Chris Fortune Recipes and News

Out Standing in their Fields

2011-12-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

Farmers' Markets New Zealand is pleased to present our four outstanding regional chefs for - the perfect Christmas Present for 2011

Trade me Auction - Jonny Schwass - Click here- Lunch for four people in Jonny's Christchurch Garden - Awarded Cuisine Restaurant Personality of The Year

Trademe Auction - Marc Soper - Click here
Luncheon at Pirinoa Station in the Wairarapa for 6 people, serving a combination of dishes including 2011 Wellington chef of the capital award winning dishes and utilizing some of the finest regional products available

Trademe Auction - Jan Bilton - Click here
Cloudy Bay Winery will be your venue for 8 guests to sample the very best of Marlborough with Jan Bilton for a cooking demonstration and luncheon to be matched with Cloudy Bay Wines

Trademe Auction - Julie Biuso - Click here
Cooking Class for 6 in Julie Biuso’s home featuring fresh produce from the market, organic meats, and eggs from Julie’s own chickens

Check out the Out Standing in their Fields Blog for detailed updates, videos and recipes from the road!

Outstanding Kitchen being built - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

2011-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Outstanding Kitchen being built - Chris Fortune NZ Chef: "A Marlborough-built kitchen is being prepared to tour the country helping top Kiwi chefs promote homegrown New Zealand cooking to the world."

'via Blog this'

Well deserved Winner of NZ Rural Womans Award

2011-05-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

Lisa Harper is Supreme Winner !!

Lisa Harper attended the awards ceremony at the Rural Women New Zealand National Conference 2011 on Friday night and has just been announced the overall supreme winner.

Well done Lisa from the Marlborough Farmers' Market Team.

Making cheese is something the Harper women have done for generations. We lovingly coax fresh milk into cheese, in our tiny farm dairy, from recipes more than two centuries old. Each cheese is hand-crafted using traditional methods, which have been discarded by modern dairy factories in the quest for efficiency. At Sherrington, we choose to make only limited quantities of cheese, using the old ways, because we believe it creates a better product - this is the way cheese was before mechanisation and standardisation became the norm. Sherrington cheeses look, smell and taste the way they were meant to - a real taste of history.

Strengthening rural communities is the aim of Rural Women New Zealand.

As an organisation they are constantly working to enhance our position as a respected voice of rural New Zealand families and communities.

They aim to develop rural communities by valuing rural uniqueness, understanding the needs of rural communities and working with agencies and RWNZ members to develop a strong rural network.

Master chef recipes

2011-05-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

My step mother had a special recipe that would make a appearance once a fortnight at the dinner table, it was her pride and joy, and to her it was a culinary masterpiece or signature dish. Little did the three hungry boys who devoured every last little bit know that it was little more than glorified leftovers. She would lovingly call this impossible pie

Impossible pie recently made a comeback to the dinner table in the Fortune household as our Miss Four year old princess helped me make dinner for the family. Having recently been collecting eggs from our friends cookhouse she is always looking for a reason to get the bowl and whisk out, and once we had removed all the broken shells we had something that is acceptable for whisked eggs to form the base of our impossible pie

Mr Eight year old “I know everything “came bowling through the kitchen with a big ''yukkkk - I am not eating that !!! '' - which resulted in the prompt reply from missy – “ then you cant have any icecream !!”. That settled that. The Fortune fridge promptly gave us left over peas, carrots (sorry rabbits !), silverbeet and some cheese that had seen better days. The more leftovers the better for impossible pie

Missy would not allow any further help so I was relegated to the dishes and setting the table while she mixed all of the ingredients and then decorated with tomato smiley faces and cheese teeth ontop of. Into the oven and a new master chef contestant was born. I cant remember ever being taught how to cook at home, dinners were just provided and we were expected to eat it, no questions no fuss, and what we did not eat was put into our lunch the next day. Impossible pie never tasted good cold in lunch boxes so I am pretty sure this was the main reason we used to eat it all, the fear of lunch consisting of left over left over’s for lunch was just to much for us to stomach

Mr “I know everything” enjoyed seconds that night, and as I carefully removed egg shell from my dinner it was decided that impossible pie truly lives up to its name, and we will look at leftovers as the next culinary superstar dish, but I doubt you will find it on masterchef soon !

Little Missy’s Impossible Pie

1/3 cup Flour

3 eggs (shell removed)

1.5 cups milk

1 cup left over peas

½ cup carrots

¾ cup grated cheese

½ cup cooked silverbeet

1 onion (optional)

Tomato and herbs to garnish

Salt and pepper to season

Any other left over’s that you fancy. Whisk eggs and then add all other ingredients, place into a oiled shallow dish and bake in a mid oven 170 degrees C for approx 30-45 min or until set. Serve with salad and follow with ice-cream for extra bribery

Marlborough in the running for Taste of the Year

2011-04-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

When Marlborough Farmers' Market started 10 years ago it was only the second such market in the country.

But despite the relatively small population of Blenheim and the surrounding areas, market president Chris Fortune says people have embraced the ethos of "authentic and transparent" food grown close to home.

Out of 43 eligible markets in the Taste Farmers' Markets Awards 2011, Marlborough is sitting in sixth place as customers' favourite, but there is still time to register a vote. Voting closes on Saturday.

"We're doing really well – it's a good sign of the strength of the base and support that we have in Marlborough," Chris said.

"But all the markets are reflective of their own regions – what works in Auckland doesn't necessarily work in Marlborough."

The markets gave food businesses the opportunity to have a retail outlet in their region, Chris said.

Although New Zealand was still relatively new at farmers' markets, it was catching up fast.

"Australia only had them one year before New Zealand so we're still the babies of the group, but we're looking at what's happening in farmers' markets around the world.

"(Marlborough) is certainly a growing market."

In the 2011 awards, Tauranga is leading the voting, with New Zealand's first farmers' market, Hawkes Bay, second.

Chris said rural people were generally more supportive of the markets and cities could struggle to become established. However, once they do they have the population to make them grow.

Those interested can vote at tastefarmersmarkets.org.nz and be entered into a competition to win a trip to Singapore.

Transparency of Marlborough

2011-04-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

Having settled in Marlborough over a decade ago after eating the grass on the other side of the fence, it was not a hard decision to start using local produce.
While the rest of the world is busy hunting and gathering from exotic corners of the Earth, the real tastes can be found right here in our own backyard.
We have some of the best aquaculture farms, and practices that produce a word-class product that can be found not only on New Zealand dinner tables but all around the world.
While I am not tempted by flashy promotions and marketing campaigns for the latest food fad or trend, I put just as much emphasis on getting to know the people who produce our proteins and starches as I do on cooking them. This gives me transparency and awareness of what I am cooking and serving to my guests and family.
Having been involved with New Zealand King Salmon for at decade, it is no wonder that the company is now seeking to increase the size of its operation as it meets the needs of the marketplace. I have visited the salmon farms and worked with the staff through the highs and lows
The proof of success is in the pudding or, to put it into context, in the taste of the salmon that is dispatched from Marlborough every day of the week.
Transparency comes with years of hard work, and this is part of the story of why New Zealand King Salmon has become one of the world leaders in salmon production and sustainability.
If a product is local, it gets my attention. If a product is local and tastes great, I am interested. If a product is local, tastes great and has a sustainable and proven record, then I am more than interested. If a product is local, tastes great, has a sustainable record and is produced by a transparent company or people, then it will take pride of place at my dinner table for my family and guests.

Ingredients

2 large salmon fillets

1 cucumber

3 litres water

200g brown sugar

300g salt

3 lemons, sliced

Dressing:

3 egg yolks, beaten

3 tsp dried mustard powder

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

15 drops Tabasco sauce

Olive oil

5 Tbsp white vinegar

Combine all the dressing ingredients except the olive oil in a blender, using low speed. Maintain speed and add the olive oil very slowly until the mixture thickens and is the consistency of mayonnaise.

Season to taste and refrigerate for up to a week, using as needed.

Place the salmon pieces in the brine for at least two hours and then rinse well. Pat dry and place on a smoking rack.

Place 2 cups of smoking chips in the smoker and hot smoke for 15-25 minutes or until the salmon is medium cooked.

Cut the cucumber in half, scoop out the seeds and peel the flesh into long, thin strips. Place the smoked salmon on top, sprinkle with the capers and drizzle with the garlic dressing.

NZ cookbooks at Taste Farmers' Markets Awards 2011

2011-04-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Vote online for your favourtie Farmers' Market and you will also be in to win one of the following New Zealand cookbooks. There are two copies each to be won!

Julie Le Clerc's "Made By Hand" & "Simple Cafe Food" CLICK HERE

Dean Brettschneider's "Global Baker" CLICK HERE

Adie McLelland's "Black Dog Cottage Cook Book"CLICK HERE

The Ripe Deli Cookbook CLICK HERE

Simon & Alison Holst's "100 favourite ways with chicken" CLICK HERE
Winner Chris Brock - Hamilton
Winner Andy Collins - Hamilton

Simon Gault's "Nourish" CLICK HERE

Genevieve Knights' "Pavlova" CLICK HERE

Paul Jobin's "A Pinch of Salt" CLICK HERE

Chris Fortune's "The Kiwi Sizzler Smoking Book" CLICK HERE

Michal Haines' "Scent of the Monsoon Winds" CLICK HERE

Annabelle White's "Annabelle White's Best Recipes"CLICK HERE
Winner Helen Sebastian-Pace - Auckland
Winner Bethaney Davies - Christchurch

Cooking with Charles Royal CLICK HERE

Anne Thorp's "Kai Ora" CLICK HERE

Caffe L'affare's "How to make really good coffee"CLICK HERE

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2011-04-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

News > Tauranga Farmers' Market still in front (just)

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Tauranga Farmers' Market still in front (just)

There are now over fifty Farmers’ Markets scattered throughout the country from Keri Keri in the North to Invercargill in the South. Tauranga Farmers' Market is currently leading the consumer voting polls for Best Farmers Market and here is a little taste why...........fresh seasonal produce from the market

From the Tauranga Website CLICK HERE

Organic orchard lifeblood of market | Stuff.co.nz

2011-04-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Organic orchard lifeblood of market | Stuff.co.nz: "In Marlborough's endless sea of grapes, Bob and Jennie Crum's organic Renwick orchard offers something of a life-raft.

With 20 varieties of plums, seven of blueberries, a feijoa block and newly planted kiwifruit vines, Windsong Orchard's diversity is perfectly pitched to meet the Marlborough Farmers' Market season.

'We've tried to get the widest range of production for the longest time over the season, set up basically for the Farmers' Market,' says Ms Crum.

The development of the orchard has been closely linked to the local producer market, established 10 years ago, with strong support from the Crums."

Marlborough Puffery

2011-04-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

You might be forgiven for thinking that we live in a town that is full of negative doom and gloom citizens, this is judged by the number of personality driven media campaigns and Puffery that is currently placed on the Marlborough District Council.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/155872/council-inquiry-needs-be-independent-councillor

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=194423

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/72768/marlborough-council-to-investigate-corruption-claims

Our present and past council staff and councillor’s fronted by Mayor Alistair Sowman have done a outstanding job of representing our region, the assets that we have now and the infrastructure that we want for our children. They gather all of the facts, they make decisions based on these and they move towards the future.

The majority of negative people have half the facts, are personality driven and keep pulling things backwards and sideways, and are the first to preach a undemocratic society or that they are exercising there democratic right depending on what side of the fence they are standing on today.

I will personally contribute, to a one way air-ticket to Australia, to those negative people that feel that they are hard done by here in Marlborough. Part of our role as community citizens is to support the people who put themselves forward into the position of governance, right or wrong they me be, they have all of the facts and work in all of our best interests as a community. To redeem your "I am a Negative B**** " voucher for your one way air ticket please send a self addressed envelope to P O BOX 991, Blenheim

Regards

Chris Fortune

www.chrisfortune.co.nz

cuisine@chrisfortune.co.nz

021935995

Professional Love Marlborough Consultant

PS: Great Communities don’t just happen ! They are created, nurtured and substained by caring, connected and involved residents…..Peter Kenyon

Taste Cooking Demos in the super city

2011-04-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

CHRIS FORTUNE at the Taste Cooking Demos in Auckland Sunday 10 th April

Since winning HELL’S KITCHEN in May 2003 Chris has relises he can no longer stand behind a Cow

Having been busy working and running restaurants for the last 15 years he is now enjoying helping raise his young 8 year old son and 4 year old daughter. Never to be far from the hotspots though, Chris is also currently working for the Heartland Hotel Blenheim and the Marlborough Convention Centre as the Executive Chef and presides as the Chairperson for the Marlborough Farmers Market and chairperson of the New Zealand Farmers Market Association. Chris is passionate about all NZ food producers and supports local fresh honest cuisine. This gives him a much broader and deeper appreciation of how produce gets to the kitchen. Having run many different kitchens and an active member of different organisations both in Marlborough and New Zealand Chris understands that no longer can a chef hide in his kitchen; they must represent their philosophy and understanding of hospitality.

