In Season: February
Virgil Evetts Once again we’re in the grip of high summer, that oppressive, impossibly hot and sticky time of year that can drive one to harbour shameful yearnings for the bleak midwinter. Or is that just me?
Loving Food
Summer Entertaining
Virgil Evetts Summer entertaining can be both a joy and curse. The long, languid days and fine weather (recent episodes notwithstanding) are perfect for kicking back on the deck with good friends, great food and fine wine; but perversely it’s … Read more
Make a list, check it twice …
Virgil Evetts Although I am loathe to even mention the word before December, Christmas is once again looming on the very near horizon. Ads for Christmas music CDs will soon reach fever pitch, normally tolerable colleagues will turn up … Read more
When in Auckland…
Virgil Evetts Anyone with half a brain, or somewhere else to be, would be well advised to avoid Auckland most of the time. Hell, I do, and I live here. Oh, the people are nice enough- despite what those … Read more
Eastern Accents- Herbs With Verve
Virgil Evetts Last week I talked about my favourite common summer herbs. Among other things I urged caution when tempted by the many plants presented as herbs by garden retailers these days. For most of us garden space is at … Read more
Breaking the breakfast fast
Virgil Evetts My best beloved has spent a lot of time scolding me in recent days for my apparently shoddy daytime eating habits. Of particular concern is my wanton disregard for breakfast, by far her favourite meal of the day, and yes, … Read more
Ready Made: The good, the bad and the stupid…
Virgil Evetts In the make- believe world of food media all foodstuffs are made from scratch. Nothing shop bought can ever be as good as homemade. Surely??? Meanwhile in the parallel universe of bombastic supermarket sales strategies, the very opposite … Read more
Dinner on the wards- Hospital food.
Virgil Evetts I’ve always said that my blind terror of hospital food is what keeps me healthy. All that overcooked cabbage. But to be fair to the much-maligned kitchens for the poorly, it’s been a few years since I’ve spent … Read more
New Zealand: Edible National Treasures
Virgil Evetts Rick Stein got me thinking. After attending his all-too-brief press conference last week, where he praised the rude health of the New Zealand food scene, I started compiling a mental list of the flavours that really set … Read more
Bargain Betty and the Pantry Project
Virgil Evetts Diana Clement has a genius for frugality. She can spot a bargain at 50 paces, smell a decent garage sale from several streets over, and is a Trade Me trawler of formidable prowess. And so she should be. … Read more
Of Cabbages and Kings (but mostly cabbages).
Virgil Evetts To the average consumer there’s nothing very sexy about brassicas. Oh sure, we go through the motions with broccoli and cauliflower and even the odd cabbage from time to time, but they’re usually approached with grim determination rather … Read more
The Exploded Chicken
Virgil Evetts So ubiquitous is the humble chicken among the world’s myriad cuisines that it has become the default point of reference for all other meats. Any unfamiliar flesh is described in terms of how much it tastes like chicken. I think … Read more
The Pesto Manifesto
Virgil Evetts I’m breaking with convention this week. No more seasonality. Enough already. I know it’s bitterly cold out, but there’s only so much slow cooking I can handle. I don’t like winter, not one bit, and over exposure to slow-cooked stew-y things … Read more
Warming The Cockles
Virgil Evetts Is it terribly un-Kiwi of me to admit that I can’t stand oysters? The way they smell, they way they taste, the way they slither down your throat with slug-like viscosity… my stomach heaves. I’m not much moved … Read more
