Stephen Le Corre and his Salmon

The 14th Annual Oamaru Wine & Food Festival took place this past Sunday at the Oamaru Public Gardens. One of the highlights of the event is the opportunity to watch some of the area’s leading chefs demonstrate some of their signature dishes. The first demonstration was by Stephen Le Corre, Captain of the NZ Culinary Team and tutor at the Aoraki Polytechnic, who prepared one of the most ambitious dishes of the day, producing “Seared salmon on smoked fish cake with spicy potted shrimps, served with wilted spinach and basil butter sauce”. Each element of this dish was prepared at the portable kitchen in windy and chilly conditions, using unfamiliar (to him) equipment. But the resulting dish was excellent and one that anyone could reproduce at home to impress their family or friends.

If you’re interested in making the dish, here’s the recipe, courtesy of Chef Stephen and the Aoraki Polytech:

Seared salmon (4 portions)

• 4 140-g salmon fillets
• salt and pepper
• 30ml oil
• 20g butter

In the early 20th Century, the age of exploration was focused on the world’s extremes, and nothing was more extreme than the South Pole. Several teams sought to be the first to claim the honour of being the first to reach this landmark, with the British, Norwegians and Americans among the most assiduous. Robert Falcon Scott–whose name would become associated with several geographical features of the Antarctic, was captain of the Terra Nova, which set sail from Cardiff in 1910, seeking to be the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Unfortunately, when Scott reached the Pole in January 1912, he found that he was not the first–his Norwegian rival Amundsen had got there in December 1911! To make matters worse, Scott was to perish during the journey back to the coast from the Pole, along with all the members of his party.

News of Scott’s fate was not to be learned, however, until 10 February 1913, when the Oamaru harbour watchman caught sight of a ship that refused his instructions to identify itself. When two crewmen of the ship rowed to shore, they insisted on speaking only with an official, whereupon they phoned their NZ agent to announce to the world that Scott and his party had died during their expedition, causing shockwaves felt all across the world.

In 2013 Oamaru (along with other spots connected with the Scott expedition) will be commemorating the centenary of the Terra Nova’s return. Details of the commemoration will be released as the anniversary approaches.

Edit: The link is no longer working! I’m working on getting permission to load the video here. Or you can visit the filmmakers’ website (www.passitonfilms.org) and view it there.

The menu of the Star & Garter is full of traditional Kiwi delights, from excellent fish and chips, to lamb’s fry, to soups and salds, and everything in between. And their prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider the size of the portions. On the walls of the restaurant you can view countless photos of wedding parties that have taken place over the years here, and there’s even several Steampunk items on display. As though all that were not enough to entice diners here, the welcome from Lisa and her team is always friendly and welcoming, so there’s really no reason not to pop in.

The Star & Garter is located just around the corner from the Oamaru i-Site information office, on Itchen Street at the edge of the Victorian Historic Precinct. And here’s a wee video of the restaurant to further whet your appetite:

Star & Garter Restaurant

Jim Jerram of Ostler Wines

Despite the fact that New Zealand has really only been producing wine for export for around twenty years, some regions have already become world-renowned for the quality of their output. Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and Pinot Noir from Central Otago have both earned well-deserved reputations, and command high prices in the wine shops of the world. On the North Island, Hawkes Bay produces excellent Syrah (aka Shiraz across the ditch), Cabernet Sauvignon, and Viognier, which also have become sought after by wine lovers around the world.

The beautiful Waitaki Valley, located just up the road from Oamaru, is New Zealand’s newest wine-producing area, or appellation, having been planted within the last ten years or so. But already this region, which is distinguished by cool winters and warm summers, has begun to draw attention for the extraordinary quality of its wines. In particular, Ostler Wines, founded by Dr Jim Jerram and his brother-in-law Jeff Sinnott in 1998, has won a number of awards for its wines, for their exceptional Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Pinot Noir. Most recently, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine awarded their Audrey’s Pinot Gris 95 points. Ostler has recently released a new rose wine that looks set to bring them even more acclaim.

