Anne Halson’s  Fennel & Coconut Tart with Wanaka Organics Eggs

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Fennel and Coconut Tart (GF) with Wanaka Organics pastured eggs
Our lovely chef Anne Halson has come up with a tasty treat using John McRae’s eggs from the rolling hills around lake Wanaka. Perfect for a summers picnic or, if you live near Queenstown in January, a snack by the fire (it was 8˚ this morning). Check out more of her great recipes at her food blog – Fresh Kitchen.
Ingredients:
Makes I medium 24 cm tart
GF Tart case
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3 tblsp potato flour, or cornflour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tblsp coconut oil
4 tblsp ice cold water
Fennel custard filling
1 large fennel bulb finely sliced
1/4 preserved lemon or zest of 1 lemon
3 Wanaka Orgainics’ free range eggs
1 cup coconut milk
4 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Method:
• Preheat oven to 190’C
• Sift or whisk together dry ingredients, add coconut oil and ice water and mix lightly together with your hands to form a dough, you may need to add a little more iced water.
• Wrap in cling film and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper then press out into tart tin, this is a gluten free pastry and will need to be pieced in. You could substitute a regular savoury short crust or flakey pastry if you prefer.
• Toss fennel with preserved lemon or lemon zest and put 1/2 of it in to tart shell. Whisk the eggs and coconut milk together and pour over custard filling then pile on remaining fennel and place bay leaves in amongst fennel.
• Bake at 190’c for approximately 35 – 40 minutes
This tart has a very subtle soothing flavour as it is but can also be bumped up a notch by serving with salmon gravlax or hot smoked.

Nutritional Advice from Kim Malcolm
Wanaka Organics’ eggs
There are few things that you can eat which compare to the nutrient value packed into one egg. Especially when it is a pastured organic or free-range egg. I truly value the health benefits of eating eggs that come from chickens that are eating such nutrient dense feed from land that is free of all chemicals and pesticides. Add to that chickens that are roaming around outside all day taking in the sunshine and absorbing vitamin D.
Studies have shown that eggs from these good conditions outweigh the nutrients found in eggs from caged birds.


For example the organic free-range eggs contain:
Four to six more times vitamin D (needed for the absorption of calcium and phosphorus into the bones)
• Two thirds more vitamin A (good for skin and eye heath)
• Three times more vitamin E (antioxidant that protects and repairs your skin)
• Double the amount of Omega 3
• Seven times more beta-carotene
• Good levels of Iron & Calcium
• Protein – approx. 7g per egg – one of the highest levels found in a singular food.

Therefore, choosing where your eggs come from really does make a difference!

