Category: Food

Down Under: Waiheke Island

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LAST DINNER IN AUCKLAND

On our last evening in Auckland, we dined at Hugo’s Bistro, a cozy new place (only opened four months ago) in “lawyers’ alley.” Wait staff was exceedingly friendly and the vibe was lively. The menu includes some tasty-looking mains, as they dub entrees, but we opted for small plates. We tried their fries with mayonnaise (perfectly fine, but I preferred the skinnier ones at Occidental) along with the lamb meatballs (in a spicy tomato sauce), roasted red and green peppers stuffed with chevre with chopped almonds, and the salt cod fritters served with a saffron aioli. Everything was wonderfully delicious! And the NZ pinot noir was the perfect accompaniment. Like so many restaurants in this city, they offer all-day dining, everything from breakfast and coffee to lunch and dinner in a casual relaxing space. At dinner, there was an extended family group celebrating a toddler’s second birthday.

INFORMALITY

New Zealand is a friendly place and informality rules.  I’m beginning to get accustomed to this aspect of the culture. The welcome letter at our Auckland hotel was addressed, “Dear G…. and J….,” and when we disembarked from the ferry at Waiheke, the sign the driver meeting us held read simply, “Gxxxx Gxxx.” At our inn, Jen greeted us, introduced herself and immediately called us by first names. A reservation for lunch was also made in first names. On the street, people will say hello warmly when you least expect it.

WAIHEKE ISLAND

A number of islands sit in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland and Fullers provides ferry service to many of them, Waiheke being one. It’s a 30-40 minute crossing and the water was very calm with some patches of sunlight along the way.  Waiheke is hilly and green, almost mountainous, and popular as a getaway place. Its year round population is 8,000, but that swells in the summer when folks come to enjoy their bach (pronounced “batch”), what we in upstate New York would call a summer cottage or camp on the lake. Waiheke is home to a number of wineries and a small town called Oneroa.

We’re staying at The Boatshed, a picturesque and charming inn looking down on a small sandy beach a short distance from the town.  

Each room has a peaked ceiling with wires and other accoutrements to make you feel as if you are in a shed for storing boats.  Jen was warm and bubbly in her welcome, poured us each a glass of wine, showed us around, and then said John would be happy to fix us a simple lunch. It was my kind of simple lunch: slices of ham, a bit of blue cheese and a wedge of a mild one, a piece of smoked salmon, some olives, a few grilled asparagus spears with pine nuts and parmesan, and a small salad of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella. All that plus good bread and more wine.

After lunch, we walked to town. It’s basically one main street with a grocery store, a few restaurants and cafes, some gift and souvenir shops, a gelato stand doing a brisk business with school kids on holiday, plus a housewares store, a medical center, a couple of real estate offices, and some design and jewelry shops. It felt a bit like Sedona or Eureka, California to us. I think we’d quickly run out of acitivities to occupy us.

FOOD IN WAIHEKE

The Boatshed is proving to be a culinary delight as well as being a very comfortable place to stay. Breakfast one morning consisted of almond croissants, several loaves of whole wheat and other kinds of bread for slicing, yogurt, fresh fruit, and an array of stewed fruits, compotes and jams. This was just the cold or continental part of the meal! When the chef arrived, he offered to make us each an asparagus and goat cheese omelet. We opted for one omelet to share which was very tasty!

At our first dinner, there was only one other couple from New Jersey. Roughly our age and very pleasant. They have several grandchildren and we talked about that and our destinations in New Zealand, etc. He and his son manage apartment buildings and she is a pediatrician. Dinner was a set menu with the first two courses served while we sat before the fire: smoked salmon with a bit of celeriac salad on top and then a rye cracker with a lovely wedge of cheese and some fresh thyme. We were at two separate tables for dinner and the rest of the meal was a lovely tomato saffron soup with pieces of langoustine and a whole one adorning it, followed by tender slice of pork loin over barley and roast carrots all nicely seasoned. Dessert was an oval of vanilla mouse with fresh strawberries and a small bit of chocolate ice cream. The herbs and most of the vegetables come from the inn’s extensive garden.