Waitaki Valley is also home to multiple-award winner Kurow Village and Pasquale wineries, the former producing a wide range of approachable wines that run the gamut from Riesling and Pinot Gris to several Pinot Noirs, and the latter producing a premium range that includes Italian-style Pinot Grigio and Gewurtztraminer, and even a Limoncello made from owner Antonio Pasquale’s lemons grown on the North Island.

The wines of the Waitaki can be sampled at the Vintner’s Drop, a tasting room set up by Jim Jerram in the village of Kurow along the Waitaki Valley, or at Birdlands Wine Bar in Oamaru’s Historic Precinct, as well as at Pen-y-bryn Lodge.

If you are in the Oamaru area, and interested in visiting the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, they have hourly guided tours from 10am to 4pm, during which you can visit the “Blue Wing” nesting area and peek into the birds’ nests (through a one-way glass partition so  you do not disturb the penguins), and an evening guided tour just before the evening viewing session takes place in the main viewing area. For tickets and more information, please contact the Colony directly.

Birds home 25 Jan: 158

Birds home 26 Jan: 160

Birds home 27 Jan: 134

Birds home 29 Jan: 171

Birds home 31 Jan: 115

If you are interested in visiting the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, please contact them directly for information on visiting hours and ticket prices.

Tart Cherries on the Tree

The countryside around Oamaru is some of the best agricultural land in New Zealand, famous for the quality of the produce that comes from its farms, from potatoes to tomatoes to hazelnuts and the list just goes on and on. While most farms in the area are raising ‘traditional’ crops, some have begun to branch out into more exotic crops, and some of these have begun to catch the attention of savvy chefs and home cooks who are looking for something interesting for their kitchens.

Among the more interesting crops that are now being raised in Oamaru are sour (aka tart) cherries. Unlike their more popular cousin the sweet cherry (Prunus avium), which can be eaten out of hand, sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) are primarily used for cooking, and are considered by many gourmets to have a more interesting and nuanced flavour than the many varieties of sweet cherries.

Sour cherries are particularly popular in Eastern Europe, and in fact the vast majority of production takes place in places like Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. In these countries the sour cherries are used to make jams, conserves, and other confections, and in Hungary they make a particularly delicious cold soup with them. And in the United States (which also grows the fruits in profusion) they are the variety of cherry to use in pies. Some people also ascribe numerous health benefits to the sour cherry, including combatting cancer, gout, pain and other ailments too numerous to list.

Anyway, the sour cherry farm outside of Oamaru is open for pick-your-own sales during late January and early February. If you would like to try some of these wonderful fruit, contact John and Maureen at Cherryvite and they’ll fill you in on the details. And here’s a link to a wonderful report from National Public Radio in the US on the uses of these great fruit!

The first of these is coming up on Monday, 6 February. Since that’s Waitangi Day weekend, that’ll be when Oamaru will host the Harbour Regatta, an annual event that this year will kick off with the rededication of the historic Signal Hut at the head of the boat ramp, and thereafter there will be sailing, rowing and motorboat races, bands performing music, food and drinks for sale, all leading up to the climax of the event–the PortFM Birdman Competition, in which contestants dressed in fanciful costumes will demonstrate all manner of flying contraptions while vying for prizes in such categories as “Biggest Splash”, “Longest Splash” and “Best Dressed”.

Shortly after the Harbour Regatta fans of Detroit’s muscle cars (and flab cars, for that matter) will gather from 9 to 12 February for Oamaru’s first annual Oamerican Car Show, in which owners of classic American cars will collect to show off their chrome, fins, and V-8s. Events will include a street cruise through Oamaru and a convoy up the Waitaki Valley, and then a dinner dance on the event’s last evening.

On 19 February, the 14th annual Oamaru Wine & Food Festival will take place in the Public Gardens, with 40 vendors offering samples of some of the areas finest foods and wines, which you can enjoy while listening to a number of musical acts and also purchase items to enjoy at home.

Finally, on 24-25 February come and enjoy the 149th (!!) North Otago A&P Show at the Oamaru A&P show grounds on Ettrick Street. This event will be a showcase of the breadth of the region’s agricultural and pastoral industries, with categories for cattle, sheep, home industries, etc. Truly an activity for anyone with an interest in agriculture!