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2011-04-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

A Major Earthquake centered on Lyttelton occurred at 1pm on February the 22nd 2011

The Civil Defence Centre for Lyttelton is the Recreation Centre on Winchester Street

Tune in to Volcano Radio on 88.5fm or listen to our live stream

If you wish to make a donation to support the community reconstruction of Lyttelton follow this lin

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

Brett McGregor: The birth of a celebrity chef - Food - NZ Herald News

2011-03-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Where are they now? It's so often the public catch-cry following reality TV shows. A young unknown is snapped from obscurity into the bright lights and fierce heat of competition, to win 15 minutes of fame in their chosen field of music/modelling/cooking only, more often than not, to disappear back into obscurity just as quickly.

Brett McGregor: The birth of a celebrity chef - Food - NZ Herald News

Taste Farmers Markets NZ Awards 2011

2011-03-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Taste Farmers' Markets NZ Awards 2011

To be in to win, vote for your Favorite Farmers' Market CLICK HERE

Vote online and you will also be entered into the draw to win one of the following New Zealand cookbooks. There are two copies each to be won!

Julie Le Clerc's "Made By Hand" & "Simple Cafe Food" CLICK HERE

Dean Brettschneider's "Global Baker" CLICK HERE

Adie McLelland's "Black Dog Cottage Cook Book"CLICK HERE

The Ripe Deli Cookbook CLICK HERE

Simon & Alison Holst's "100 favourite ways with chicken" CLICK HERE

Simon Gault's "Nourish" CLICK HERE

Genevieve Knights' "Pavlova" CLICK HERE

Paul Jobin's "A Pinch of Salt" CLICK HERE

Chris Fortune's "The Kiwi Sizzler Smoking Book" CLICK HERE

Michal Haines' "Scent of the Monsoon Winds" CLICK HERE

Annabelle White's "Annabelle White's Best Recipes"CLICK HERE

Cooking with Charles Royal CLICK HERE

Anne Thorp's "Kai Ora" CLICK HERE

--

Have you voted for your favorite Farmers' Market in NZ ?

www.tastefarmersmarkets.org.nz

Chris Fortune

www.chrisfortune.co.nz

www.marlboroughfarmersmarket.co.nz
www.farmersmarkets.org.nz

www.chrisfortunerecipes.blogspot.com
www.marlboroughcommunitygarden.blogspot.com

Havelock Mussel Festival

2011-03-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

My favorite festival is about to happen on March 19, 2011 the atmosphere is great, the food is exceptionally tasty and fresh and the entertainment is first class but the overriding number one reason that the Havelock mussel festival is my favorite in NZ is the community spirit and fun that i have their every year.

NZ's first ever Master-chef winner, Brett McGregor will be providing cooking demos this year in the live cooking theater sponsored by Regal Salmon where you will be treated to the taste of the freshest and tastiestmussels and Marlborough seafood. Local school children from Havelock and Linkwater will also assist myself and showcase the future NZ Master- chefs to the festival goers as we slice, dices, steam and bubble and boil in the kitchen.

The Havelock Mussel Festival Committee has invested into the local schools and we are currently running a series of cooking demos called "What¹s on your Plate" It is an inquiry into the influences on our food choices using the social format approach. Our focus is to look at what food choices are grown locally (and what is more local than Mussels !) and what is available to students and their families for consumption, as well as the impact that this has on them, their community and globally. Mother nature and seasonality are mixed with some fun to then be baked into a interactive and social kitchen experience. Students from these cooking demos at Havelock and Link-water School will be attending the festival and participating in the cooking demos

My Love affair is revealed

2011-03-11T03:24:00.000-08:00

My love affair began a number of years ago.

I did not tell my wife at first, as I knew she would not approve, but as time went on, she accepted that we were just meant to be.

All the signs were there – http://www.chrisfortune.co.nz/testimonials/myloveaffair

Toastmasters - I like Olive oil on my toast

2011-03-11T02:43:00.000-08:00

O P E N D A Y

Wider Horizons Toastmasters Club

WED MARCH 16^th 10 – 12 noon

St Mary’s Parish Church Hall, Maxwell Road, Blenheim

Programme includes

· Marlborough Olive Oil Use

and Tasting Demonstration (interactive)

Chris Fortune is presently Chef and Chairperson of the Marlborough Farmers Market and also Chef at the Heartland Hotel and Marlborough Convention Centre. He is passionate about local fresh cuisine…. and Toastmasters

· Renate von Petersdorff – Picton Artist and Potter

Renate, one of our newer members, is presently exhibiting at Highfield Winery and talks about her firing techniques and glazes

Gold Coin Entry

For more details contact Cathy Brown 573 9111 - 021 045 1799

www.toastmasters.org.nz

“Celebrating Toastmasters International Week”

Kia kaha Christchurch

2011-03-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Our hearts go out to the people of Christchurch, particularly those who have lost loved ones and everyone who is helping in the mammoth clean-up effort.

In the rural areas, farmers and producers are battling on and this Saturday from 9am to 12noon you can visit the Farmers' Market which will be held outside Riccarton House. This will be an opportunity to catch up with friends and family while also supporting local food producers.

You can expect to find anything from fresh fruit and vegetables to wines, chocolates and cakes. With its organic and locally sourced produce, manager Jamie Bennett says the market can’t be beaten for quality.

“You’re buying direct from the grower, you don’t have the middle-man there, the pricing is very good and you have the freshness as well. The majority of the people that sell fruit and veges usually pick on the Friday and its at the market on Saturday so the quality is very high.”

Megan Singleton is an
award-winning travel
writer who has been
gallivanting around the
world writing stories
for the last 12 years
and blogging for 5. Her
style is informative, sassy and a little tongue-in-
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A open invitation to NZ Bloggers

2011-03-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Voting for the Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards is now open (see CLICK HERE), and to celebrate and promote the event, we are working with food bloggers based in New Zealand. We will be setting up a page dedicated to showcasing NZ food bloggers, and the link to this will be on the home page and main menu. There are two ways you can get featured:

1. Write a post that showcases or uses (in a recipe for example) any food product from a NZ farmers market (remember to link to the market and/or producer too, or tell people their details if they don't have a website), and link to tastefarmersmarkets.org.nz, encouraging readers to either nominate their favourite producer/stallholder or vote for their favourite farmers market. With your permission we will link to you AND feature an image and the subject from this post (please send a 250x250pixel image or one that we can easily resize to that). You will also go into the draw to win a prize pack that includes cookbooks by Farmers Markets New Zealand Chairperson and Chef, Chris Fortune, and lots of delicious foodie goodies and wine.

2. Alternatively, if you'd just like to spread the word, you are welcome to do so by linking to tastefarmersmarkets.org.nz and encouraging readers to either nominate their favourite producer/stallholder or vote for their favourite farmers market. You will still go into the draw to win the prize pack, but we will only feature a link to your site.

The bonus for anyone who votes is that they will be automatically entered into the draw to win a return trip for 2 to Singapore to visit Loewen Gardens Farmers Market, and cookbooks by NZ food icons.

Let me know if you're interested, and if you pick option one, send me your image as soon as the post is public. Attached is a logo for the awards - please link it to the tastefarmersmarkets.org.nz if participating :) Please note the deadline for posting is Monday April 25. Feel free to circulate this email to any other food bloggers you may know. Also please don't hesitate to ask me if you have any ideas or questions! You can also contact Chris directly at tasteawards@farmersmarkets.org.nz.

Zo @ twospoons.wordpress.com, helping promote the TFMNZA 2011.

Autumn Season has arrived now that.......

2011-02-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

Summer is just about to finish, March is officially the start of Autumn and you will be able to feel the coolness sneaking through in the middle of night. The days are thankfully still long and hot which is perfect for ripening grapes and the main crops of all of our fruit and vegetables - Sweet corn is at its best after a long summer of ripening, Royal Gala Apples are now available, crispy and sweet, tart and juicy. Zucchinis, Scaloppini’s, onions, carrots, beetroot are in full flourish. Omega Plums and NZ Table grapes have now come on stream and are in abundance.

Jim tannock for photo credit

It is in the spring that we sow all of these seeds, the flowers are pollinated and the long slow process of growing begins. Summer provides the heat and more importantly the light to allow for successful harvests of our edible products. At this time of year, the word plentiful is on the tip of the tongue and while the end-of-summer crops are still in abundance, along comes some of the most flavoursome ingredients that nature can offer. Time is the ingredient missing from most recipes today, the time to slow down and enjoy what we have around us and just what is in season, what taste the best and is seasonally cheaper than other times of the year – we forget when one season starts and another finishes as other things consume our lives.

The name for autumn in Maori is Ngahuru, an archaic word for ten. This is because autumn started during the tenth month (February–March) in the traditional calendar. Ngahuru is also the name for harvest, which occurred at this time and you put away food (preserved) for the cooler months of the year. While we may not preserve and store food like we used to do it is something that more and more people are turning to as both a relaxing, social and enjoyable lifestyle choice, so that they too can capture the real flavours of a season and then enjoy them at a later time.

Sweet and sour tomatoes and apples

These will go perfectly with white meats and garden vegetables, either as a side dish or mixed with rice or other grains to make a tasty salad.

500 g green tomatoes (unripe toms)

4 green chillies, cored and seeded

2 onions, finely diced

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil

2 cooking apples, peeled and diced

¼ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ cup white wine vinegar

To skin the tomatoes, pierce their skins, place in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let them stand for 3 minutes. Drain, peel while hot and chop finely. Heat the oil in a medium-size frying pan, add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes until thick and puréed. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal for later use.

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2011-02-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO SINGAPORE BY VOTING FOR

YOUR FAVORITE FARMERS' MARKET

Vote for your Farmers' Market now CLICK HERE

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2011-02-16T12:23:00.000-08:00

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011: "WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO SINGAPORE BY VOTING FOR YOUR FAVORITE FARMERS' MARKET Vote for your Farmers' Market now&..."

MOJO Corn

2011-02-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Your mojo is one of your most important assets; it is your charm, energy, vitality, zest, drive, zip, zing, spirit, verve, pizzazz, punch, passion, oomph, power, get up and go, vigour and feistiness.

Whichever way you look at it your mojo is what makes you stand out from everybody else.

Your mojo is that spark which is the difference between having just a good day and a great day.

You may misplace your mojo from time to time but you must never, ever let anybody borrow it.

Top chef Jonny Schwass has mojo, and it was a great pleasure to host him here in Marlborough last weekend.

Ten years ago he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and spent the next year on a heavy treatment of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

That time was a real awakening for Jonny and cancer made him realise that we only have one life to live, so since then Jonny has kept his mojo close by him.

Jonny specialises in local and regional food and we took time out from the busy kitchen go hunt and gather sweetcorn from Birch Grove Farm in Rapaura and strawberries from neighbour Mrs Jones.

We shucked Marlborough oysters from Tio Point and sliced hot de Brood Bakkers bread baked right here in Blenheim.

We are so lucky that Marlborough has mojo, Marlborough food producers have mojo and we must never ever let anybody steal that from our fantastic region.

People bottle Marlborough mojo every day and send it around the world.

We are so lucky that we get to drink and eat Marlborough every day!

MARLBOROUGH MOJO SAUCE

4 red peppers – bell or any other non-spicy red pepper

1-2 slices stale white bread - crusts trimmed if very dry

2 tsp red chilli flakes or 3 hot red or green chillis

3-4 cloves Marlborough garlic, peeled

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp Marlborough rock salt

1 cup extra virgin Marlborough olive oil

1/4 cup (approximately) water or chicken broth

Splash of white wine vinegar to taste

Slice the garlic cloves thinly and break bread into quarters and set aside.

Process the peppers, cumin, garlic slices, hot pepper flakes and salt in a food processor or blender to create a paste. While blending, drizzle in olive oil gradually. Alternately add small pieces of the bread and small amounts of water or broth until the sauce is thick, but not as thick as a paste. Add 1-2 tsp vinegar or more, according to taste.

Taste of Good Books - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

2011-02-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Taste of Good Books - Chris Fortune NZ Chef: "To celebrate Marlborough Wine Festival, Bookworld Blenheim is hosting an evening of Marlborough food and wine tasting on February 10. Wine critic Belinda Jackson will discuss wine and food matching, and Chris Fortune will talk about his enthusiasm for local food and for recipes that demonstrate the unique taste and flavour of Marlborough food.

Tastings of his recipes will be available, and copies of his cookbooks and of cookbooks by other Marlborough authors will be on sale.

Visitors will be able to taste Auntsfield wines and place an order at 20 per cent discount for their favourites.

The event has been co-organised by store assistant Janet Steggle.

'We are trying to tie in events with what's going on in the community,' she said.

'Obviously the focus here is on the local aspect of the Marlborough Wine Festival and the Marlborough Farmers' Market.'

The event opens at 5.30pm, with a talk starting at 6pm.

Those wanting to go should call 5784909 by Tuesday, February 8 to reserve a place.

