2009 Cuisine Artisan Awards
It was a struggle to choose just 10 from more than 90 fantastic entries, which is an exciting indication of New Zealand’s thriving artisan food culture.
Salumeria Fontana Sicilian Sweet Fennel sausages emerged as the Supreme Winner. Handmade with the greatest of care and the best of ingredients by Greg Scopas, they exemplify top-notch artisan fare and we wholeheartedly congratulate him.
Of the chosen 10, several producers, including Greg, have appeared in the pages of this magazine before, having attracted attention for their talent and thus showing admirable commitment and consistency.
We would like to thank the more than 400 readers who nominated their favourite artisan producers, testament to your enthusiasm for great real food.
We would also like to thank associate sponsor Selaks Founders Reserve. Hand-picked and handcrafted, Selaks Founders Reserve is produced in line with the same philosophies that guide our best artisan producers.
“It’s exciting to see artisans forging regional culinary identities and local pride, just as the wine industry has done in many regions,” says senior winemaker Brett Fullerton. “For a long time we have graced winemakers with deserving accolades. Now it’s time to recognise our local food heroes, too.”
And we congratulate Selaks Wines, one of New Zealand’s great pioneering wine producers, who this year will celebrate 75 years of winemaking. Visit www.selaks.co.nz
· Please note that olive oil producers have not been included here as there will be a special feature devoted to them in an upcoming issue.
The Judges
The judges were Cuisine deputy food editor Fiona smith (who headed the panel); Cuisine food editors Lauraine Jacobs and Ray McVinnie; Cuisine editor of Food, News & Views and Restaurants, Toni Mason; Selaks senior winemaker, Brett Fullerton; founder of Delmaine Fine Foods, enzo Bettio; co-owner of Logan Brown Restaurant in Wellington, Cuisine contributor, television presenter and chef Al Brown; and Farmers’ Markets New Zealand chairperson, Marlborough’s Chris Fortune.
Supreme Winner
2009 Artisan Awards
Salumeria Fontana
Sicilian Sweet Fennel Sausages
A stretch living with his grandparents in Italy when he was a child introduced eg Scopas to the typical cuisine and flavours there and along the way he developed a taste for fine Italian sausages. Unable to find anything similar when he came back to New Zealand, in true entrepreneurial fashion he resorted to making his own as a hobby, which became a commercial operation in 2000. Lucky for us.
The judges found his Sweet Fennel Sausages beautifully elegant, sweet and fresh, with great flavours, tasting clearly of pork and fennel and with perfect seasoning and tender skin. And all his sausages are preservative and gluten free.
The Sicilian sausages, one of his early recipes, came from his liking for the typical food of Sicily where fennel features strongly. The Spicy Fennel Sausages are a variation on the theme.
Also in the range are Italian Mantova, Italian Spicy, Spanish Chorizo and French Toulouse, along with pancetta and dry-cured bacon. Greg also produces extra virgin olive oil from the grove on his property just south of Wellsford.
You can see they’re good quality. They have a chunky texture which shows they’ve been minced just once, so everything you see is good meat – no sinew or rubbish. You can’t hide anything. Greg says he goes to the “nth degree” to clean up the meat and he uses “the whole hog”, that is, all the good meat rather than offcuts, except the belly, which is saved for making his pancetta. You can see the fat in the sausages, but that’s again because it’s just been minced, not ground in, and it’s all top-quality back fat taken from the bacon, keeping the sausages lovely and moist (there’s not a higher percentage just because you can see it).
“More to the point,” says Greg, “is where the meat comes from.” He uses only Murrellen pork from Canterbury as it can be traced right back to where it came from. And it’s consistently top-quality meat, he says. These top sausages are produced by Greg alone. We’re amazed. Bravo.
· See www.salumeriafontana.co.nz for stockists.
Runners Up
2009 Artisan Awards
Apatu Aqua
Kina Pâté
Coming up with the idea to make the first-ever kina pâté is an achievement in itself. Not only is it a fantastic pâté, it’s a brilliant way to introduce those who haven’t tried kina roe to its ocean-fresh brininess. Indeed one of the judges commented that one of the things he liked so much about it was that it would get people thinking about other sorts of seafood.
Thoughts of worthiness aside, the judges unanimously loved it, with its great flavour, so true to its ingredients. And those ingredients are simple and simply the best. Nichola and Hamish Apatu process the kina – which Hamish dives for – from their property overlooking Doubtless Bay in the Far North. As well as fresh kina roe, the pâté includes New Zealand butter and fresh organic herbs from their own garden – all natural and preservative free. Serve simply with good crackers, warmed and stirred through pasta or as a sauce with steak.