TOURING 

We ventured out to see some of the island in a moke or small Jeep. They drive on the left here so the Chief Penguin bravely took up the challenge. As soon as we left, we went through several downpours making me regret not having an umbrella and wondering if our entire day would be soggy. Distances are small and we arrived at the winery the hotel had booked for lunch only to discover that they were closed, or so we thought, based on a closed sign we read through the heavy rain.  

It was too early for lunch anyway so we set our personal GPS (with the detailed NZ maps we’d purchased) and decided to go to the other side of the island (east side) via the loop road to Man O’ War Vineyards on the bay of the same name. Much of that road is a dirt road and it was muddy and dotted with occasional ruts, but the views were gorgeous. Luckily, the Jeep had 4-wheel drive!

By the time we reached the winery, the sun had come out. The women working the tasting room were very welcoming, said we’d picked a good time of year to visit, and quickly offered to pour any of their wines to taste.  We sipped several of them and decided that this was the perfect place for lunch. The Shared Platter for Two sounded about right. We decamped to the porch with our wine to await the arrival of the platter and had a pleasant chat with several other couples. 

On the return trip, we stopped off at Batch Winery which has a fabulous location on a hillside with several dining rooms and a terrace. Here we just looked—no food or drink.

Header photo:  Vines at Batch Winery

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

 

 

Memories from the Past

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Adventures in Food

Cooking in America and culinary consciousness changed in 1970. Among the notables and celebrities of the food world, there was a sea change. Veneration of and obeisance to French cooking as the gold standard was replaced by respect for a more liberated, less formal way of dining. Americans were stepping away from the casseroles and canned and frozen foods of the 1950’s and 60’s and celebrating fresh produce and local ingredients.

(www.arabchurch.com)

Leading this charge were Julia Child, cookbook author and TV personality (The French Chef), James Beard, teacher, consultant and author, and M.F.K. Fisher, food writer whose past had been all about France. Playing lesser, but equally important roles were Judith Jones, editor extraordinaire responsible for bringing Julia Child’s books to the public, but also those of Diane Kennedy (Mexican cuisine) and Madhur Jaffrey (Indian); and Richard Olney, a purist whose first book, Paris Menu Cookbook, was a mix of good ingredients with a bohemian twist. He was the only one in this group who lived fulltime in France. The others all visited, some for weeks or months; in 1970, they all, plus Simca Beck, Child’s co-author, overlapped in Provence and shared cooking and conversation.

Luke Barr’s sort-of-memoir, Provence, 1970: M. F.K Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard and the Reinvention of American Taste, is a wonderfully engaging account of this shift with all of the underlying tensions between strong-willed, opinionated individuals. The grandnephew of Fisher, Barr draws on published biographies and memoirs as well as the letters and journals of his great aunt and the others. I knew quite a bit about most of these people from my own earlier reading so his premise was not new to me.

While in graduate schooI, I bought both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking when volume 2 was published (a special deal). Then my grandmother, a plain, but good cook, gave us another copy of volume 2. I think she got it for supporting her local PBS station and she probably watched The French Chef. Over the years, I’ve made onion soup, beef bourguignon, and a lovely tomato rice saffron soup (Potage Magli) from these tomes too many times to count.

In 1970, Beard was finishing up writing American Cookery. Apparently, many critics thought it tried to cover too much material and didn’t support American cuisine as a distinct one. I, however, have found it a useful compendium, and my paperback copy is yellowed and stained. I still consult it for his recipes for chicken fricassee and veal Marengo. Later the C.P. and I acquired Beard on Bread and Beard on Food, each containing several favorite recipes.

One of Julia’s co-authors on the Mastering series was Simone Beck. By the end of their collaboration, Julia and Simca’s friendship was frayed and almost at the breaking point. Simca was French and a zealot in her adherence to the French way of cooking. She preferred to guess at measurements, for example, while Julia wanted to be precise to ensure that their readers got good results. After those two parted professional company, Judith Jones persuaded Simca to do her own cookbook. The result, Simca’s Cuisine, which I also own, includes a set of suggested menus by season or occasion. None is for the kitchen novice. I enjoyed reading Simca’s commentary about the recipes, but there is only one I consistently made for guests. It’s Paupiettes de Veau, a fussy, but tasty, preparation of thin veal cutlets spread with sautéed onions and then a slice of gruyere, rolled up, tied, and then pan fried. There was some sort of saucing as a final step.