Entry is by gold coin donation to Marlborough Community Hospice"

Local Food, wine and Cookbooks

2011-01-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Marlborough Farmers' Market: "To celebrate Marlborough Wine Festival, Bookworld Blenheim is hosting an evening of local food and wine tasting. Wine critic Belinda Jackson will discuss wine and food matching. Chris Fortune will talk about his enthusiasm for local food and for recipes that demonstrate the unique taste and flavour of Marlborough food; tastings of his recipes will be available. Copies of Chris’ cookbooks, and cookbooks by other local authors, will be on sale.

Taste Auntsfield wines and place an order (at 20% discount!) for your favourites. Taste and buy local food at Bookworld’s mini-market before you visit Marlborough Farmers’ Market on Sunday 13th February at the A&P grounds.

Auntsfield wine
Marlborough cookery and wine books.
Sherrington Grange cheese
“A Taste of Yesteryear” quality jams, chutneys & preserves
Canapés by Chris Fortune

Event opens at 5.30 pm
Talk starts at 6pm
Please ring us by Tuesday 8th February to reserve a place

Bookworld Blenheim
67 Market Street
Blenheim. Tel 03 578 4909
blenheimbookworld@clear.net.nz

Entry by gold coin donation to Marlborough Community Hospice"

Farmers' Market of the Year

2011-01-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

Farmers' Market of the Year The Best Farmers' Market of the year as voted by the consumers of NZ

The Farmers' Market of the Year award is just one of the awards honoring farmers' markets around NZ as we shine the spotlight on the real food producers from the land and sea

“Shining the spotlight onto individual grassroots food producers who use Farmers’ Markets as a venue to sell directly to consumers”

Voting opens in March 2011, pre-register now and be into win a RETURN TRIP TO SINGAPORE WITH FARMERS' MARKETS NZ AND SINGAPORE AIRLINES CLICK HERE
To pre-register your interest in the Taste Famers' Markets NZ Awards 2011

The real cost of Seasonal Food 2011

2011-01-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

“Food looks set to cost more at the till this year, although economists say higher commodity prices are good news for the economy” Food prices fell 0.6 per cent in November and 0.8 per cent last month, according to Statistics New Zealand, with seasonal falls in vegetable prices the main contributor.

There a couple of things that stand out in this statement that was published by the NZ Herald on the 18 Jan 2011. It simplifies all food under a commodity price and then brings Mother Nature in as the discounter. Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution (Japan, 1978) says "If you think commercial vegetables are nature's own, you're in for a big surprise. These vegetables are a watery chemical concoction of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash, with a little help from the seed. And that is just how they taste”

If we continue to treat all food as a commodity then America wins and we willalways have the bland, tasteless, faceless vegetable products that line their supermarket shelves enforced upon us, they may look like vegetables as we know it but they have been designed to sit for as long as they can and travel vast distances with deterioration rather for taste or nutrition. The key to real food is to eat seasonal, to choose what is best at that particular time of the year and enjoy, knowing that it will be available again for you 10 months later

So what is the real cost of food then, as Author Michael Pollan puts it “ Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies (American Chocolate Bar) is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured, as well as the packaging and a hefty marketing budget. So how can the supermarket possibly sell a pair of these synthetic cream-filled pseudocakes for less than a bunch of roots?”

Why is water more expensive than coke or milk, why are potato chips cheaper than potatoes – why is all food treaded as a commodity rather than for what it really is ? To many questions and not enough words to answer but it really is a case of awareness of just what is happening around you with seasonal food rather than just walking through life with eyes wide shut

While it almost seems a sin (some sins are good for you !!) to deep fry such a delicate thing the result is worth it because they remain just as delicate to eat. The batter coats the flowers ever so lightly but still has a satisfying crunch when you bite into its warm, creamy centre.

Sherrington Cheese & Garlic-stuffed Zucchini Blossom Recipe

Filling

6 zucchini blossoms
½ cup of soft Sherrington Cheese (ricotta cheese or similar)
1 large free-range egg
1 clove of garlic, minced¼ Cup of Fresh bread crumbs
4 fresh sweet basil leaves, finely chopped
Pinch of sea salt

Batter
2/3 cup & 1/8 cup of all-purposed flour
1 cup of soda water
1 1/2 cups of vegetable or canola oil

Mix cheese and egg with garlic and basil and breadcrumbs, gently fill the centre of the flower. Make the batter by mixing the flour and soda water. Roll the stuffed blossoms in a little flour and then dip in the batter, and deepfry in oil until golden brown. Drain and serve with a summer salsa or salad or green beans and extra virgin olive oil

Kiwi Sizzler - Keep it simple - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

2011-01-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

Kiwi Sizzler - Keep it simple - Chris Fortune NZ Chef: "Keep it simple, is the top tip in The Kiwi Sizzler Smoking Book by Blenheim cook Chris Fortune. Sub-titled a 'how-to guide to smoking food', it follows his first book, the 2008, Pick, Preserve, Serve. That was a 'Nana book', Chris says.

'What I remember as a kid growing up, walking into my grandmother's pantry [full of preserves] – and working with my grandfather in the garden.'

In the days before mass refrigeration, smoked food was a form of food preservation. In the 21st century, when most New Zealanders can access year-round virtually all types of foods from restaurants and supermarkets, smoking produce at home is usually done for fun."

My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One

2011-01-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

I personally would like a Android but does not sounds half as good as a blackberry !

Cheese making with Slow food Marlborough

2011-01-13T00:25:00.000-08:00

slowfoodmarlborough.org.nz

23 January 2011 - 1 pm - 3 pm

A hands-on session making cheese with Lisa Harper of Sherrington Grange -
cheeses to take home and enjoy

NMIT Training Kitchen - Block A at NMIT
$30 Members, $40 non-members

To book you space please click here

Sherrington cheeses are made from local Marlborough products. The milk comes from Linkwater valley, our salt is harvested from Lake Grasmere and our olive oil (rubbed on the rind of some cheeses) comes from near Blenheim. There is nothing artificial about our cheeses. No synthetic flavourings, colourings or preservatives are ever added. It's all about cheese in its purest, most natural form.

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2011-01-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011: "WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO SINGAPORE BY VOTING FOR YOUR FAVORITE FARMERS' MARKET - T
There are now over fifty Farmers’ Markets scattered throughout the country from Keri Keri in the North to Invercargill in the South. In New Zealand an authentic Farmers’ Market is one where the local growers and food producers sell their products directly to the consumers themselves. They may only sell what they grow, farm, catch, smoke, preserve, brew, bake or process themselves, and within a defined region."

Cook celebrates fresh produce | Stuff.co.nz

2011-01-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Cook celebrates fresh produce | Stuff.co.nz: "'I love Marlborough and New Zealand produce and the seasons that mother nature gives us with the different flavours and tastes,' Chris Fortune says.

'But I hate the fact that Chinese garlic is being sold in our local supermarkets when we are the best garlic-producing region in the world.'

As president of the Marlborough Farmers' Market, he is juggling his responsibilities here with those of raising his young family, and said his children – Kacey, 8, and Holly, 4 – are both already keen cooks."

Press and Media - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

2011-01-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

Press and Media - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

"I love Marlborough and New Zealand produce and the seasons that mother nature gives us with the different flavours and tastes," Chris Fortune says.

"But I hate the fact that Chinese garlic is being sold in our local supermarkets when we are the best garlic-producing region in the world."

As president of the Marlborough Farmers' Market, he is juggling his responsibilities here with those of raising his young family, and said his children – Kacey, 8, and Holly, 4 – are both already keen cooks.

"They're not afraid to peel, cut, grate or cook dinner with us," he said.

"They help mum in the garden and these are skills that will become invaluable later in life."

He remembers his own experiences of cooking as a child with fondness, saying his favourite chef moment came when he was 12, cooking mussels and cockles on the beach over an open fire, using a piece of corrugated iron as a skillet.

"I still remember the taste – and the sand and grit in the seafood," he said.

"It is often the simplest things that you remember the most."

This year, his enthusiasm will be channelled into overseeing the Taste Farmers' Markets New Zealand awards being held nationwide from the Bay of Islands to Bluff.

The awards would be "celebrating 50 farmers' markets and the real food producers who depend on them as our way of selling the produce they have grown or produced", he said.

"I'm also looking forward to doing more cooking demos in schools and at the Havelock mussel festival using the school gardens as a catalyst to encourage children to cook at home using simple techniques and some fun."

More immediately, he will be spending the rest of his holidays with more relaxing pursuits.

"I'll be swimming at the pool and river, as well as painting the outside of the house," he said.

"I have to say I'd rather be in the pool, though."

Hells Bitchen NZ - Chris Fortune profile - Hells Kitchen Winner

2011-01-11T02:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, seems just like the other day, Hell's Bitchen - Jennie Crum and Nicola and Tina are the stars !

Marlborough Farmers' Market 2011

2011-01-11T02:32:00.000-08:00

Meet the queen of beets | Stuff.co.nz

2011-01-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

Meet the queen of beets | Stuff.co.nz

Chioggia beetroot has been heaven-sent at the Marlborough Farmers' Market. Those who have only ever eaten tinned beetroot are missing out on a real taste of summer.

The chioggia beetroot is the queen of all beets and can be found on the stall of Sharyn and Neville White, who grow and sell heirloom vegetables and fruits.

An Italian variety that is best eaten raw (the beetroot does fade to light pink when cooked though), it is proving to be a popular addition to the dinner table during the summer months.

Sliced thinly or grated it is a very sweet tasting variety that does not bleed or stain your hands like other beets (10 points already). The young beetroot leaves can be used in salads or cooked like spinach/chard, adding a nice texture to your summer creations.

Chioggia is a sweet, round beet with a smooth, light red skin. The inside has concentric rings of red and white flesh with fluctuations in temperature enhancing these zones of colour.

This little-known beet comes from the coastal region of the Adriatic near Chioggia in Italy, hence its name.

Beetroot is a very highly regarded vegetable throughout the world for its health properties, and can be found in a multitude of colours from red or purple to yellow, with different countries producing different varieties, sizes and colours.

When consumed as a juice, beetroot offers many benefits and has plenty of nutrients including vitamin C, proteins, antioxidants, amino acids, sodium, potassium, silica, phosphorus and iron.

The deep red colour of beetroot is because of the antioxidant betacyanin. This antioxidant is essential for blood formation and a major benefit of beetroot is that it reduces anaemia (when the number of healthy red blood cells decreases).

Consumption of beetroot on a regular basis will help give you a healthy heart as it is loaded with plenty of vitamin C and other goodies.

Ask Sharyn and Neville what their favourite way of using the beet is.

BEETROOT AND PUMPKIN SUMMER SALAD

200g beetroot, scrubbed and grated raw

300g pumpkin, peeled and grated raw

1 large apple or pear, sliced thinly

100g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Handful of freshly picked parsley and/or mint, chopped

Juice and zest of one lemon

Drizzle of Marlborough olive oil

Sprinkle of Marlborough sea salt

Mix all ingredients well

Chill for 30 minutes before serving with chicken, seafood or lamb.

One year at the Dinner Table

2010-12-28T19:25:00.001-08:00

2010 is almost over and being the last column in the year it is truly fitting to look back and see the highlights that have happened. Slow Food Marlborough celebrated regional Marlborough with monthly visits to local food producers and we did everything from Milking cows, collecting honey, sharpening knives to cooking over vines. We tasted the sweetest strawberries freshly picked, drunk Italian wine with local foods, and lifted the humble but satisfying Globe Artichoke out of the garden and into the pot. What started off three years ago as just a group of people sharing at the dinner table has now grown into one of the largest conviviums in in NZ – good things take time this group is all about taking the time to appreciate them. We are a bunch of unlikely foodies, oldish, youngish, familyish and from all around the world but choosing Marlborough to be our home, humble and modest but most of all hungry for knowledge

Farmers Markets around NZ have gone from strength to strength and a highlight for me was visiting the Gisborne Farmers Market and also the Hamilton Farmers Market, both not regions normally associated with culinary aspirations but certainly proving to me that the real food producers of NZ are standing up for themselves. Hosting visitors from England and America only strengthened the resolve to ensure that Farmers Markets are Authentic and transparent to all, for this is the only thing that differentiates us from everybody else. As the Chair of a Executive group located right around NZ it was a real pleasure to be working with some of the best foodies in the county

I found the time (in the middle of night) to write a new cookbook which is a step by step guide to smoking food and the Kiwi Sizzler Smoking book is now available in all good bookstores nationwide. I look forward to promoting this in 2011 as it will give me a good excuse to go fishing with the father in law to catch some Moki or Maori Chiefs at Marfels beach this summer.

My first book, Pick, Preserve Serve is now into its second print and it was satisfying to be told by the publisher that even I had to wait for more to be printed when I ordered earlier in the year.

The Marlborough Convention Centre and Heartland Hotel provide me with the heart of what I do, cooking – Christina, Helen and Abby are the backbone of the kitchens that I oversee and this is where the real ground work is done, day after day, night after night. With meals in the tens of thousands having been served over the last 12 months it is a great pleasure to work with a great team.