· Ph: 09-406 2015 or email: apatuaqua@xtra.co.nz for stockists.
Sherrington Grange
Havelock
Cheesemaker Lisa Harper learnt the craft from her mother, who learnt the craft from her mother before that. So Sherrington Grange cheeses – sharing the name
of the family farm in Mahau Sound, which is now a farmstay – are the result of old-fashioned techniques and based on heritage recipes passed through generations.
A combination of tradition and experimentation was what led to the delicious Havelock, which is based on an old French recipe but aged longer and made from regional ingredients: cow’s milk from a local dairy farmer and local Dominion salt, then dipped in 10-year-old Prenzel brandy from Blenheim. Each round of cheese is then wrapped in chestnut leaves picked from the tree outside Lisa’s dairy door.
This very traditional style of wrapping keeps the curd moist and the texture creamy, imparting a hint of forest floor to this original cheese with a salty tang and lovely length of flavour. And it’s a truly handmade work. Says Lisa, “I have permanently rough cheesemaker’s hands due to continual exposure to lactic acid, but I’m happy.”
· Available from the Marlborough and nelson farmers’ markets or order online at www.sherringtongrange.co.nz
Ringawera
Sesame Seed Lavash
Patrick Griffiths was a head chef at a local Waiheke restaurant a few years back and wanted his menu to feature as much food prepared on site as possible. And he didn’t like the idea of using bought-in crackers on his tasting platters. So he decided to experiment with a recipe for lavash (a crisp unleavened flatbread of Middle-Eastern origin) that he’d learned some time earlier.
Good things, as they say, take time and Patrick found their simplicity deceptive. But, he says, “There’s nothing like a good pile of wasted product to focus the mind on getting something right the next time.” He obviously did. His lavash were an instant hit in the restaurant and he soon expanded to other outlets.
He uses New Zealand ingredients where possible, including sea salt from Marlborough and Waiheke olive oil.
The judges found the Sesame Seed Lavash to be beautifully made, with great flavour and interesting texture. They are very versatile and perfect on a platter – formal or informal – and are good just to munch on. “Bloody good,” according to one judge.
· See www.ringawera.com for stockists.
Aroha
Elderflower Rhubarb Sparkle
A Danish hitchhiker who stayed with Mark Dillon’s mother some 20-odd years ago gave her a recipe for elderflower concentrate when she saw all the elderflowers growing around their Canterbury home.
Mark’s mother tinkered with the recipe for years before he thought it was such a good drink he’d take it further and produced his original Aroha Elderflower Cordial. A fine, elegant drink it is, but we have chosen his Elderflower Rhubarb Sparkle as the winner, though the judges struggled to choose between two fantastic entries.
Deliciously refreshing with a subtle effervescence and wonderful colour, it is one of the most interesting non alcoholic drinks you could find. Mark, “chief flower picker”, gathers the flowers from the large stands of elders that grow wild on the banks of the Rakaia River and those he has planted on their Leeston property. He has perfected the process, learning just the right timing for steeping the flowers, and uses Waikiriri spring water and locally grown rhubarb in his sparkling elderflower brew. What better use for what some consider a weed?
· See www.arohadrinks.co.nz for stockists.
Ludbrook House
Dessert Figs
With her own fond childhood memories of wonderful home preserves, Christine Ludbrook wanted to pass the tradition on to another generation.
They would surely be won over by her moreish dessert figs. It’s not easy to make a good job of preserving figs, but hers are bursting with big fig taste. The figs are from her own orchard in subtropical Northland and she selects the best variety for each use – in this case Brown Turkey. These are laced with lemons, again from her own orchard, and fresh ginger, then packed in their stylish jars, free of additives. As one judge said, “With such true flavour, she clearly knows what to do with the right figs.”
A luscious addition to a cheese platter or a simple yet elegant dessert served on small plates with mascarpone.
· See www.finefoods.co.nz for stockists.
Aromatics
Wine Barrel-smoked Mushrooms
Noel Crawford’s love of great food is evident in his wine barrel-smoked mushrooms, which add an interesting touch of class to anything from antipasto platters, pastas, salads and risotto. They have a full natural flavour, with a smokiness that doesn’t have a bitter streak sometimes found in smoked goods – “smoke without the ashtray”, as one judge put it.
Based in Hawke’s Bay, Noel is able to source nearly all his ingredients locally, with Te Mata mushrooms, Sanderson wine, Village Press olive oil, apple concentrate – which adds a subtle lifting sweetness – and the oak chips from Ngatarawa red wine barrels the mushrooms are smoked over. No non-traditional smoking aids are used. They are a classic example of a natural ingredient enhanced without losing its essence. “They generate a lot of goodwill,” says Noel. We agree.
