Trying to Cook in NZ

Tonight, my day off, Nina and I headed up the Maitai River to the dam just outside of Nelson. The water for Nelson and Richmond is stored here before heading down to a treatment plant. The drive up there is very cool. After leaving our place, it took 2 minutes to get to the CBD and 30 seconds to get through it. On the other side, we drove for 3 minutes through a neighborhood before heading along the river. Just outside of town, which is really still pretty much it town is a narrow river valley with a road and parks through it for a few miles. Then we were in the country. The change of landscape took about 4 minutes from being coastal Nelson, to being in hilly country. The dam is about 20 minutes up a gravel road from downtown Nelson. When we got there we drove up and say a sign that said “Tame Deer, No Shooting.” Read the rest of this entry »

Mom wanted a recipe for something I did at work, so here goes. Here is an easy recipe for a little dish I sometimes make for myself at work. It is a nice filling breakfast or lunch. I will give the quantities for two people.

3 c potato; cooked and cut up into small cubes
2 ea strips bacon
1 ea leek sliced into thin rounds; white part only
½ ea small onion; small dice
1 c spinach
2-3 oz smoked salmon

4 eggs; poached or fried
hollandaise or lemon buerre blanc sauce for the top

For the potatoes, you are going to need to have them pre-cooked before you begin, or you can use frozen hash browns (the cube, not the shredded kind). If using fresh potato, cook hole by either boiling or steaming and cut into ¾” cubes.

For the hash, begin cooking the bacon until some of the fat renders out. Add the leeks and onion and cook until slightly cooked. Then add the potatoes and cook until all is browned. Throw in spinach and salmon and season with salt and pepper.

Put into bowls and top with two poached eggs and some sauce of your choosing. The lemon buerre blanc is the easiest. To make a quick one, just heat up the juice of one lemon with about 1T of cream, then whisk butter into it so you get a smooth, thick consistency, add salt to taste at the end. For a better one, reduce one cup of dry white wine with a small diced shallot, a few peppercorns and sprig of fresh thyme until most of the wine is gone and then slowly whisk cold butter into it making sure you don’t heat it too much (the butter will break instead of emulsify) add salt to taste and strain. Good luck.

I just wanted to fix the beer price list. National brands are around $15NZ for a 12 pack. The large micro breweries sell beer for $13NZ-$15NZ for a six pack. And finally, small micros are sold for $5NZ-$8NZ for a 500mL bottle. It is a little crazy, but I did the math while I was standing around at work the other day, as percentage of income, it is cheaper than in Portland and a lot cheaper than Jackson Hole. I did find some socks at the Warehouse (kind of like a seedy Target) for $7.90NZ a two pack of pretty nice athletic socks. That didn’t seem too bad to me at the time.

Nina and I have been in New Zealand for six weeks now and are still trying to figure out how they create the prices for things. Our first horrible discovery was when we tried to get a cell phone. When we left the US, we each were using free cell phones and were paying $45US a month for Verizon that gave us 450 minutes and free calls to other Verizon customers, texts were 5 to 10 cents and free night and weekends. I never got close to using all of my minutes. It seemed like a pretty good deal, but I had no idea. There are two companies here Vodafone and Telecom, they are identical in nearly every way. Here the closest thing to a new cell phone is a buy one get one, but the first one costs $450NZ. The cheapest phone we could find had a black and white screen and felt like it would shatter if you dropped it, it was $80NZ. We decided on the color $90NZ model that had a unit converter built in that feels like it would shatter if you dropped it. Then we had to choose a plan. Let me tell you, it wasn’t tough. The $50NZ plan would give us 20 minutes a month. That is 20 minutes we could use any time of day. If we used up the 20, it would be $.99NZ for each additional minute. The 450 minute plan cost around $300NZ a month. We opted for the pay as you go plan which costs $.89NZ a minute, but we don’t pay for incoming calls so that is nice.

A few other strange schemes are gas at about $5.02US per gallon, that seems normal for anywhere that has no gas and isn’t America. Nina noticed that Keen shoes are a bit expensive. The pair that she almost got at REI before we left for $60US cost $191US here. And people still buy them. I am probably going to need some new shoes before I leave here, so I am going to buy them from REI and have them shipped here. Broadband internet costs by the MB downloaded. Books are the really insane thing. A new paperback will set you back $20NZ, a hardcover will cost $40. Meanwhile, used books cost $6NZ-$10NZ. It is a very difficult country in which to shop.

Just some news. Nina got a temp job at a frozen berry factory doing admin work. I also put up the very few pictures we have from our trip from Napier to Nelson. We don’t have any real ones from Nelson yet but we will get some up when it is sunny again. Look at the pictures on Picasa using the link to your right.