The Marlborough Community Gardens have gone from strength to strength, and has solid foundations for stage 2 that will be started this year – another great group of people that truly do make a difference in the Marlborough region and as a Trustee member it is with great satisfaction that I see the garden not only flourish but bear all of the fruits of the hard work put in

The Marlborough Farmers’ Market is now celebrating its 10 th year and hats off to Jennie Crum and the rest of the committee who put in the hard work behind the scenes and I look forward to working with them to continue making it a venue for local food producers to sell from. This formula that Hawkes Bay and Marlborough started 10 years ago is now emulated right around NZ and we seeing the difference that supporting local can make in regional communities.

Enjoy the rest of 2010 and I trust that 2011 is just as satisfying at the dinner table

Marfels Beach Smoked Fish

By gently curing and then smoking the fillets of white fish, you create a satisfying and tasty snack or meal that can be enjoyed any time of the day with crusty bread.

3kg Fish fillets, skin on

600 ml Water

¼ Cup sea salt

2 T Sugar

Zest and juice of one lemon

2 cups Wood chips soaked for 30 mins and drained

Mix the water, salt, sugar and zest together and submerge the fish pieces in the brine and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the brine and pat dry, place on smoking rack and smoke over a low heat for 40-60 mins or until cooked and translucent

HELP, HELP, HELP - MY MUM AND DAD WANT ME TO EAT PORRIDGE !

2010-12-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr Fortune, HELP!

Breakfast time at our family has turned into a nightmare and I would rather stay in bed than face another morning at the table with our seven-year-old son.

We are trying to eat healthily and so breakfast consists of porridge and local Sherrington honey on toast. We have Marlborough Windsong organic blueberries from the freezer and even local apples and pears from the farmers' market I use as part of our weekly shop.

The problem is that Mr Seven-Year-Old won't eat his porridge, even with all this goodness in it. He refuses to even taste it, saying it is horrible, yucky, gross, vomit and a number of other things that I can't print. We have sent him to his room for four hours, we have kept him at the table and we have taken away his privileges, but he still refuses to eat it.

Desperate Porridge Mother Enforcer

Gidday Chris Fortune, HELP!

My mother and father are trying to make me eat something I don't like, PORRIDGE! They have sent me to my room, they have taken away my toys and TV time and even made me sit at the table until I have had a teaspoon full of it. YUCK – I wanted to spit it out and I did once, but mummy and daddy told me off. I have tried yelling at them that it is gross. Please help me as I don't understand why they are making me eat something that I don't want to! Can I sue my parents? Are there porridge police?

Porridge Hater Number One

Dear Desperate Porridge Mother enforcer and Porridge Hater Number One

It sounds like your breakfast table is the battleground and the battle is over not the porridge, but that you have a young independent boy who is growing up and making decisions for himself about what he likes and dislikes. Encourage his independence, but you do need to be firm and not allow bad behaviour and temper tantrums to rule at the table.

I don't think that one teaspoon of porridge is asking too much, although if you were using imported, out-of-season fruits then I would be concerned. As for Mr Porridge Hater Number One, your mummy and daddy are not asking you to eat tripe or liver (yet) so I would just eat the porridge and leave the battles for something a little more serious.

POACHED PEARS FOR THE BREAKFAST TABLE

300ml water or white wine

55g (2oz) caster sugar

2 Tbsp clear honey

1 cinnamon stick

8 Winter Cole pears, peeled and quartered

Place the water, sugar, honey, and cinnamon in a deep saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the pears. Poach the pears over a low heat for 10-20 minutes or until translucent, turning occasionally. Chill and serve with porridge.

Making Headlines

2010-12-21T04:09:00.001-08:00

Farmers market under fire – Bay Chronicle - Bay of Islands Farmers’ Market

· Need for second farmers market questioned – Otago Daily times, Otago Farmers Market

· Farmers Market moving to fresh fields – Otago Daily Times, Queenstown Farmers Market

· Market day changes – Nelson Mail, Nelson Farmers’ Market

· Stalls hit sticking point - Papakura Courier – Clevedon Farmers market

· Easter blow for market - Waikato Times – Hamilton Farmers Market

· Farmers market price fixing row settled – Gisborne Farmers market

· Need for second farmers market questioned – Otago Daily times, Otago Farmers Market

One could be forgiven for thinking that it is only in Marlborough that the local Farmers Market is making the headlines, but if you have a look around NZ you will notice that every single market is making changes in the way people not only eat but how they think – when the pick up that asparagus or apricot they are asking themselves, where did that come from? how did that get to me ? how fresh is it really ?

So what’s up with all of the headlines and attention grabbing details of so called rifts and rivalry, the blurring of lines of local vs imported and grown by the producer or sold by middlemen. It is really very simple - the real food producers of New Zealand are standing up and claiming what belongs to them, the name Farmers Market. A Farmers’ Market is a venue for the sale of regional produce, just like when you go to a rugby game you expect to see a group of people running with a oval ball and passing it between themselves using their hands. When I go to and see a game of soccer I expect to see a group of people with a round ball passing it between themselves using their feet. I am yet to see a successful game or Rugosoccer where you can do both. This is why we have umpires that define the rules of the games and ensures that everybody respects each others codes of practise. As a consumer or a producer you get to choose which code of practise you want to either participate in or support

A real Farmers’ Market does not allow onsellers or resellers to sell goods that that have not been involved in . A real Farmers’ Market does not allow non-edible goods (there are a couple of exceptions like worm farms and flowers). A real farmers market is all about local and regional food, not imported food

While Marlborough is leading New Zealand Farmers Markets as one of the oldest and most established behind Hawkes Bay we are certainly not alone in changing the way we look at the food on our dinner table, or how we debate about how the food got to our table, this food is either tasteless and wrapped in plastic and full of life giving preservatives or it is fresh and regional. I know what I would prefer on my Christmas table this year and judging by the amount of headlines around NZ I would say that Farmers Markets are the flavour of the year. I am so excited about being involved in the changes we are making at the dinner tables and in the kitchens of NZ, these changes will influence all generations and communities to ask questions and celebrate our regional differences. The only real headline story is the fact that the real food producers are standing up for the one thing that they themselves can really own, the two words Farmers Markets

Marlborough Plum Salsa Recipe, great with Christmas ham or left over cold cuts

6 fresh Marlborough Plums, diced – firm and not to soft, but not to firm, freshly picked

1/2 Red onion thinly Sliced

1 tablespoon sliced green garlic or 2 spring onions

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice or lemon juice and zest

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1/2 finely chopped small seeded jalapeno pepper (optional)

2 T Marlborough Olive oil

Marlborough Flaky Sea Salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and serve to the table.

Need for second farmers market questioned (page 1) | Otago Daily Times Online News Keep Up to Date Local, National New Zealand & International News

2010-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

Need for second farmers market questioned (page 1) | Otago Daily Times Online News Keep Up to Date Local, National New Zealand & International News

concern the proposed Wednesday farmers market could take customers away from Saturday's established railway station market has been raised by vendors.

The Otago Farmers Market Trust wants to establish a market in the car park of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, in South Dunedin, operating on a Wednesday between 3pm and 7pm, initially during the summer months, although consent was sought for a year-round operation if needed.

Marlborough – Taste Local Produce | Marlborough in New Zealand | Travel information for New Zealand

2010-12-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Marlborough – Taste Local Produce | Marlborough in New Zealand | Travel information for New Zealand

If you like good food and think that fresh is best then look no further than Marlborough. Havelock nestled at the head of the Pelorus Sound is the Greenshell™ Mussel Capital of the World and there are a number of fine establishments where you can sample these plump, flavorsome beauties. If mussels are not your thing do not despair, salmon, cod, crayfish (or rock lobster), clams and oysters are also readily available.

Forage for fresh garlic, asparagus and other seasonal specialties from the gate, pick your own stone fruit, apples and berries or find boutique award winning olive oils at local olive groves. I’m loving the new season potatoes and nothing beats fresh Marlborough cherries for a healthy but deliciously decadent treat. Local honey is another winner and Flaky Marlborough Sea Salt harvested at Lake Grasmere transports any meal out of this world. Award winning walnut oil, wild game, artisan cheeses, hazelnuts and saffron, the list just goes on and on.

A great place to start and get connected with the local food scene is the Marlborough Farmer’s Market. Its aim is to provide a venue for local food producers to sell edible goods directly to the consumer. It’s the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning and has a friendly relaxed atmosphere. Otherwise just get out amongst it, whether it be on a cruise in the Marlborough Sounds, a specialised food tour or one of the many restaurants and cafes. Just like wine in a glass, it just tastes better in Marlborough!

Marlborough Farmer’s Market – October to June, every Sunday 9am to 12 Noon at the A&P Showgrounds – rain or shine!

www.mfm.co.nz

So what is a Localvore then

2010-12-15T10:24:00.000-08:00

the perfect localvore setting

sounds like some sort of posh nosh fancy wancy uppty name for somebody who has too much time on their hands – well you can be a herbivore or a omnivore so why not somebody who pays attention to where their food comes from and commits to eating local food as much as possible. This is not some nutcase religion, it is just about eating local. It is not an all-or-nothing venture, you cannot really fail the test as it is all about taking how many small steps you take, it all helps the environment, protects your family's health and supports small farmers and food producers in your region

The first bite to being a localvore is to determine what local means to yourself and your family, it could be 100 km, if could be the south island or even the whole of NZ – it is an individual decision that you need to be comfortable with. The key thing is that by creating a boundary or a limit, no matter how large or small, you are becoming conscious of food's origin. You can even go one step further and draw a circle around your home or region and this will help you with your food choices.

We are all born localvores, it is just that sometimes we forget just exactly what is in our backyard and what is in season – the free range chooks, the trading with neighbours and the sharing of resources both over the back yards and at the dinner table, we may not be able to tackle the worlds biggest issues but we are able to help build sustainable and connected communities by supporting each other

5 Ways to Become a Localvore in New Zealand

1) Visit a farmers' market, there are now over 50 located from Invercargill to Bay of Islands – some are big, some are small but the key is that they represent their regional seasons and producers. Farmers' markets keep small farms in business through direct sales. Rather than going through a middleman, the farmer or producer will take home nearly all of the money you spend on regional produce – there are no on sellers, resellers or people that just buy in at the cheapest price and try to move it as fast as they can, regardless of the quality or where it has come from

2 Ask your supermarket manager where your meat, produce and dairy is coming from. Remember that supermarket managers are influenced by what you say and do. Let the super market managers know what's important to you!

3) Preserve a local food of the season. By freezing, bottling, preserving you get to eat and enjoy flavours all year

4) Have a look for restaurants in your area that support local farmers and producers. Ask the re restaurants and chefs about their ingredients directly, or by asking your favourite farmers what restaurant accounts they have. Frequent the businesses that support your farmers in your region, fresh from the farm gate to the dinner plate

5) Ask about origins. Not locally grown or caught? Then where is it from? What you may have taken for granted as NZ produced may come as a surprise. Share this with family and friends

Honey-spiced apricots

Serve these with dollops of yoghurt for breakfast or dinner, or add a crumble topping and bake in the oven for a quick and easy dessert. If all else fails, just eat them straight from the jar.

2 kg whole Marlborough apricots

cinnamon sticks and cloves for each jar

4 cups white wine vinegar

500 g Marlborough honey

With a fork, prick the apricots all over and place them into cold sterilised jars. Place 2 cloves and 1 cinnamon stick in each jar. Bring the vinegar and honey to the boil in a saucepan for 5 minutes until it just starts to thicken, then pour over the apricots. Leave to cool before sealing the jars. To achieve the best flavour, leave for 1 month and use within 12 months

Taste Marlborough Cherries

2010-12-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

The pick of the bunch is now available in Marlborough, cherries that is. With early crops getting off to a good start, the sunshine hours up and settled weather it could very well be a good year for the notorious fickle cherry season. So what’s up mother nature? – the 1 st of December is the official start of summer, we have not have the winds buffering us (yet), the rain has stayed away and the daily temperatures have been some of the best in NZ.

The key is not to overpromise and end up under delivering, there is fine line to walk with growing and producing from the land and Farmers’ Markets NZ is about to celebrate the real food producers of NZ by patting those people on the back that walk the walk. The awareness (or concern) of what’s in our food and growing demand for regional, unadulterated food and produce, and the investment into local resources, combined with good old nostalgia and supporting community ideals are just a few of the influences causing Farmers’ Markets to flourish in New Zealand.

Taste Magazine, Website provider Marketground and FMNZ have teamed up to shine the spotlight on the very best that is growing in our back yard - Taste magazine is a great-value monthly food magazine for New Zealanders who love to cook. Every issue is packed with recipes and food ideas that are fresh, seasonal and easy to follow. Farmers’ Markets are the weekly shopping destination that allows us as consumers to support and purchase local foods from our regions.

Marlborough Cherries are still the best, even through Otago and Hawkes Bay seem to think that it is all about them, however you just cannot compete with the Marlborough Sunshine and growing conditions that have made our region world famours for not only wine but also our fruits and vegetables that we celebrate on the dinner table every week

Cherry Clafoutis is an easy, delicious, traditional French dessert made at the height of cherry season. As perfect as this treat is with cherries, feel free to use another fruit – berries, sauteed apples or pears, sliced peaches – in place of the cherries if you're so inclined.