Head of the judging panel, Cuisine deputy food editor Fiona Smith devised a great smoked mushroom soup last year using these beauties as the base (Issue 128 and available on the website).
· See www.aromatics.co.nz for stockists.
The French Baker
White sourdough
You could say that bread is the quintessential artisan product and this is very, very good bread. One judge commented that making good bread is an achievement in itself and this sourdough has a superb, toothsome texture, lovely flavour and the texture of the crust is outstanding.
Classically trained pâtissier Moïse Cerson honed his skills in fine restaurants before setting up his bakery in Greytown in 2000 and has never faltered in his perfectionist approach to his baking and insistence on using the best-quality ingredients (he was also a winner in the Cuisine Awards of Innovation and Excellence in 2004). His sourdough breads are fermented with a quince-based natural yeast mother and given a long rise time – there are no short-cuts on the way to the stone-based oven.
The bread is mostly sold at the bakery-cum-café but is also sold at Moore Wilson in Masterton and Ingredient Café and Delicatessen in Martinborough.
· 81 Main St, Greytown, ph: 06-304 8873.
Uncle Joe’s
Walnut Spread
In a way, the story of Uncle Joe’s Walnuts goes back to the 19th century. Malcolm and Jennifer Horwell have been able to take advantage of the groves of old walnut trees planted in Marlborough by early settlers. Not only old in years, these walnuts are of old varieties generally not used today and lend their produce a distinctive flavour.
The Horwells produce cold-pressed walnut oil and fresh walnut kernels. The smaller walnut pieces are ground and blended with their walnut oil to produce this delicious spread.
It’s creamier and lighter than often found and has a clear, fresh walnut flavour and excellent texture with a great mouthfeel.
This incredibly versatile spread sits simply on a cheese platter or can be used in the base of fruit tarts. One judge suggested mixing it with walnut oil to make dressing for a salad of, say, endive with perhaps some toasted walnuts. Another would use it stirred through pasta.
· See www.unclejoes.co.nz for stockists.
Provisions
Roasted Cherry Chutney
Jane Shaw and Pauline Murphy must be good cooks – their skill shows through in this great example of chutney. With a hint of smokiness and a lovely texture, the balance of acidity and sweetness lends a “sweet and sour” flavour. And, as one judge commented, it’s cooked long enough, which is often not the case. It’s at once unexpected yet you could almost think your granny made it – if she was a clever cook, too. It has that sort of wholesomeness as well, with no preservatives, additives, setting agents or food colourings used in the small handmade batches.
Keen champions of Central Otago produce, Jane and Pauline work closely with local orchardists and Molyneux Packhouse in Cromwell to source the best fruit. It was their enthusiasm for the Central “fruit bowl” that led them to open their Cromwell store and develop their own range of preserves to stock it. They both work hands on, from picking and selecting fruit, making the products, and filling and labelling the jars. Chutney lovers should be thankful.
· Available in good food stores. Email: info@provisions.co.nzfor stockists in your area or order at www.provisions.co.nz
Close Favourites
Not everyone could make the top 10 but more than a few were contenders. Here are some of our favourites.
Camla Farm Apple Juice
Really good apple juice is so hard to find and Camla Farm’s single-varietal apple juices are a great idea as well as great quality. camla@xtra.co.nz
Happy Valley Dairies Butter
Happy Valley Dairies Butter is sweet and fresh, with a slightly sour finish and a lot of elegance. www.cwmglyn.co.nz
Kohu Road Ice-cream could well be as good as ice-cream gets, with top-quality, mostly organic ingredients, and no artificial additives. www.kohuroad.co.nz
L’Authentique terrines and sausages are the genuine article, made by a former French chef in true grandmère tradition. Available in good food stores.
Pure Wasabi New Zealand-grown wasabi is great mixed with soy sauce for sashimi or with mayonnaise for a versatile condiment. www.purewasabi.co.nz
Terraza Saffron is an outstanding example of the quality of our saffron industry, with beautiful colour and great flavour intensity, all in delightful packaging. www.terrazasaffron.co.nz
Waiheke Island Herb Spread is a blend of organic herbs in olive oil, which works well as a topping or tossed through pasta. www.waihekeherbs.co.nz
Win one of 10 Cuisine Artisan Awards Hampers
Cuisine Artisan Awards Exclusive Promotion with Selaks Founders Reserve
In the inaugural Cuisine Artisan Awards 2009, proudly sponsored by super-premium wine Selaks Founders Reserve, our judges chose 10 of the best artisan products from more than 90 entries. We have 10 hampers of a selection of the winning products, plus two bottles of award-winning Selaks Founders Reserve wine (please note we cannot include bread from The French Baker).