Crystal Gardens Lettuce

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For our maiden Raeward Fresh blog expedition, we visit two Queenstown trailblazers, Andrew and Erika Colby of Crystal Gardens, they’re like a force of nature. Andrew was drawn to the Queenstown region back in the mid ’80s during an initial visit. He decided to sell up everything, pack his life into an old Land Rover, and head south to see what he could make of the place. An innovator like his father, Andrew noticed how manky the vegetables looked in the local stores, arriving on trucks after long drives from Christchurch, or even further north. So, in partnership with his farther Robin, he put his hand to the plough (so to speak) and developed a state-of-the-art hydroponics system to grow some of the country’s best heirloom lettuces, right on Queenstown’s doorstep.
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Andrew’s attitude at the time was, “If you grow it, they will come”. With an almost prescient knowledge (“accidental”, in Andrew’s modest recollection) of both trending food-culture tastes and the biological advantages of cold climate agriculture, Robin and Andrew developed an extraordinary mini-ecosystem to produce salad leaves that could meet the high standards of local chefs, avoiding the fungal issues (and thus the pesticide sprays) that most North Island growers deal with. Now, more than 20 years on, the results speaks for themselves. Crystal Gardens Lettuce, a hybrid of Andrew and Erika’s passion for quality and No. 8 wire Kiwi ingenuity, is the mainstay fresh greens supplier for the wider-Queenstown district culinary scene.
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It’s rare to come across people who are both passionate about and skilled in the growing of really good food. When you find them, like at a farmers market or on a serendipitous country drive, you want to keep ’em. My drive in the country to find Crystal Gardens takes me down Littles Road, winding through a wide, undulating valley – Coronet Peak crested white with snow to the right and the Remarkables range jutting raggedly heavenward to the left. Nestled amongst million dollar lifestyle properties is their tree-lined drive and quietly unassuming operations. As I pull up, Erika is loading a truck with crates of beautiful dark green Cos and Red Oak lettuce. While we share introductions, she gives the leaves a final misting with local spring water for their journey down the valley and into the kitchens of local restaurants, as well as the fresh veggie section at the Raeward Fresh.
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Andrew and Erika – who still live in the original barn built next to the greenhouses – experimented with many lettuce varieties before settling on the range they now grow today, namely, Cos, Green Frill, Red Frill, Green Oak, and Red Oak. Crystal Garden’s seeds are sourced from the best breeders around the world. Erika doesn’t use any pesticides and the lettuces are easily the healthiest I’ve ever seen. In keeping with the eco-conscious values central to their enterprise, Erika loves that they are reducing CO2 emissions by providing the community with locally grown produce.\
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Instead of hiring seasonal tourists with no vested interest in their process, Erika employs locals who love the pace and diversity of growing lettuces in the unique Crystal Gardens way. Her mature staff consists of women from the neighborhood who have a life-time of gardening skills of their own. Lynley for instance, has been with Crystal Gardens for over 11 years. She showed me how they manage the delicate seedlings (kept in an adapted Coke fridge set to a constant 20˚C), spreading the sprouts evenly by hand with a pair of tweezers so that each lettuce gets the maximum light and space to grow. After the seedlings leave the Coke fridge they spend a short stint in the light room, and are then rotated on custom racks in the greenhouse until their leaves reach full size. The system of racks housing the lettuces are pumped with a constant stream of nutrient rich spring water direct to the plant’s roots. The Colby’s have spent years arriving at the best pH balance for the entire system to ensure that each lettuce variety has the perfect acid / alkaline conditions.
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It seems a sophisticated and complex system to the untrained eye, but Erika and her fellow gardeners manage the entire process from germination to harvest with a neat set-up of garden tabs listing variety type and rack rotation dates, along with colour coded markers – brightly painted tennis balls on wire sticks – dotting the greenhouse rows. I find the greenhouses almost meditative – warm air, luscious green plants, glass walls looking out on powdery ski fields and jagged alps, the gardeners chatting about morning tea…. It’s all pretty idyllic.
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As for the Raeward Fresh connection, back when the Colby’s were first getting up and running they discovered Nathan and Angela’s (previously owned) speciality wholesale business and cultivated a long-term relationship. Currently, around 10% of Crystal Garden’s output heads directly into the Raeward Fresh retail space. Erika personally oversees the daily deliveries and presentation at the store so that customers have the freshest lettuce leaves possible. Each lettuce is cut on the day of delivery and washed with local spring water, providing an exceptionally fresh product.

The many benefits of lettuce – a word on nutrition from Kim Malcolm
Crystal Gardens’ hydroponically grown, eco friendly lettuce takes eight to13 weeks to naturally reach maturity. From sowing the seed to harvest there are no harmful chemical sprays, which means you receive all the great elements of health in each lettuce leaf. The nutrient values are surprisingly high every time you enjoy your salads but if one thing is remembered it can be this. The minerals in lettuce (namely calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, copper and zinc) have the ability to help remove toxins from your body and keep your acid/alkaline balance in order. Make salads a part of your life and enjoy the health benefits!Our Chef Anne Halson gets to use the best and freshest Queenstown has to offer in the Raeward Fresh Kitchen. This week Anne has created a delicious wrap using Crystal Gardens Cos leaves, smoked duck breast and her roasted beetroot marmalade:
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Cos Lettuce Wrap – with smoked duck breast, roasted beetroot marmalade and black bean hummus