Ingredients:

500g cherries

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

1/8 tsp. salt

Icing Sugar (optional)

Preparation: Heat oven to 180 degrees cC. Butter a baking pan that's about 9x13 and rinse the cherries. Pit the cherries; as you pit them, put the pitted cherries in the buttered pan.

Put the eggs and milk in a blender and whirl to combine. Add flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whizz until well combined. Pour mixture over cherries. Bake clafoutis until puffed and browned, about 30-45 mins. Serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with icing sugar, if you like.

Turn taters into tempting treats | Stuff.co.nz

2010-11-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

Turn taters into tempting treats | Stuff.co.nz

According to Potato New Zealand, 2.85 billion were grown in New Zealand last year and more than 7 million serves of hot chips were handed across the counter each week, which easily puts the humble potato right at the top of the food chain.

In November we are able to purchase potatoes freshly dug in Marlborough, although it pays to know your ilam hardy's from your moonlights and red rascals.

You need to be prepared to change your cooking method to match the type of potato you have at any particular time of the year. No matter how clever you are as a chef or cook, if you have a floury potato it will not hold together when boiled and will not give you a good salad. Similarly, if you try and mash a waxy potato your mash will be gluey.

Obviously personal preferences come into play. For example, if you prefer your mash to be less fluffy, just select a potato that is less floury. But the key is to use the right potato for the right job.

My favourite way of using potatoes is to keep it simple, purchase direct from the grower or plant some in the backyard. Even the most novice gardeners can reap the rewards of just a few plants. Know what you are buying, as there are many different varieties, so it pays to ask the best cooking method, and at this time of the year the little earth gems are best just boiled or steamed with the skin on, a little salt, olive oil or butter to glaze and served hot.

While potatoes are best eaten fresh in New Zealand, the locals in South America produce "chuo" as they have done since the time of the Incas. The potatoes are spread on the ground on frosty nights. During the day they are covered with straw to protect against the sun. This way the potatoes go completely white.

After exposure to several nights of frost, women and children trample on the potatoes to get rid of moisture and wear away the peel. The potatoes are then put in a stream with running water for a few weeks in order to wash out the bitter taste. Finally they're dried for about 14 days and can be stored without problems for up to four years.

While this may not catch on here, is was essential for the Incas to preserve the harvest so it could sustain the villagers through the harsh winters and hot summers.

FOUR EASY NEW SEASON POTATO VARIATIONS

Remember to salt your potato boiling water well (the water should taste pleasantly salty) – this a necessary step on the path to tasty taters!

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Dill or wild fennel new potatoes: (Gather the herbs from the roadsides around Marlborough.) Boil up some new potatoes and then toss with freshly chopped dill or fennel and butter, and salt to taste.

New potatoes with rocket or basil pesto: Toss boiled potatoes with a few spoonfuls of pesto and a little salt to taste.

Olive oil potatoes: Dress boiled potatoes with a little Marlborough extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, garlic and fresh herbs of your choice.

Stock potatoes: Potatoes boiled in a light chicken or vegetable stock instead of water gives them a less-ordinary and great flavour.

Marlborough Farmers' Market 2011

2010-11-24T01:14:00.000-08:00

The best little christmas present in town

Humbled by Earth gems

2010-11-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Humbled by the potato

2,855,000,000 potatoes were grown in NZ last year with over 7 million serves of hot chips being served up across the counter each week to hungry mouths, this easily puts the humble potato right at the top of the food chain

Novembers means that we are now able to purchase potatoes fresh dug in Marlborough, however it pays to know your IIam Hardy’s from your moonlights and red rascals. You need to be prepared to change your cooking method to match the type of potato you have at that particular time of the year. No matter how clever you are as a chef or cook, if you have a floury potato it will not hold together when boiled and will not give you a good salad. Similarly, if you try and mash a waxy potato your mash will be gluey. Obviously personal preferences comes into play, for example if you prefer your mash to be less fluffy, just select a potato that is less floury but the key is to use th right potato for the right job

My favourite way of using potatoes is to keep it simple, purchase direct from the grower or plant some in the back yard as even the most novice gardeners can reap the rewards of just a few plants. Know what you are buy, there are many different varieties so it pays to ask the best cooking method and at this time of the year the little earth gems are best just boiled or steamed with skin on, a little salt, olive oil or butters to glaze and served hot to the table

While potatoes are best eaten fresh in NZ, The Spuds in South America prodcue “Chuño” as they have done so since the time of the Incas. The potatoes are spread on the ground on frosty nights. During the day they are covered with straw to protect against the burning rays of the sun, this way the potatoes go completely white. After exposure to several nights of frost, women and children trample on the potatoes to get rid of moisture and wear away the peel. The potatoes are then put in a stream with running water for a few weeks in order to wash out the bitter taste. Finally they're dried for about 14 days and can be stored without problems for up to 4 years." While this may not catch on here is was essential to preserve the harvest so that it could sustain the villages through the harsh winters and hot summers. Something tells me that 7 million serves of chips per week means that “Chuño” is not exactly going to be the next fast food of NZ

4 Easy New Potato Variations

Remember to salt your potato boiling water well (the water should taste pleasantly salty) – this a necessary step on the path to tasty taters!

Dill or wild Fennel (gathered from the roadsides around Marlborough) New Potatoes – boil up some new potatoes and then toss with freshly chopped dill or fennel and butter, and salt to taste

New potatoes with Rocket or Basil pesto – toss boiled potatoes with a couple of spoonfuls of pesto and a little salt to taste

Olive oil potatoes – dress boiled potatoes with a little Marlborough extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, garlic and fresh herbs of your choice

Stock potatoes – potatoes boiled in a light chicken

The Rise of the Lazy Locavore - WSJ.com

2010-11-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

The Rise of the Lazy Locavore - WSJ.com: "By KATY MCLAUGHLIN

There could hardly be a loftier culinary class than that of the locavore, a movement whose members eschew food grown outside a 100-mile radius of their homes. With copious outputs of money and labor, locavores earn bragging rights (we put up 50 jars of beets!), complaining rights (we went without wheat all winter!) and the right to believe they are doing their part to save the planet (we support local farms by paying $10 a pound for cherries!).

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'So much space, so little time. Wish I could grow a green thumb.'

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'In my other life, I'm a brilliant gardener. My apartment just doesn't know it.'

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'Where have you been all my life?'

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'I'll whip this barren lot into the Garden of Eden in no time!'

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Illustrations by Jason Lee for The Wall Street Journal

'Farmer's market, scharmer's market. This is eating local.'

But James Lucal in Seattle has them all beat. He not only brings home the local produce, he got a local to grow it for him directly outside his home. And yet he spent almost nothing for this luxury, and lifted not so much as a trowel to make it happen.

Welcome to "urban sharecropping," the hippest, most hardcore new way to eat local. In the latest twist in the farm-to-table movement, homeowners who lack free time or gardening skills are teaming up with would-be farmers who lack backyards. Around the country, a new crop of match-makers are helping the two groups find each other and make arrangements that enable both sides to share resources and grow their own food.

Mr. Lucal's tenant farmer Michaelynn Ryan is a mother of two and homeowner in the charming Seattle neighborhood of Wallingford. Though Ms. Ryan is a certified master gardener, the yard of her Craftsman house isn't up to farming—it's too small and shaded, Ms. Ryan says. So, the summer before last, she posted a want ad for a garden plot on Urban Garden Share, a website started by a professional gardener as a good-karma producing hobby.

That's how Ms. Ryan found Mr. Lucal, a builder who had terraced a steep slope next to his house, but discovered through frustrating failure he lacked the patience and expertise to make it bloom. Finding they lived within five minutes of each other, they agreed Ms. Ryan would farm the lot and Mr. Lucal would harvest his family's supply.

The season was a bounty of candy-sweet strawberries and tart, pie-ready rhubarb. Carrots emerged from the ground in a rainbow of orange, yellow and red hues, and crookneck squash grew giant-sized under fuzzy elephant-ear leaves. The juicy tomatillos and pungent cilantro were so abundant, Ms. Ryan made 24 jars of Mexican salsa verde. Her 3-year-old daughter Fiona ran between the raised beds, popping brilliant green sugar snap peas into her mouth.

But even the most utopian and cost-saving of food systems has its price to pay. Ms. Ryan, like generations of tenant farmers before her, had to hand over half her hard-won crop to Mr. Lucal. Some in the movement might label him a "lazy locavore," a new designation indicating one whose diet is beyond reproach, but who has found a way around the hard work. Mr. Lucal says he's more "ignorant locavore" than lazy: After all, he watered.

The beauty of urban sharecropping is how neatly it halves the commitment required by local eating, providing honored roles for both the landless and the lazy. Homeowners look out on to their backyards—in many cases, under-used, water-sucking lawns or weed-chocked lots—and see lovely kitchen gardens that can often feed not only their own families but several neighbors', too. The farmer drops by, weeds, sows or harvests, then often leaves a basket of perfectly ripe produce on the owner's back porch. Gardeners get to skirt the notoriously clogged community-garden system in cities, where long waitlists and vegetable poachers are a looming threat.

Of course, the ultimate satisfaction for both sides is in the eating. No other local food can compete with the taste of fruits and vegetables harvested only minutes before. And there's the unique joy, hard-wired into the human psyche, of growing one's own food. A growing number of services helps landowners and gardeners connect. Sharing Backyards, which launched in British Columbia in 2004, has programs in Portland, Ore., Duluth, Minn., Washington, Berkeley, Calif., Boise, Idaho, Houston, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Missoula, Mont., as well as international locations. The website currently contains over 1,000 listings from landowners and potential farmers. In the near future, the volunteers behind the program plan to post a sample contract that sharecroppers can use to iron out arrangements.

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Illustration by Brian Stauffer for The Wall Street Journal

In Brooklyn, BK Farmyards secured its first farmland last year when founder Stacey Murphy, a former architect, stood on a street corner shouting she wanted to farm someone's yard. Adrienne Fisher, a foundation grant manager and mother of three with a three-story Victorian and large backyard in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, took her up on her offer to share costs and plant a large garden. The harvest was divided among six neighbors, who each paid up front.

Some urban sharecroppers are finding another outlet for their wares: restaurants. In Los Angeles, the restaurant Forage opened nine months ago with a unique concept: Chef Jason Kim barters dining credits at the restaurant with people who hand him food grown in their gardens. In April, the health department stepped in, telling Mr. Kim he couldn't serve food that didn't come from certified farms. So Mr. Kim helped five of his best urban farmers get licensed, and now they provide him with a bounty including blood oranges, heirloom Italian chicory and a fruit called black sapote."I realized there are so many people doing this and they just don't want it to go to waste," Mr. Kim says.

Settlers' delicious legacy lives on | Stuff.co.nz

2010-11-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Good oil: Jenny Horwell celebrates Uncle Joe's Walnuts & Hazelnuts winning gold at the Canterbury A&P Show for the fourth year in a row. In the background are her staff, from left, Louise Best, Antoinette Jones, Carla Crane, Julie Nicholls and Gisele Coura.

Rural

Dry summer likely for MarlboroughLegislation not `silver bullet' for fishingNo action on widely sprayed bankSettlers' delicious legacy lives onMussel man wants egg farmStock truck drivers asked for bull safety ideasMerino man checks out the KiwisEnvironment award entries inA&P Show results 2010Seddon winery gets top award

The legacy of Marlborough settlers is the key to an award-winning walnut oil, say the owners of Uncle Joe's Walnuts & Hazelnuts.

Jenny and Malcolm Horwell own the Grovetown company, and their walnut oil has won gold at the Christchurch A&P Show for the fourth year in a row.

Mrs Horwell said the walnuts come from two "huge" trees on their property as well as others planted all around Marlborough.

They collect about 100 kilograms of walnuts from their two walnut trees, which they believe are about 100 years old. The rest are bought from people who gather walnuts around the region.

"There are so many lovely old [walnut] trees around Marlborough. Lots of people, when they settled here in the early 1900s, planted trees and they are still there," Mrs Horwell said.

She was sure that the range of walnuts from different parts of the region was the reason for the great flavour of the oil.

Uncle Joe's paid a good price for walnuts that had been properly dried, she said.

It was important to gather walnuts as soon as possible after they had fallen, especially when there was wet weather, because moisture affected the kernel, she said.

Uncle Joe's shells and grades the nuts at Grovetown, and sends them to a specialty company in Ashburton that produces the oil.

The company sells the walnut and hazelnut kernels straight from the shell, and also makes nut spreads.

The Horwells planted a hazelnut orchard in 2000, adding more trees each year until 2003.

The orchard covers 2.5 hectares and produces about 25 tonnes of nuts a year.

The company sells nuts, spreads and oils to specialty shops, New World supermarkets and other businesses.

The North Island was a large part of its market, especially Auckland, Mrs Horwell said.