For each one in its own way, the time in Provence in 1970 allowed Child, Beard, Fisher, and Olney, to move beyond seeing French cooking as the “sacred way.” Julia Child felt liberated to explore American cuisine, but also the ethnic influences on it from the wider world. She wrote several more cookbooks that espoused her more free-flowing approach.  

I added these volumes to our growing cookbook collection and was delighted in 1990 when Philadelphia’s annual celebration of chefs, The Book and the Cook, invited Julia Child to be the featured guest at the Fountain Restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. It was a lunchtime affair and we went with good friends Ellen and Bob. General practice was that you brought that chef’s featured book to your table and, at some point in the meal, the chef made the rounds and autographed everyone’s copy. Ever the gracious host, Julia stood at the entrance to this elegant dining room and greeted and shook hands with each one of us. While lunch was in progress, she then went from table to table conversing briefly and signing our books. She was one classy lady and this the most memorable meal of The Book and the Cook we ever attended! Reading Barr’s book brought to mind memories and meals.

On a final note, I also read Judith Jones’ memoir, The Tenth Muse:  My Life in Food, when it came out in 2007. (Essay by JW Farrington)

Gardens

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the lovely time we had on our return visit to the Coastal Maine Botanic Gardens with Margaret and Fred. This time, the magnificent lemony lilies were in full bloom as seen in the header photo and I admired red and wavy grasses.

Photos (except J. Child) ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

West Village: Eating Ethnically

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ETHNIC EATS.  We like to eat and we like variety.  We’ve returned to some of our favorite dining spots, but have also been on a quest to try new places.  Here’s a round-up of some recent meals in the West Village.  Bon appetit!

Nisi  

On Bleecker Street, Nisi’s front window has a view of an attractive round table set with a white and blue patterned teapot. Inside, one wall is lined with shallow bowls facing out and the other is a lattice of clear blue bottles. The cuisine is Greek and we shared a green salad to start along with some very tasty large shrimps in a tomatoey sauce. They were listed as shrimp, but I’d call them langoustine, given their size and the presentation head and all. Following that, we dove into the lamb kebab and the half chicken with lemon. Portions were generous and both came with Greek fries. Plenty to eat in a most pleasant atmosphere.

Surya  

Also on Bleecker Street farther down is this delightful Indian restaurant. Here the Chief Penguin and I enjoyed a mix of old favorites and new dishes. The vegetable samosas were sizable and quite good. Even better was the spicy cauliflower in a rich tomato sauce. Next up, he sampled a special chicken dish while I loved the shrimp in a coconut curry sauce with strips of red and yellow peppers. All served with oodles of steamed rice. He had to have their garlic naan and I found the pappadum irresistible. Definitely worth a return trip!

Mole  

This West Village Mexican place has some of the best guacamole around! It’s chunky and fresh and you can even order it spicy with bits of jalapeno. Served in a wide stone bowl, it’s so good it’s hard to save room for anything else. But we did! The Chief Penguin had his standard, a quesadilla, and I tucked into the chicken enchiladas with red and green sauces. The red was rich and complex; the green piquant with some sourish high notes. They came with rice and refried beans, but the enchiladas themselves were enough for me.

Hudson Hound

Situated on Hudson Street with outdoor seating, the Irish Hound is rustic wood inside—old style wooden booths and a few tables with shelves of metal implements and wavy glass bottles lining the wall. It feels cozy. We sampled the excellent homemade hummus along with the grilled Caesar salad. The salad was perfect for sharing and attractively presented on a large square plate. We each ordered the half chicken with two sides. The roast chicken was some of the best I’ve eaten, adobe spiced with thimbles of three sauces—gravy, a green salsa, and their creamy yum-yum sauce. Lots of choices of sides, but I opted for the grilled asparagus and the sautéed spinach. Plenty of food and not for the faint of appetite.

Highlands  

Continuing our international culinary tour, we next visited Highlands, a Scottish gastropub on Christopher Street. It’s always been crowded when we’ve passed. Using Open Table, we were forced to book an early time and were the only ones in the dining room for a short while until another group of seniors arrived. Our waiter was a wiry young man with a wry sense of humor.