Serves 4Ingredients:
1 duck breast (preferrably smoked, but seared or roasted is great too)
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup bean sprouts (we used Mung sprouts, feel free to use what you like)
1 cup roasted beetroot marmalade (see recipe below)
1 cup black bean hummus (or regular hummus if you have some on hand)
1/2 cup sun dried tomato or red pepper pesto
12 large leaves of Cos or Romain lettuce
Method:
• Slice the smoked duck breast into thin pieces ready for the wrap.
• Lay the lettuce leaves flat on a cutting board. Take a rolling pin or wine bottle and gently flatten the lettuce stalks. Be careful to just cover the thickest few inches (4 to 5 cm) – if you roll too hard or too far up the leaves you’ll bruise them.
• Place three leaves on top of each other, alternating the direction (so, first layer the stalk facing down, second layer the stalk facing up…). Layer a mix of the ingredients across the width of your leaves. Don’t pile up too much of the ingredients or you’ll not be able to fit it all into the wrap. You may have to experiment with the first one (and eat it quickly if necessary before any one else sees).
• Fold the bottom of the lettuce leaves over the ingredients tucking them tightly under the mix to complete the wrap.
• If you have some twine or raffia, finish the wrap off with a simple bow then serve.
Roast beetroot marmalade
• Roast 1.5kg beetroot in foil in a moderate till just tender (this can be done in advance when you are using the oven). Allow to cool and then grate or julienne. If you prefer, you could boil the beetroot on the stove top.
• Add:
2 finely sliced onions (1/4 moons)
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 /2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• Mix well.

• Bake at about 160’c till jammy and thick. This will take approx 1/2 to 1 hour. You could also do this last step in a pan on the stove top over a low heat, stirring often so it doesn’t stick. Feel free to substitute any of the wrap ingredients with your own favourites.

Chef Anne Halson’s Tuna Potato Cakes

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Anne has a wonderful ability to transform fresh ingredients from Raeward Fresh into delicious creations. Here, she shares her recipe for fresh tuna and Desiree potato cakes. Check out her other recipes at Fresh Kitchen.
Ingredients:
4 large Desiree potatoes
Half this volume of fresh tuna
Japanese mayonnaise
Spring onion
Coriander and or mint
Fresh ginger
Limes
Crisp onion
Toasted black and white sesame seeds

Method:
• Steam potatoes till just cooked and allow to cool.
• Rub tuna with lemon oil and season lightly with salt and pepper and bake or pan fry till just cooked.
• Coarsely grate potatoes into a large bowl add finely chopped spring onions, coriander, finely chopped ginger, lime zest, 1/4 cup of Japanese mayonnaise salt an pepper to taste.
• Mix all together gently.
• Flake tuna and mix gently through potato mixture.
• Check seasoning, add more if desired to taste.
• Form into cakes and pass through toasted black and white sesame seeds.
• Allow to rest for a couple of hours, or overnight.
To serve:
You can either sauté these in a pan or drizzle with a little coconut oil and put into a hot oven to lightly brown.
Serve with Japanese mayonnaise, lime wedges, coriander and crispy fried onion.

Johnny Bath’s hand made sausages

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Johnny Bath is our beloved (former) butcher. He’s a strong man with a ready smile. His exceptional butchery skills and his eagerness to create something new are fixtures of Raeward Fresh’s deli. When he’s not spooling out some butchers twine to help a customer with their roast, or sharpening up his knives while chatting with a local about a sausage sizzle for their upcoming birthday party, he’ll be dreaming up new sausage creations. It’s part of his makeup – because Johnny’s been making sausages, thousands of them, all over the world for years.
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As a young South African – in a land where chicken is considered a vegetable – Johnny began his training alongside his brother-in-law at the local abattoir. The place gave him an appreciation for where the meat came from, who sold it, and how to produce the best cuts for his community. He went on to perfect his butchery skills working in the continents largest meat works, processing (among other things) over 200 sheep per week. The works taught him how to manage large scale production, but it lacked a direct connection with people and the opportunity to collaborate. Always looking for a challenge, Johnny jumped up and stepped in when his butchery school instructor sliced four of his fingers on the first day of training and taught the class how to break down a half steer himself. Even though the meat works tried to keep him on, his desire to see the world at large got the best of him.
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Being a bit of an adventurer, and a sky diving instructor, Johnny travelled the world meeting inspiring people while also furthering his butchery skills. In Denmark he worked with the director of the country’s premiere butchery school. He then hopped between Scandinavia and Israel for a few years before landing in what he considers to be the cherry of his travels – Queenstown, NZ. Johnny had been looking for something special and, like a lot of other people, feels he’s found it here.
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At the Raeward Fresh Johnny’s right at home in the middle of a dynamic conversation between his suppliers and his customers. Like his days back at the abattoir, he has regular conversations with those supplying his lamb, beef and chicken. But the inventor in him also loves the chance to chat with Raeward Fresh’s other producers, Mondillo winery for instance, where Johnny got the idea to add their surplus Merlot grapes to his cracked pepper beef sausages.
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A bloke who’s always listening, always learning, he’ll be discussing new ideas with his customers and taking on board their good suggestions – like adding local mussels to Angus beef, or blue cheese to a pork sausage. He loves being the creative agent in the middle, daily roaming the store to gather a wide range of fresh supplies for the makings of his sausages, which have included:
• beef and mustard
• pork, apple and chive
• Merlot and cracked pepper
• beef and mussel
• dark chocolate and beef
• greek lamb
• Cumberland
• Boerewors
• Waitoa free range chicken
• pork chipolatas
• chorizo
• biltong and drywors