"Aucklanders love them because they can't really grow them well up there."

She said Australian companies had approached Uncle Joe's to export across the Tasman, and although the company was looking at a few options, it was not on the agenda in the short term.

Settlers' delicious legacy lives on | Stuff.co.nz

Part of our weekly shop

2010-11-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

“The future is not a place to which we are going; it is a place we are creating. The paths to the future are not found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination “ (John Schaar)

The Marlborough Farmers’ Market is about to enter into its 10 th year Anniversary and part of this celebration is the publishing of our 2011 Calendar that shines the spotlight on what we have available in our bountiful region. The growing popularity of Farmers’ Markets is something being seen worldwide and for a host of reasons. The awareness (or concern) of what’s in our food and growing demand for regional, unadulterated natural produce, climate concerns and the investment into local resources, sustainable agriculture as well as influential television chefs pushing fresh seasonal ingredients combined with good old nostalgia and supporting community ideals are just a few of the influences causing Farmers’ Markets to flourish in New Zealand. Whatever the reasons, the benefits are tremendous for the communities involved and can now be enjoyed by everyone.

A lady came rushing up to me one day to ask me how could I bring myself to eat animals that i know and have raised all of their lives, having fed them, raised them and cuddled them, given them cute names (Salt and Pepper and Minty ). How could i possible bring myself to eat these cute little heavenly creatures with four legs and a tail ? My reply to her : How could you eat something that you did not know where it came from and how it was raised ?

The 2011 MFM Calendar features the sumptuous and engaging photography of our own local photographer, Jim Tannock artfully collated on the page by local graphic designer by Alex Lloyd. This first edition of the MFM calendar is now on sale at the Marlborough Farmers’ Market, Marlborough’s cellar doors and selected shops and business’s throughout the region. . It is tasty asset of our food producing region to be hung in the kitchen or parlour, hallway or den – remember that ten years ago we did not have the same opportunity to openly support local food producers in such a united way, today we can do this at one of the any 50 Farmers’ Markets now operating right around NZ from Bluff to Bay of Islands. Marlborough should be proud, we were the second in NZ to showcase the best of our region, the key to its success is ensuring that it remains a food market where local growers, farmers and food producers can sell their wares directly to the consumer.

‘Great communities don’t just happen! – They are created, nurtured and sustained by caring, connected and involved residents and service providers.’ (Peter Kenyon)

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

2010-11-12T01:56:00.000-08:00

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011: "Objectives of the Taste Farmers' Markets Award

The FM movement is about building and strengthening local communities, supports local businesses. The brand is environmentally sustainable and projects fresh, seasonal, quality. Customers are interested in their health, knowing where their food comes from and are well read and educated people. They’re also looking for social interaction and learning more about food

Objectives of the Taste Farmers’ Market New Zealand Awards 2011

• To celebrate Farmers’ Markets and their regional food producers

• To support regional food producers and networks through celebration of achievements

• To stimulate additional business for Farmers’ Markets and food producers of NZ"

Whats that on your face ?

2010-11-11T13:44:00.001-08:00

There is a large organ strapped to your face that kind of gets taken for granted these day, some are big and wide, others small and toity, pointy or blunt - but what ever your distinguishing feature is, by comparison it leads a simple life (unless you are a wine maker of course), pretty laid back relaxing and along for the ride

Your nose lets you smell things in the first instance and it's a big part of why you are able to taste things. Freshly baked cookies coming out of the oven, Sunday roast being carved at the table with minted peas, fresh bread and then food that is past it best. Before refrigeration the smell of food would have been the most important way to tell if it was spoiled or fresh, edible or inedible, of course now we are in the safe hands of the corporate food producers who deliver us our homogenised, sterilised and patursied and plasticized food substance portions that effectively removes the need for us to use the septum (nose) as much.

Your nose has a secret weapon, the olfactory epithelium, this contains special receptors that are sensitive to odor molecules that travel through the air. These receptors are very small - there are at least 10 million of them in the nose sending signals to our brain that interprets signals recognizing any one of about 10,000 different smells that will also untimely define your taste in what you like and dislike

Seventy to seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell. Taste buds allow us to perceive only bitter, salty, sweet, and sour flavours. It’s the odro molecules rom food that give us most of our taste sensation - this is way you have very little sense of taste when you have the flu.

Cure Kids Red Nose Day is coming back on 19 November this year and it is a great cause, putting some focus on a great charity (to raise money for life-threatening childhood illnesses affecting Kiwi kids), this could be the perfect excuse to bring your nose out of retirement and put it to a good use !

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies for Serous nose realignment

Serves 30

Ingredients

125g butter

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg

1½ cups self raising flour

½ cup Cocoa powder

¾ Chocolate Chips

Method

Preheat oven to 160ºC.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Mix in vanilla essence and egg.

Stir in flour and Cocoa and Dark Chocolate Chips.

Place teaspoons of mixture on greased baking tray and bake in moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, stand back and inhale

Where there smoke there is fire !

2010-11-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

Tell me how do the Mapua School PTA score these amazing speakers for their annual Garden Gala Evening fundraiser?   What's your secret Ladies? First they had Lynda, then last year they had Jack Hobbs and this year they've convinced Chris Fortune to come and speak.

Now Chris, for those of you who don't know him, is a man who can cook and as if that is not enough to recommend him he also gardens, he writes great books about food, he is the current Chairperson of Farmers Markets NZ, is actively involved in the Slow Food movement and has chef'ed in some very swanky restaurants around the world.   Together with his wife Tina, he is currently raising his young family in Marlborough and has more projects on the go than you can shake a stick at.

Chris is a vibrant and entertaining speaker.    He is passionate about food and life and well worth missing Monday night Shortland St. to come out and listen to.

He will be taking us "from garden to plate" and if his latest book on food smoking is anything to go by, be prepared to have your culinary repetoire expanded.   Chris has a flair for food that is special but doable at home. His cookbooks are like having a chef over your shoulder.

If you want to know more about Chris before shelling out $25 on a ticket to spend an evening with him then I recommend you visit his website -www.chrisfortune.co.nz

But wait, there's more. Not only do you get an evening with Chris. You'll also get a glass of wine, cider or juice and some yummy nibbles, a goodie bag, coffee and cake afterwards and a great silet auction where local folks have donated their goods and their skills.     We've donated a fondue and cheesemaking evening with me at my house and the other donations are equally interesting I can tell you.

Tickets available from all good retailers including, Baku, Jester House, Tessa Mae's, us and the Mapua School.   As with previous years they will sell out so be in quick.

All of the proceeds from the evening go to the Mapua School so have I convinced you yet?   Monday night in the brand new Hills Community Church on Aranui Road, Mapua. Doors open at 6.30pm.    Tickets $25.00 at the retailers above.   Buy one, get another one at the same price.   Bring Him too - Chris is a man's man.   He'll enjoy it and get some new tips to rule the BBQ this summer.

Camelicious milk | Stuff.co.nz

2010-10-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Camelicious milk | Stuff.co.nz

Lisa from Sherrington Grange is selling fresh cow and goat milk at The Marlborough Farmers Market on Sundays

Food

Essential musselsSavour springBleats lead to fresh goat's milkMatch winnersNaysayers eat their wordsDishing up a winnerNuts about nutsTrue cost of our favourite foods?Soup's up, but which is best?Gardening wisdom and tastebud treats

I made a promise in October last year that I would cook a 10 course degustation (not devastation) dinner and provide the wine to the first company or business people that set up a commercial dairy.

There is something special about tasting something that you know has been produced here in Marlborough from our own animals and not trucked out of the region in bulk and then returned in plastic some days or months later.

Lisa from Sherrington Grange, you are a true champion. Not only did I have goat milk butter last month but you are now providing fresh milk, goats' and cows', at the Marlborough Farmers' Market. I look forward to keeping my promise as you have delivered the goods.

Cows are not the only critters that produce milk for consumption. In fact, the United States is the only country in which cow's milk is more popular than milk from other mammals. The fact that New Zealand is following America in this mass production of primary products is of a concern, as a struggle to balance monocultures of food products is emerging. The sole function of milk in nature is as a food source, so it is not surprising that the nutritional value is high, even though milk is 85 per cent water

New Zealand cows' milk is a primary source for lots of things such as butter, cheese and milk powder, but maybe we have been sold on the wrong milk-producing animal. We should be looking at diversifying so that we are not reliant on just one bovine.

Milk from camels is a good staple food because it does not curdle like cows' milk and it has been used as a survival food for thousands of years by nomadic desert tribes (think coming climate change). Camels' milk contains six types of fatty acids such as lanolin acid, which helps control wrinkles and condition skin tone (think of all of the money we would save on makeup and Botox). Camels' milk contains high levels of insulin and antibodies that are good for regulating diabetes and other diseases. (We need to get our local health boards funding the herds of camels.) Unlike cows' milk, camels' milk is easily digestible for the lactose intolerant population. It also contains more vitamin C than cows' milk and is better for us.

I will cook a 15-course degustation dinner for the first person or business that set up a commercial camel dairy in New Zealand. I can see it now, camels grazing on our green pastures, being herded into milking sheds and chocolate and banana camels' milk being served in our local schools.

HOMEMADE YOGHURT

8 cups milk, cow, goat or camel

1/3 cup powdered milk (this is optional but will make a thicker yoghurt)

1/4 cup local honey, optional for sweetened yoghurt

1/2 cup starter yoghurt

Pour your milk into a large cooking pot. Heat the milk up to 85degC. Allow the milk to cool down to 43degC. If you want to speed the process up fill your sink with cold water and place the pot of milk in the water and stir. The temperature drops fairly quickly this way, so make sure to have your thermometer handy to keep checking.

Leave them there for 10 to 12 hours. Try not to disturb the jars too much. When the yoghurt is firm it is time to remove the jars and put them in the refrigerator to get nice and cold. Usually 12 to 24 hours.After you reach 43degC add the remaining ingredients and stir until everything is dissolved well. Pour this mixture into your ready and waiting jars. Put the lids on and put them into whatever place you are planning to incubate and culture them (hot water cupboard).

If you make and incubate the yoghurt during the day it can refrigerate overnight and be ready for breakfast the next day.

Four seasons in a year

2010-10-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Please don’t shoot the messenger, for he is only delivering what you knew already, were aware of, but because of your busy and hectic life you may have just passed it over, pushed it to the side or moved onto the next thing as it whizzes by.

Spring is here and Mother nature has let us know with rays of great sunshine, downpours of rain and blasts of chilled air, all while we are trying to shake the winter blues. In the kitchen our style of cooking changes drastically as we move away from slow cooked meals, thick and tasty braises and roasts and more into a lighter, fresher and greener style, that reflects the season that we are now living in. With four seasons in the year it is easy to get lost as they all tend to blend into one another when we pretending to be busy with something that this much more important than what mother natures is doing. Supermarkets keep us focused on consistency and availability 24/7 so that we never go without, so that our longing urges for seasonal food are kept hidden behind misters and mirrors, piles of sameness and structure and piped music.

We live in a world where we depend on just a few to deliver so much, where big food companies pretend to be small companies so that we can become there Facebook friends, there marketing teams and there entertainment by dangling flashing lights, exotic promotions and competitions that promise to remove us from our dreary and boring subsistence of our everyday lives. The Human brain is the most amazing thing yet it fails us every time when our taste buds are soured by the unripe nectarines, cool stored and glassed apples, flavourless plums, sterlised milk, bland and air filled bread and artificial flavours and fillers that stretch our food dollars further than the rise in GST.

The real cost of food is not just what you pay over the counter, the real cost is the value that you receive from Mother nature as she tells you what is in season, what is at its best and what you should be eating at this time of the year. While spring heralds that start of a new beginning it is also one of the scarest times of the year as we move out of winter and we are waiting for all of the good things to appear, mother nature is just telling use to be patient, good things come to those that wait, better things come to those that appreciate the simple things in life.

Globe artichokes

Ensure the artichokes are at their freshest by only choosing ones that are tightly closed and firm to the touch. Once they have been cooked you can use them in a multitude of ways: in salads, sautéed, with olives and cheese, or puréed as a dip.

water, to just cover

juice of 2 lemons

salt

6 coriander seeds

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bayleaf

12 artichokes, med sized

Pour water into a pan and add lemon juice, pinch of salt, coriander seeds, thyme and bay leaf.

Remove stalk from artichoke by breaking it off and removing woody parts. Trim off the base and any rough outer leaves then cut off about the top 3cm/1¼in of leaves. Using a small knife peel the artichokes removing all the green leaf parts. Rub with half a lemon and place in the pan, adding a little more water to cover if necessary.

Bring to the boil then simmer for 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool in liquor - you may need to put a small plate on the artichokes to keep them submerged in the liquid. Leave artichokes in the liquor until you are ready to use them so they do not discolour.

Serve and eat or pack into hot sterilised jars for long term storage

Developing a ‘culture of food’ in Gisborne

2010-10-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Marlborough-based chef met local food producers and sampled some of the region's food during his first visit to the Gisborne Farmers' Market on Saturday.

