The Waikato District Council and Waikato Food Inc teamed up with local eateries and gave a very easy brief. A matariki inspired dish for no more than $30, consisting of at least two locally produced ingredients.
When I was asked and accepted to get involved, I wondered how the different eateries would depict a matariki inspired dish. Thoughts of maori food such as boil up and hangi immediately came to mind because when people describe maori food, the general answer is just that. I must admit this frustrates me just a little because to me, maori kai (food) is an infusion of flavours dependant on the environment you are surrounded by. Although pork and beef can be classed as "staple food" for maori today, we were more inclined to eat the flora and fauna such as birds, eels, seafood, kumara and specific parts of plants such as piko piko and kauru.
What was more interesting about this initiative was promoting matariki. In my view, education on anything maori has got to be positive. So ... imagine when the awesomeness kicked in. This initiative dealt with experienced foodies who live and breath it so my excitement was at a high to see what the chefs could create.
Although there were 4 eateries I HAD to visit, I managed to get to 7 of the 12 eateries who were participating. Dishes ranged from deconstructed boil up using pork belly, boil up jelly, kumara ice cream and freeze dried bacon. Pork sausages with gravy served on a bed of polenta mash, to rabbit stew, duck and rewana bread.
The best reference to matariki was the "star gazer", which was monk fish served on kumara gnocchi with pikopiko and prawns. The reference star gazer referred to the monk fish who navigates through the water with the use of stars. This dish was served at Cafe Irresitiblue.
A close second was pork dumplings served with watercress & eel with a clean fresh broth. This dish was inspired through the connection between both maori and japanese who reference Pleiades - the distinctive open star cluster.
The best dish for flavours was mutton bird, puha & kumara puree served on an open ravioli with crispy chicken skin and mushrooms. This was served at Victoria Street Bistro, which won the overall Matariki Dish Challenge and was delicious. Very strong flavours by themselves, but together was a marriage made in heaven.
This truly was a huge success with many of my friends, whanau and work colleagues going out and sampling what was on offer. I am so glad I was given this opportunity and thank everyone who was involved and allowed me to share the experience.
Look forward to seeing this continue next year, with more eateries getting on board.
Happy learning peeps!
