The one-track lunch loop

The one-track lunch loop

Virgil Evetts After many years of treading the 9-5 commuter grind, I’m now working from home. So far it’s a welcome change and I’m liking it more every day. I could get quite used to the hours of uninterrupted silence to … Read more »

Sugar-free Dairy-free Chocolate Ice Cream

Sugar-free Dairy-free Chocolate Ice Cream

Janet Chang I’ve been having major cravings for ice cream. Maybe it’s because summer is on its way out and I’m trying to hold onto the last bits of summer in denial of winter’s arrival. I bought an ice cream … Read more »

Coffee Posers

Coffee Posers

Virgil Evetts What is it with people and their coffee preferences? Once upon a time coffee was either white or black, filter or instant. Sure it tasted bloody horrible, but at least there was little room for pretensions and misguided … Read more »

Why do we do it?

Why do we do it?

Laurel Watson I admit it, I’m a Masterchef fan, I watched the Australian show and I’ve just watched the grand final of our home grown version (can someone tell me the difference between a final and a grand final?) and … Read more »

Black Cumin

Black Cumin

Summerfields. There is very little confusion about standard cumin – cumin is cumin. Black cumin is much more complicated. Standard cumin is the dried fruits of the plant  cuminum cyminum. It is used in many cuisines. We use it a … Read more »

Cauliflower Mushroom Soup with Thyme

Cauliflower Mushroom Soup with Thyme

Janet Chang It’s definitely getting colder in New Zealand as Winter is not too far away. Colder weather means soups and casseroles which can take a bit more time to make. But as I don’t like to spend hours in … Read more »

Hester Guy and Tart Tatin

Hester Guy and Tart Tatin

My cousin Rozanne from France, a highly qualified chef, has been staying with us for the past fortnight.  I’ve had a lesson in how to make puff pastry using Lurpak butter and somehow my rolling technique does not meet the … Read more »

Best In Print

Best In Print

Virgil Evetts When I was a kid I always regretted watching “making of…” TV specials – rather than helping to build my excitement about the film in question they just ruined the magic for me.  Similarly (sort of) I find some of … Read more »

Sort It Out

Sort It Out

  Virgil Evetts Why can’t everybody behave like me in restaurants?  I eat out reasonably often, and while the service in local eateries is certainly on the up and up, the general deportment of the kiwi diner is most certainly … Read more »

Quince Time Again

Quince Time Again

It’s quince time again – Summerfields Quince Jelly is one of our most favourite things. It almost has a perfume rather than a flavour. It is unlike anything else and its exotic, aromatic qualities reminds us of orange blossom water … Read more »

Peking Duck Dinners

Peking Duck Dinners

 Summerfields There is little debate that Peking Duck is a delicious dish. While being a Chinese dish/icon, it really seems to have a special place in the hearts of Brits. It is another one of those recipes that the more … Read more »

Kiwis Used To Eat .....What?

Kiwis Used To Eat …..What?

Lois Davey Almost daily, I trot down the steep hill from the uppermost reaches of Dunedin to purchase something or another from the local dairy. During the slow and torturous plod back up my personal Everest it’s good to find neighbour … Read more »

Waiheke and Figs

Waiheke and Figs

Lynley Ruck Moving house by definition is an unsettling time.  There goes my life, in a truck, over the ocean on a leaky boat, during a dark and stormy night!  But it can also be quite cathartic.  I am one … Read more »

The Evolutions of Recipes

The Evolutions of Recipes

Fiona – Summerfields One of the things we most love about food and cooking is how it spreads globally. How you see ideas moving across the world and how as people move – whether by choice or enforced – their recipes … Read more »