"I want to highlight what is good and tasty about Gisborne. I have been saving up an appetite for it. Fresh food grown here, sold directly from the producer, were the main ingredients of the Farmers' Market", he said.

"My key role is to help farmers' markets grow and to actively promote regional food products. I'm lucky, I get to taste my way around New Zealand. More and more, the question is being asked, 'what are we eating?' With the farmers' markets, you know where the food comes from and you can meet the producers face to face."

"It's about supporting all Farmers' Markets around New Zealand, have a taste of what's on offer, network, share information and help them to grow and diversify."

Celebrating regional diversification in New Zealand was an important element of Farmers' Markets, said Fortune.

"When you go to Europe you celebrate mushrooms, pasta and tomatoes. In New Zealand, what we're developing is a culture of food and what we're good at."

"Gisborne is world-renowned for citrus and is also becoming well known for other pip fruit and produce.

"Gisborne is also very rich in culture. There are a lot of iwi here and that's something you want to bring out and put in front of people because overseas, New Zealand is highly regarded for what it does. One of the main reasons behind the success of Farmers' Market is that you have the consumer wanting to buy directly from producers."

Farmers' markets have grown from 12 to 50 since starting in 2006

It leaves the same feeling as local body elections, empty

2010-10-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Photos Jim Tannock

It's new, it's exciting, it is made with real cheese (35 per cent), has no added colours, artificial flavours and requires no refrigeration – it is the perfect food, no mess, and is a convenient cheese snack. It even comes in different flavours, tasty and mild, for the connoisseur of cheese.

Expectations are high, the marketing is colourful and stimulating, the promise is that it is made with real cheese and it is great in your sandwiches, on pizza and even on veggies

Like a lot of things in life it is a marketing person's dream: kids will love it, mums will love it because it saves time and space in the fridge, it is easy, no fuss and cheap. Did I say cheap? It is $7 for 226g, or $28 a kilo. However, that is for 35 per cent cheese, so the real cost for the cheese component is actually $80 per kilo. You get the preservatives, whey and propellant for free.

The consumer may choose to buy cheese in a can and may think that this is the best thing since sliced bread, but please don't complain about the cost of real food and real cheese. When are we going to realise that the real cost of food and food production is not about lots of propellant and little substance, but about food that is produced sustainably by real food producers.

EASY CHEESE FONDUE RECIPE

250g Sherrington Grange cheese grated (pick your favourite) or one can of Mr Cheese, tasty

1 clove Marlborough garlic

1 cup white wine, Marlborough of course

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp flour (helps bind the fondue)

2 Tbsp Kirsch (optional)

1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)

Nutmeg and/or paprika to taste

Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the garlic clove, add clove to pot. Heat the white wine and lemon juice, they should be hot but do not boil. Reduce heat to low and slowly add cheese while stirring. Slowly add remainder of ingredients while stirring. If fondue is too loose add more cheese. If fondue is too stiff add more wine.

To dip: Marlborough baguette or ciabatta bread (or any crusty bread) cut into bite-sized cubes.

Chris Fortune - Buy Chris Fortune Books at Mighty Ape NZ

2010-10-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Chris Fortune - Buy Chris Fortune Books at Mighty Ape NZ

All you need to know about smoking food from renowned New Zealand chef, Chris Fortune.

Includes . . .
• hot and cold smoking techniques
• smoking essentials and pre-smoking processes; including preparation of food
• information on the types of smoker you can use, including Kiwi Sizzler gas smokers
• which woods to choose for different flavours
• how to store smoked food
• a useful troubleshooting guide for when things go wrong, and much more.

Illustrated throughout with full-colour photographs, the book describes the basic methods for smoking a variety of foods, including handy suggestions on how to use your smoked product. The wide range of mouth-watering recipes encourages you to get more adventurous with your smoker. Try the Hot-smoked Oysters with Tomato and Chilli Salsa from the fish and seafood section or Hot-smoked Spicy Sausages in the red meats. Chris’ Pork Ribs Hot-smoked over Oak are hard to beat and the duck and chicken section includes a recipe for Green Tea Smoked Duck Breasts which can also be used for chicken breasts. The vegetable section has a yummy, versatile Smoky Tomato Ketchup and there are also delicious recipes for smoking cheese, nuts, chocolate and much more . . .

The recipes have all been developed by Chris to help you get the most out of your smoker.

About the Author

Chris Fortune is well known as a chef and as a leader in the Farmers' Market movement. He has worked as a chef on a super yacht and run restaurants and a seafood cooking school in Marlborough. His passion for honest, home-grown or home-produced foods is evident throughout this book.

Kids Get Growing

2010-09-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

A nine-year-old boy grows vegetables for his elderly neighbours, two-year-old twins stand vigil over emerging seeds and theMarlborough Farmers' Market and Community Gardens sprout a new kids gardening initiative.

Marlborough express

For Marlborough woman Tina Fortune, the road to strong communities is lined with gardens.

The manager of the Marlborough Farmers' Market, initiator of the Mini Marketers, trustee manager of the Marlborough Community Gardens and creator of a new mobile kitchen classroom initiative, says gardens and dining room tables can be the perfect environment for growing better families and communities.

"For me, it is all about bringing people together."

Now she's merging several of her roles to help teach children about growing, cooking and eating fresh produce.

This Sunday the Community Gardens will kickstart a new satellite children's garden at the A&P Show Grounds, so the Mini Marketers, 50 young offshoots of the Marlborough Farmers' Market, can learn about gardening.

"The mantra of the Mini Marketers is `growing healthy kids one marketer at a time' and this project is all about delivering on that," she says.

Every Sunday morning of the Farmers' Market summer season, the children will develop the gardens, building eight raised beds, furnishing them with soil and worms, establishing compost to feed them (using waste from the market), planting the seeds, nurturing the plants and eventually harvesting the produce, learning all the while about helpful and harmful creatures in the garden, looking after their equipment, and respecting one another.

After harvest, the project will move into a new kitchen classroom, where the children can see how the produce is transformed into delicious meals.

The kitchen, as yet unbuilt and unnamed, is supported by the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board's nutrition and physical activity programme.

Spokeswoman Maria Baxter says they are really proud of the initiative, "because research shows gardening leads to improved health, improved nutritional knowledge and improved wellbeing".

Tina says the mobile learning unit will have a kitchen and seating for about 20, and will be entirely hands-on.

"We'll let the kids get in there and get their hands in the food."

Bench tops will be both child-height and adult-height friendly, so everyone has a comfortable learning environment.

In the kitchen and garden, Tina will use children to teach children, with established greenfingers like nine-year-old Joshua Marshall, runner-up in last year's New Zealand Gardener magazine's Gardener of the Year award, and 10-year-old Sophie Dawson, Tina's unofficial assistant manager, sharing their passion and knowledge with kids less experienced in the ways of digging dirt.

READER GIVEAWAY

The Marlborough Farmers' Market is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the launch of a beautiful new calendar with market shots by Marlborough photographer Jim Tannock. They have five to give away to lucky school-age readers. Available for collection from the Marlborough Farmers' Market in November.

To enter, write your name, address and daytime phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to: Farmers Market Calendar, PO Box 242, Blenheim, to reach us by October 15.

Naysayers eat their words

2010-09-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

`It will never work." "We would erode family values by operating on a Sunday morning." "Give it a year and they will disappear."

I remember these words uttered when, 10 years ago, a small group of people started on the concept of a farmers' market in the Marlborough region.

Some people are afraid of things they don't understand, but supporting local food producers is simply a way of ensuring that we have a diverse region that is both sustaining and viable.

The Marlborough Farmers' Market is about to start another year, just one of 50 farmers' markets around New Zealand.

The fact that these markets have made a difference in the lives of thousands of local food producers around New Zealand means that we are truly becoming a country that celebrates what we have in our back yard, rather than relying on other countries to provide our food needs.

If anyone wants to sell at any farmers' market they must be involved in the production of the product, it must be an edible food product (exceptions for flowers and composts) and it must come from a defined area. The Marlborough Farmers' Market has defined its area from Rai Valley to Kaikoura.

This then ensures that the real local food producers and growers do not have to compete against on-sellers or resellers (with produce bought in bulk from a wholesaler or middleman from anywhere). For more information on which real food producers you can find in your back yard visit mfm.co.nz.

The Marlborough Farmers' market works closely with our local council and we have grown over the last 10 years to accommodate the success of the organisation and the food produced in our region.

We have received great support from locals and tourists and we look forward to working with them in the long term to showcase the very best of food from Marlborough at the A&P Park on Sundays, 9am to noon, rain or shine.

PRESERVED LEMON AND MINT RISOTTO

Easy to make, satisfying and goes well by itself or served with fresh seafood.

quarter cup grapeseed or Marlborough olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 small fennel bulb, chopped

4 cloves Marlborough garlic, minced (about 1Tbsp)

Marlborough sea salt to taste

2 cups arborio rice

half cup lemon juice

half cup white wine

6 to 8 cups hot vegetable stock

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

cup mascarpone

2 Tbsp finely diced preserved lemon rind (or 4 fresh lemons zested)

1 cup coarsely chopped mint and parsley leaves

2 cups peas Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot. Add the onion, fennel and garlic and sweat over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent.

Add the rice and raise the heat to medium high. Stir to coat and slightly toast the rice for about 3 minutes. You should hear a lively crackling in the pot. The rice will take on a shiny, translucent coat.

Add the lemon juice and white wine to the rice and continue stirring until the liquid is almost completely absorbed. Add a ladleful of hot stock to the rice and continue stirring. As the stock is absorbed, continue adding it by ladleful and stirring. If you watch carefully, you'll see that towards the end the rice really gives itself over to the liquid, releasing its starch to make a kind of cream.

Add the lemon zest or rind and the peas. If you like, finish with a little strong cheese, season to taste and allow to rest for 5 mins.

VEGETABLE STOCK

2 onions, peeled and quartered

1 bulb Marlborough garlic, peeled

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, scrubbed clean, cut into large chunks

2 carrots, scrubbed, cut into large chunks

2 stalks celery, cleaned, cut into large chunks (leaves optional)

1 Tbsp mixed peppercorns

2 bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and sprigs of parsley.

Prepare all the ingredients and put into a large pot. Add water to cover until the ingredients start to float. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Strain out the vegetables and herbs, then refrigerate or freeze the liquid into medium sized container

From Farm Gate to Dinner Plate - Wild Tomato

2010-09-15T04:01:00.000-07:00

From Farm Gate to Dinner Plate

Freshly roasted coffee, delicious local produce and Marlborough’s who’s who | The Marlborough Farmers’ Market has become the essential place to be on Sunday morning By Toni Gillan | Photography by Jim Tannock

On Sunday mornings I wake up in high spirits because the farmers’ market is being held. And I’m not alone. Taking time out from their busy weeks, an increasing number of Marlburians are grabbing their recyclable shopping bags to buy into farmers’ market mindfulness.

From farm gate to dinner plate, the Marlborough Farmers’ Market has evolved into a celebration of the good life – a feel-good Sunday blessing of the simple values of our community.

Held at the A&P Showgrounds – come rain, shine, blistering heat or chilly southerlies – from spring until late autumn, the farmers’ market takes life and living well beyond the enjoyment of an organic breakfast while imbibing a fair trade coffee fix. As we buy up locally-grown produce from enthusiastic stall vendors, we can catch up with all and sundry at the same time.

The atmosphere is sensational. Around the jumble of stalls, adults and kids colour the view, coffee and cooking aromas travel with the wind, and music gently drifts by in the air.

We are happy to be here. It’s impossible to shop quickly – particularly if one of the resident buskers like Peter Bargh starts to play his saxophone. For him, we’ll gravitate to a picnic bench to give him the time of day and a small thank you in his instrument box. It’s so laidback that, lest we miss out, we stiffen our resolve and get down to shopping for the real deal.

For many locals, the farmers’ market is an indispensable part of their week; with its sentiment and values reflecting their way of life. Defined as “those who eat locally”, these people are more interestingly referred to as locavores.

Chris Elphick and his partner Hazel Kirkham regularly travel from Picton to buy as much of their week’s food from the farmers’ market as possible. Chris says buying seasonal, fresh, locally-grown food means less transport energy is used. The couple believes it is important to support the local economy and to buy directly from growers. By doing this, their food is cheaper and fresher than when it’s passed through a number of middle people.

“We come to support small Marlborough producers and to have direct contact with them. It’s great when things come round like yummy cherries. As much of the produce at the farmers’ market is (at least) spray free, we aim for organic wherever possible. Plus it’s a good way to spend Sunday mornings – social and relaxed – and enjoy breakfast and coffee. With plenty of variety throughout the seasons, we eat whatever is available. And we believe that the more we shop here, the more local growers will be encouraged to try new things.”

“We purchase very little from supermarkets – just occasional hardware and processed foods, which we keep to a minimum. We still try to get most of those products from the local organic shop in Blenheim. Our aim is to not need a supermarket at all,” says Chris.