Being a traditionalist, C.P. ordered the sausage roll to start while I was intrigued by the description of the short rib crostini. It was sublime comfort fare—cubes of short rib on top of melted cheese and horseradish on toothy toasted bread.  Added to that was a mini cup of jus flavored with crumbles of blue cheese—heavenly! For mains, we sampled the gnocchi with wild mushroom sauce and the chicken Parmesan salad. The latter was more chicken than greens, the chicken having been breaded and fried just a bit. Another restaurant worth a return visit!

Niu Noodle House  

For a change of pace, we decided to go Chinese, and Niu on Greenwich Ave. was most satisfying. The panfried chicken, shrimp and chive dumplings were served straight from the stove while the pork buns were appropriately soft and tasty. For an entrée, we shared the spicy beef with mixed vegetables (green pepper and onions). We went for medium spicy rather than extra spicy and it was spicy enough for our palates.

Note: All photos from the web except for the Nisi table (JWFarrington).

Tidy Tidbits: Concerts & Cooking

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VOCAL MUSIC

Other than friends, the two things I miss most about San Francisco are the restaurant scene and Bay Area Cabaret. Our good friends, David and Sean, introduced us to that cabaret series.  It’s held in the historic Venetian Room in the Fairmont Hotel, and we had the treat of seeing and hearing Chita Rivera, Judy Collins, Tommy Tune, Christine Ebersole, and others. Next month we get to see Ebersole and Patti Lupone in a new musical on Broadway entitled, War Paint.

This past week, Music Monday introduced us to the singing Callaway sisters, Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway. A delightful pair who have fun ribbing each other, they have separate careers, but occasionally team up to present Sibling Revelry. They did some humorous tunes, but also had us almost in tears with their rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” 

On Sunday, we enjoyed a rollicking performance by AMICCO (Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra) with the Three Tenors. These men were fun and talented and it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Lots of Italian arias including some old favorites like “O Sole Mio” and “Funicula, Funiculi.” The tenors also gave their version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

NEW RESIDENT

We have a new live-in resident. She’s been with us several weeks now and is low maintenance and even has her own box. She requires little; in fact, she can sit ignored, or she can be the source of new pleasures. Overall, she has added a new dimension to our lives. Her name is “Jewel” and while she spells it differently I think of her this way. She is the focus of a lot of the Chief Penguin’s time and attention and has given him a new project.

Jewel, or Joule, her official name, is not a puppy or kitten or even a parakeet, but rather the latest, hottest sous vide device. She comes with an iPhone app which means you can be sitting on your patio and get an alert that the water batch in which you’ve immersed her has now reached temperature. Sous vide, cooking food sealed in a vacuum bag immersed in water at a constant temperature, was introduced by chefs a few years ago and is now the trendy way to cook at home.

Several devices are on the market, and once my sister and then our son got them for Christmas, you know who here just had to have one. Being a gadget lover, he thinks we have the coolest one!  

Since Joule arrived, we (I say this loosely since it’s really the C.P.) have cooked spare ribs, grouper, shrimp, barbecued chicken, and even potatoes using her. One of the beauties of sous vide is that you can choose ahead of time the degree of doneness you want and the food item will never get cooked beyond that point. What you are actually selecting is the temperature at which the water is maintained. For shrimp, which are notoriously easy to overcook to a rubbery state, Joule is ideal. Just a few degrees difference in temperature, 139 F. or 140 or even 142, determines how soft or firm the shrimp are.

The time in the water bath varies from short (30 minutes for a vegetable) to long (12 to 24 hours) for ribs or steaks or chicken. You can season the item with herbs or barbecue sauce before bagging it. Once it’s in the bag in the water, you can ignore it. When the food comes out of the bag, finishing it (steak, for example) on a gas grill or even in the oven, will provide the attractive browning and finishing. Never again do you risk having barbecued chicken that is blackened on the outside, but not fully cooked on the inside. You might think I’d be jealous of Jewel, but I’m not. C.P. has taken on more of the cooking and the results are fabulous!

 

 

Credits: Callaway sisters (Ann & Liz) (www.paulinlondon.com) by Darren Bell; Joule ©JWFarrington