I have a few more thoughts on food here in New Zealand. Previously, I commented on the overly sweet ketchup they have here. It seems that people’s tastes here focus on the sweet and not the salty. Everything is a little sweeter and (except for the fish and chips) is poorly seasoned with salt. That being said, I am kind of getting used to the strange ketchup and kind of like it on certain things now.

The meat situation here is also a bit odd. For an island containing over 40,000,000 sheep, beef is the dominant protein here. But it is not like you would recognize in the US. At work the other day, I created a meat (as opposed to fish) special utilizing some of the 20kg case of lamb rump my boss keeps ordering. Now this cut is from a very small lamb, the pieces are each a little smaller than a tennis ball. While one of the servers was writing down the daily specials, she asked, “Rump? Isn’t that steak?” Because she grew up in New Zealand, she believed that steaks came from the rump. That is very very sad. They have different names for the cuts, but you can kind of figure those out. Scotch Filet is a rib eye, Porterhouse is New York Strip. The problem is that there are two grades of meat, export quality and other. The most common is other. I still don’t know what the exact legal definition export quality and what something has to be to not make the grade, but I do know that Rump steak is very popular. The other problem with their meat selection is that they are all sold cut thin as “pan fried” steaks. It is impossible to sear them without cooking them through. It is crazy.

I had whitebait for the first time last week. I described the tiny fish in a previous post. They really are tiny, it takes about 60 to make an ounce, and one portion has about 200 of the little fishes in it. The national obsession for them is cool, however they don’t do them any justice when the cook them up. The most popular way is in fritter form. The fritter is really just a brown, dry omelet with tiny fish cooked into it. It doesn’t taste like fish; the only way you can tell they are there is the slight crunchiness they add. I dredged them in flour one night and deep fried them into little “fries” and they were very good, crunchy and a bit fishy.

I have recently tried a couple of “ethnic” places for lunch. The first was Go Mexican!, a burrito place owned by an Indian family. I had to try it to see what exactly Mexican food is like here. I looked at another place that had a Mexican/Mediterranean menu. That sounded too wierd, so I went to the burrito place. The menu looked just like one from Chipotle, so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, it was a bit dissapointing. The burrito was filled with refried beans, “mexican rice”, a little chicken and some very bad salsa. It was spiced with sirrachi and black peppercorns. It was spicy without flavor and sour for some reason. Three doors down was my next stop. It looked like little falafel place. They had the spit roasted meats and the other accoutrements. It turned out flavorless, dry and wrapped in a tortilla. So, I am now batting 0 for 2.

Beer in New Zealand is a pretty sad affair. The market is dominated by national brands that cost $13NZ-$18NZ for a 12 pack. There are brands like Tui, DB Bitter, Canterbury Draught, Export Gold and Speights. They all taste similar, and are all bland equivalents of what they are supposed to be. They are also 4% alcohol. A few years ago the government decided that 330mL of 4% beer is one standard drink. That means that a bottle of PBR is 1.3 New Zealand Standard Drinks. The next level of beer is the national micro brew. These include Monteiths and Mac’s. They are $10NZ-$12NZ for a six pack and they are pretty good. They have full flavor and are usually between 4% and 5%. And then there is the actual microbrew. Nelson is the microbrew capital of New Zealand with four, there are also a few more in the wider area. You can’t buy these beers in stores; you have to go to the brewery bar or store. Nina and I have tasted a few of these at the Nelson Beer Fete, it was a lot of fun and raised my opinion of the New Zealand beer community.

I just finished my first week at my new job here in Nelson. Nina and I found five places in Nelson that were hiring after looking in the paper. The first stop was a café and bar on Wakefield Quay. I walked in planning on dropping off my CV (resume) and leaving, it didn’t quite go as expected. I was given a three page application that I filled out to the best of my ability. First off, they have a different system for restaurant kitchens here. I didn’t know that at the time. The only thing that I knew is that they had “chefs” and “kitchen helpers.” I thought they used the term “chef” for any sort of cook and “kitchen helper” for dish washer. The paper also had adds for “sous chef” and “chef de partie,” but most places were seeking “chefs” and “kitchen helpers,” so I figured I was alright applying to the “chef” listings. Well, I think this place was looking for an actual chef, someone to take over their kitchen. That was a bit scary. The application also had questions like “Are you qualified? Yes or No.” What does that mean? I am qualified, I guess, but what kind of question is that? It also asked about some other things that Nina and I couldn’t figure out at all. I finished the application and was told that I could expect a call for formal try-outs the next week. After that, I didn’t really want to look for a job anymore.