The idea of a Marlborough farmers’ market began in 2000 with an initiative spearheaded by Marlborough’s tourism marketing arm, Destination Marlborough. It sponsored Australian food writer and farmers’ market advocate Jane Adams to hold workshops and speak at a fundraising dinner. An enthusiastic founding committee (Chris Fortune, Charlie Jacobsen, Christina Mackay, Sandra Morritt, Geoff Swift, Bob and Jennie Crum and Stefan Browning) was subsequently formed.

A fact-finding trip to the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market, personally funded by Chris Fortune, Christina MacKay and Geoff Swift, ensued. On the recommendations of these so-named “three musketeers” (and the working model they had acquired), the Marlborough Farmers’ Market was inaugurated.

Tina Fortune is the manager of the Marlborough Farmers’ Market. Her partner, Chris Fortune, is the market’s breakfast chef, the chairman and an acknowledged driving force of the market since its inception. Tina recalls the early days when, of necessity, some committee members personally funded the market initiative to progress its development.

The market, now in its eighth year and seventh season, is regarded as one of the most progressive in the country. With strict operating guidelines for grower participation (to ensure the authenticity of the market and its produce), vendors are only permitted to sell primary produce, fresh food and value-added processed produce. The only exceptions are fresh-cut flowers and self-propagated plants, compost, natural fertiliser and worm farms.

Under these terms of engagement, the market presently sells organic fair trade coffee, breakfast food on potato plates, organic and processed meats, craft breads and baking, olive oils, nuts, seasonal berries and fruit, salad greens, herbs, saffron, vegetables, seedlings, flowers, mussels, crayfish, wild game, free-range eggs, cheese, goat’s milk, honey, wines, preserves, cordials and chutneys.

Tina says, “One of the key principles of a farmers’ market is for the consumer to have a direct relationship with the producer. So the stall must be operated by the producer or someone directly involved in production. When it comes to organics, any produce labelled as such must be certified under the Bio-Gro, Demeter or Certenz labels.”

Along with her other responsibilities, Tina’s job is to look after the stallholders, as well as oversee the information stall and the two breakfast tents, which she believes are the pulse of the market. She lists fun, family resonance and social interaction amongst her objectives.

“The picnic benches are purposely sited in the middle of the market for interaction and, I hope, for new Marlburians to relax and chat to locals. Oh… and to Nos Fletcher who is our market crier,” she adds with a laugh in her voice, “and Katrina Oliver – our very own quirky tales storyteller. She tells a very entertaining story about stone soup.”

“It’s all in our weekly newsletter, along with items urging people to think about what’s in their food – like where raw milk is coming from – and who to talk to around the stalls if they want to know more about specific subjects or concerns?”

Tina nurtures her stallholders; particularly new participants who often (as primary producers with little public interaction) find it a little daunting to engage in conversation. “We teach them to talk about their product, take ownership and be independent. From closed and shy, they blossom to open, confident, smiley people. We encourage them to socialise, and to attend our forums and barbecues. We even give an annual award for ‘stallholder of the season’.”

Sherrington Grange cheese maker Lisa Harper, her brother (beekeeper Rob Harper) and his wife (Sabine) work and live together as part of a family cooperative. Travelling from Mahau in the Pelorus Sound via Havelock to get their produce to market, they were keen to get home but allowed me a quick five-minute interview. In the telling, their passion took over and we were still talking 40 minutes later.

Lisa Harper, reeking of strong cheese in the afternoon heat, says coming to market is the highlight of her week. She has her regulars and is always happy to answer questions, provide cheese tastings and corrupt young three-year-old palates with an aged blue. She brings eight varieties, as well as seasonal cheeses when available.

Lisa applauds the market’s strict operating guidelines. “We need to protect our environment and our life balance. The free-trade agreement with China (and all that it entails) highlights the necessity for people to be more aware of the origin of their food. It’s just safer to buy locally,” she states. She loves the commitment shown and the idea of growers standing together behind their products.

Rod Harper sells high-grade manuka honey gathered from his 300 hives. He talks at length about the relationship between the placement of his hives and pollinating trees, and about the uniqueness of the product. “We’re selling a strained, unblended, straight-from-the-bee, completely natural honey. It has a different texture, inconsistencies, a strong flavour and a sharp aftertaste that reflects regional nuances (as opposed to, say, Coromandel manuka honey).”

“People buy it as a spread, to cook with or as a medicinal tonic. Increasingly, it’s being used for health reasons. Manuka honey has recognised anti-bacterial wound-healing properties for burns, he earnestly tells me. Encapsulating dried honey as a lozenge (produced locally in Havelock) is a new direction for us and we’re trialling the market response right here,” he enthuses.

Other growers also see value in exposing their products to locals and visitors for market research. Committed to the Marlborough Farmers’ Market from season one, Hilary Clere (from Tussock Garden & Olive Grove) talks up the virtues and uses of her six different varieties of extra virgin olive oil.

Hilary gives out recipes based around usage suggestions, offers tastings and explains why (in her opinion) extra virgin olive oil shouldn’t be heated – it defeats the purpose of cold pressing… “especially after all the trouble we’ve gone to”. She worries about the origins of imported olive oil, particularly Italian varieties.

Hilary loves swapping ideas and product with her fellow stallholders, and says that it’s all worth getting up early for each Sunday.

Riverina almond growers Graham Farnell and Gill Smith enjoy the market’s one-on-one interaction. With their home-engineered nut roaster in situ, giving off arresting caramel aromas, they’re committed to the farmers’ market concept.

They want to broaden people’s knowledge of how food is produced, and speak about the importance of a traceable food chain. “Discerning market goers want to know where their food’s come from… they’re entitled to know with all the imported, blended, cheap stuff coming into the country,” says Graham.

With a premium almond range that includes salt roasted, garlic chilli and candied nuts (harvested with an almond-tree shaker Graham engineered), almond oil, crunchy almond butter (made in yet another machine engineered by Graham) and its by-product, almond flour, they are a busy enterprise.

Chris and Tina Fortune’s working partnership at the market attracts high praise from many stallholders. They are seen to be approachable, calm and well organised. I’m told they arrive first and leave last, they’re keen and they’re enthusiastic, which is evident in their friendliness and the calibre of the stallholders they attract.

As a chef, Chris talks on Radio New Zealand National, and mentions products and promotes the market in his The Marlborough Express cooking column. Respected for his leadership on a bigger scale, as chairman of the National Farmers’ Market Federation (which he, Jennie Crum and Ian Thomas founded), he’s also outspoken on issues that touch his heart and philosophy.

There’s no getting away from the work Chris has undertaken on behalf of, and in support of, farmers’ markets both locally and nationally… or the sphere his influence. He sits on the committee of the newly-formed local Slow Food convivium (seeing it as the retail arm of farmers’ markets as it satisfies consumers who want to understand and experience local food production). He’s also a judge for the Cuisine Artisan Awards, which recognise the efforts of talented artisan food and beverage producers.

As a self-checking process, Chris has entered the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. He won recognition three times for the Marlborough Farmers’ Market and its contribution to the community.

As the regular market breakfast chef, Chris mentors the young kids he employs – teaching them about food and life skills on the job. Fifteen-year-old Alex Judd has worked on breakfast preparation and cooking since he was 10, starting as dish boy and sausage turner before progressing on to omelettes, caramelised figs and the like.

Alex has saved for a car and will drive himself to the market this season. He believes he’s learnt a lot and intends to continue his chef training when he leaves school, as well as study business management.

Chris says he appreciates the big picture and realises it’s important to think ahead… to pass on what he has learnt and become an open source of information for others to utilise.

This year, the Farmers’ Market New Zealand annual conference was held in Blenheim. The opening speaker, Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, said she sees farmers’ markets as part of the antidote to rising food prices, and praised farmers’ markets as a “diversified, low-carbon food economy, where dependence was reduced on oil and global food prices”.

With 42 farmers’ markets around New Zealand, seven defined market regions will now be formed for networking purposes and to provide the best locations from which New Zealand food producers can sell.

There are many other matters that also need to be considered. To ensure a positive future, the authenticity of farmers’ markets must be protected – particularly from supermarkets that are trying to win back customers by emulating home-grown visual effects found at farmers’ markets. And the buy-local initiative, with member contributions being equalled by the government, will culminate in a national promotion of farmers’ markets in February/March 2009.

Looking to the market’s future, Tina Fortune says she’s still got a few ideas in the oven. With an attendance of over 3,000 (and rising each Sunday), she says it’s evident that farmers’ markets are increasingly becoming a focus of community life – reflecting the food of the region. Perhaps a year-round market for stallholders whose livelihoods depended on it could be on the cards… or a Thursday market held in The Forum during winter.

Tina and her committee are also keen to support initiatives such as schools’ educational involvement in edible gardens. “Perhaps we’ll plant one outside the A&P Showgrounds… under our farmers’ market sign,” she suggests with a smile.

The Marlborough Farmers Markets

2010-09-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Chris Fortune Recipes and News

Out Standing in their Fields

Outstanding Kitchen being built - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

Well deserved Winner of NZ Rural Womans Award

Lisa Harper is Supreme Winner !!

Master chef recipes

Marlborough in the running for Taste of the Year

Transparency of Marlborough

Ingredients

NZ cookbooks at Taste Farmers' Markets Awards 2011

Vote online for your favourtie Farmers' Market and you will also be in to win one of the following New Zealand cookbooks. There are two copies each to be won!

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

News > Tauranga Farmers' Market still in front (just)

Tauranga Farmers' Market still in front (just)

Organic orchard lifeblood of market | Stuff.co.nz

Marlborough Puffery

Taste Cooking Demos in the super city

CHRIS FORTUNE at the Taste Cooking Demos in Auckland Sunday 10 th April

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

A Major Earthquake centered on Lyttelton occurred at 1pm on February the 22nd 2011

The Civil Defence Centre for Lyttelton is the Recreation Centre on Winchester Street

Tune in to Volcano Radio on 88.5fm or listen to our live stream

Brett McGregor: The birth of a celebrity chef - Food - NZ Herald News

Taste Farmers Markets NZ Awards 2011

Welcome to the Taste Farmers' Markets NZ Awards 2011To be in to win, vote for your Favorite Farmers' Market CLICK HERE Vote online and you will also be entered into the draw to win one of the following New Zealand cookbooks. There are two copies each to be won!

Havelock Mussel Festival

My Love affair is revealed

Toastmasters - I like Olive oil on my toast

Kia kaha Christchurch

A open invitation to NZ Bloggers

Autumn Season has arrived now that.......

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

Farmers' Markets New Zealand: Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

MOJO Corn

Taste of Good Books - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

Local Food, wine and Cookbooks

Farmers' Market of the Year

The real cost of Seasonal Food 2011

Kiwi Sizzler - Keep it simple - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One

Cheese making with Slow food Marlborough

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

Cook celebrates fresh produce | Stuff.co.nz

Press and Media - Chris Fortune NZ Chef

Hells Bitchen NZ - Chris Fortune profile - Hells Kitchen Winner

Marlborough Farmers' Market 2011

Meet the queen of beets | Stuff.co.nz

One year at the Dinner Table

HELP, HELP, HELP - MY MUM AND DAD WANT ME TO EAT PORRIDGE !

Making Headlines

· Farmers Market moving to fresh fields – Otago Daily Times, Queenstown Farmers Market

· Market day changes – Nelson Mail, Nelson Farmers’ Market

· Stalls hit sticking point - Papakura Courier – Clevedon Farmers market· Easter blow for market - Waikato Times – Hamilton Farmers Market

· Farmers market price fixing row settled – Gisborne Farmers market

Marlborough Plum Salsa Recipe, great with Christmas ham or left over cold cuts

6 fresh Marlborough Plums, diced – firm and not to soft, but not to firm, freshly picked

1/2 Red onion thinly Sliced

1 tablespoon sliced green garlic or 2 spring onions

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice or lemon juice and zest

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1/2 finely chopped small seeded jalapeno pepper (optional)

2 T Marlborough Olive oil

Marlborough Flaky Sea Salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and serve to the table.

Need for second farmers market questioned (page 1) | Otago Daily Times Online News Keep Up to Date Local, National New Zealand & International News

Marlborough – Taste Local Produce | Marlborough in New Zealand | Travel information for New Zealand

So what is a Localvore then

Taste Marlborough Cherries

Turn taters into tempting treats | Stuff.co.nz

Marlborough Farmers' Market 2011

Humbled by Earth gems

The Rise of the Lazy Locavore - WSJ.com

Settlers' delicious legacy lives on | Stuff.co.nz

Rural

Part of our weekly shop

Taste Farmers Markets New Zealand Awards 2011

Whats that on your face ?

Where there smoke there is fire !

Camelicious milk | Stuff.co.nz

Food

Welcome to the Taste Farmers' Markets NZ Awards 2011

To be in to win, vote for your Favorite Farmers' Market CLICK HERE

Vote online and you will also be entered into the draw to win one of the following New Zealand cookbooks. There are two copies each to be won!

· Stalls hit sticking point - Papakura Courier – Clevedon Farmers market

· Easter blow for market - Waikato Times – Hamilton Farmers Market