Paparazzo

Snaps and casual photos around  interesting cuisine tourism venues.

This month - prawns galore, crayfish galore, suburban treasure, Nederlander cheese heritage, See you at Eight, full Kiwi flavour.

Spicy crunchy squid with Asian salad

We researched a number of ‘salt & pepper style’ squid recipes to present this one with its spicy coating and very crunchy finish. Squid flesh is cooked one of two ways – very fast (flash) for literally minutes, or very slow (stewed or baked for up to 45 minutes), there is nothing between. This beautiful recipe uses the flash method – very, very hot oil.

The best restaurants in New Zealand use arrow squid caught in our oceanic waters. It’s not the cheapest squid, compared to imports from Asia, but it has the best flavour, texture and tenderness. We used New Zealand arrow squid from Sealord which retails as packaged rings in supermarkets and ‘tubes’ to the food trade..

PJ McMillan – Brisbane’s bistro king

Aucklander PJ McMillan headed to Australia in 1991 on a one-way ticket and  with 500 bucks in his back pocket, and has been on top of Brisbane’s bistro scene for the past two decades. Foodstyle Review caught up with him at the Brisbane Hilton Masterclass Weekend supported by Singapore Airlines. 

Today, PJ McMillan owns and operates Harveys, a smart bistro in Brisbane that has become an industry standard in catering for all occasions, from breakfast to supper. 

Venison crusted with spicy couscous

This is quite an involved recipe, but one with layers and layers of complementary flavours using Kiwi farmed venison and, with a colourful salad, is a visual stunner.

We use New Zealand farmed venison medallions for our skewers – the meat is tender, lean and has a nice and subtle gamey flavour.

These days you can pay less for venison – less than $40 a kilogram – than beef, and it comes so conveniently packaged and ready to cook – nothing to trim, so no wastage.  

Garden to table cookbook review 

Foodstyle reviews two exceptionally popular, garden-to-table, lifestyle recipe books – one from New Zealand and another Ireland, and they couldn’t be more different.

The Free Range Cook Published by Langbein and Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

 
Read more...

French wine Down Under

You could be in Paris. French cheeses, wine, staff accents and atmosphere – this is the place in Auckland where diehard Francophiles buy their wine and cheese. By Alan Titchall.

Of the three chaps who set up Maison Vauron in Newmarket over two decades ago, Scott Gray, the Kiwi, is self-professed Francophile and “Burgundy nut”, while Jean-Christophe Poizat is an ‘import’ who is as French as rugby and baguettes.