The next place was just a little ways down the road. It looked a little bigger; in fact, it looked like one of the biggest restaurants I had seen in Nelson. That made me feel better. A bigger restaurant usually means a bigger kitchen and staff. I walked in and gave my CV to a woman who told me to come back in two hours to talk to the chef. I was pretty happy about having an interview already. So, at 4:30 that afternoon, I went to talk to the chef. His name is Manfred and he is from Germany. He told me that he usually doesn’t come in that early, but he needed to talk to applicants. He took me back into the kitchen to talk. At 4:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant was open, dinner service started at five and he was the only person there. I thought that was a little strange. The interview got stranger. We talked for two or three minutes about my experiences. He asked how busy my previous jobs were and was duly impressed. Then he showed me the menu, I said it looked nice. Then he gave me a very inclusive tour. Personally, I think it is a bit odd giving a job candidate a tour, but I was in a new country. Then he asked me to come in Friday at 11am to start. I thought it would be a kind of stage, but I really thought that I had just gotten hired. It took 10 minutes of dropping off applications and 10 minutes of interviews for me to get a job. I asked what I should wear and he looked at me like I was speaking Martian. I then learned that, in New Zealand, chefs provide their own uniform.

On my first day, I learned a lot about a New Zealand kitchen. First off, “kitchen helper” doesn’t mean dish washer, it means a lot more. They come in early and begin the breakfast and lunch prep, do dishes, prep some more, plate hot food, make cold appetizers, do dishes, plate desserts, sweep, prep dinner items, do dishes, and at the end of the night, wipe down the counters, mop and finish the dishes. Sometimes they get to come in really early and clean the ventilation hoods and ovens. They are like unappreciated slave labor. The chef’s job is to prepare the “important” dishes and cook hot food. It is good that the kitchen helpers don’t cook hot food because they are usually wearing shorts and flip-flops. During service, there are two chefs. One is the entremetier, he prepares some of the starches and vegetables and some of the sauces. The other is me. My job is sauté, I cook all the proteins and create a fish and a meat special every day. I also do a little prep, but I can have the kitchen helpers do it if I want. They even ask to do extra work. On my third day, I was left alone in the kitchen to do my job. It is a fun job and I am enjoying making up specials and seeing what sells and what doesn’t. Right now, I am cooking lunch for about 60 people a day and dinner for another 80. I hear that the crowds swell to over a 100 for lunch and dinner the day after Boxing Day and stay that way for four weeks. I guess all of New Zealand goes on summer holiday to Nelson after Christmas. You can see the website of my new employer at www.saltwatercafe.co.nz .

We just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Here in New Zealand it feels a little funny. It is, summer. The longest day of the year is just a few days before Christmas. There are some houses with lights up, but not many. The streets are pretty quiet by 9:30 when it finally gets dark. We have all seen the Carona add with the palm tree lit up for Christmas, but here it is a little stranger. Here, there are displays in yards with hydrangeas blooming. It just doesn’t feel right. Stores are having spring bikini/Christmas sales. I guess we can celebrate a proper (cold and wet) Christmas for the 4th of July.

Asian: Now I am going to write a little about the food we have encountered. When we landed in Auckland, we noticed that we were in a very multicultural city. There has been a lot of immigration from Asia to the ‘City of Sails.’ There are Read the rest of this entry »

Auckland:
It was very strange leaving LAX on the evening of the 13th, flying all night, and waking up at dawn in Fiji on the 15th. That Wednesday never happened. I hope we get it back when we fly back to the states. We stepped off the plane in Fiji at around 5:30 in the morning and it was already warm and very humid. They turned on the AC in the airport around 7, so it wasn’t too unbearable to wait for our flight to NZ.

We landed in New Zealand around noon that day and proceeded directly to customs. The customs terminal was empty, it was a little strange, there were groups of officials milling around talking to each other and waiting for a very big airplane to land I guess. We went up to the window a little afraid. You see, in LA, the lady at the ticket counter had a problem with Nina’s visa application having a different passport number than her new passport. She couldn’t believe that someone would get a new passport after applying for a visa in a foreign country. She was very upset that she had to go back and make some phone calls; I think it ruined her day. She told us that we could get on the plane, but she didn’t make any promises that we could stay in New Zealand once we got there. Amazingly, when we got here there was no problem at all. The agent we spoke to called her boss, who was very gracious, and he took it to the office in the back. We waited 10 minutes and another man came out and explained that it was no problem at all and welcomed us to the country.
Read the rest of this entry »