvented this, added a dollop of imagination and a spoonful of fun. We hope you won’t send it back to the kitchen uneaten.
Napier’s Mister D’s is the perfect showcase for one of this country’s finest chefs. An inner-city bistro with an Italian feel to the menu, the food is taken seriously and the importance of a classical training proves there is strength in technique. The sheer brilliance of the bone-marrow ravioli, the deeply flavoured broth that could be the elixir of life, the brightness of the salsa verde: this is confident cooking. It’s rich and meaty, though there’s no meat in it. While other dishes come and go on David Griffiths’ menus, this will always be there. It’s a dish that amply rewards the time and effort it takes.
Paul Schrader works the floor, smiling, pouring, delivering plates to diners, while Kelda Haines cooks the sort of food that satisfies profoundly. It’s the perfect partnership and one that has lasted nearly 20 years. Few things offer more comfort than a simple bowl of cooked rice, especially when it’s been enriched with generous amounts of butter and cream. On the menu since the beginning, Nikau’s kedgeree is an unpretentious dish that has become the benchmark against which all other kedgerees are measured. The secret is in the intriguing mix of spices that Kelda uses, an intuitive balance of vibrant flavours.
This is a dish that nurtures the soul with its honest simplicity and flawless technique. A light combination of goat’s cheese and egg, the twice-baked soufflé rises out of a bubbling, golden, creamy cheese sauce. Inspired by Anne Willan, the American founder of La Varenne cooking school, it’s been on the menu since day one and ownerchef Carl Koppenhagen reckons he’s made more than 20,000 of these soufflés over the course of the past 15 years. It’s one of the best things you could ever hope to eat.