• preservative free and gluten free pork
All of these sausages use Johnny’s secret herbs and spices and are made with natural pork or lamb casings. (If you have any special dietary needs, Johnny also has detailed print-outs listing every single ingredient for each sausage)
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Johnny thrives on these creative connections, but when it comes to producing fresh sausages every day he’s all business. His large hands quickly line the sausage maker with all natural casings and he deftly pumps just the right amount of ground meat through the machine, tying off each sausage like an origami master. He fills orders, passes out samples to curious newcomers, and comes up with even more ideas as tray after tray of lamb and mint or gluten free pork sausages fill the cabinet. And when it comes to cooking them, he knows exactly what to do: “Pop them in the oven at 180˚C for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off and let the steam out. Close the door for another 10 minutes and they’re perfect!” Sausages baked “Johnny-style” come out of the oven crispy on the outside, juicy and full of flavour on the inside – flavours Johnny’s perfected with years of craft, beautiful combinations of the regions tastiest ingredients.
Next week our chef Anne Halson will remake a kiwi classic using Johnny’s greek lamb sausages.
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Nutritional advice from Kim Malcolm
Understanding what holds your sausage together.

When the quality of meat and poultry used to make a sausage is unquestionably the best, then the best choice of casing to hold it together is a natural one. Natural Casings are made in the same way today as our ancestors made them centuries ago. Animal intestines are naturally cleaned, then treated with salt to make them ready for use. Natural casings have a unique combination of tenderness and thinness so they shrink equally with the meat while cooking to give you a better tasting sausage. These casings have natural tiny pores that allow the meat to permeate the flavour throughout the sausage and also allow the sausage to breathe when resting on your plate before serving, which further enhances the flavour.
Synthetic Casings are a mix of highly chemical processed options originating from cowhide, collagen, and cellulose fiber. There is a lot of technology attached to the synthetic casings right now, which make them more edible and digestible, but it is the process to get them to that point that needs awareness. If you want the best for your body, make sure everything you put in it, casings and all, or as healthy as can be.

The People’s Bread with Ruth & Jeremy Heath

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Ruth & kids out on a bread delivery, as you do.
Available at Raeward Fresh in Queenstown.
• The People’s Bread can be found at Raeward Fresh Queenstown
Living just outside of Westport at the time, Ruth and Jeremy Heath began their journey into Sourdough over 10 years ago when a chef friend chided them for buying white bread at the supermarket. This same friend milled his own organic flour, made sourdough starters from scratch and offered them a delicious alternative. Like most people, the Heaths had no idea the bread they bought each week was loaded with bleached flours, preservatives and grains way past their nutritional best. Once informed, they decided to have a go themselves to see if they could make a better staple for their growing family.
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A lot of people (like me) would simply switch to a darker Vogel’s bread for instance, or look for unbleached white flour in the ingredients, but Ruth & Jeremy took the opportunity to go all the way. They learned to use their friend’s stone grinder, adding a washing machine engine to mill their own fresh grains at 500 grams per 10 minutes! Next, they learned the simple-to-begin-but-tricky-to-master art of sourdough starters. Then they gave their breads time to form naturally, allowing loaves to proof for 24 hours to get the maximum benefit of organic yeast cultures and micro organisms. Jeremy (a pharmacist by trade) dove into the biological background of sourdough creation and Ruth experimented with the different flavour profiles available by using various combinations of rye, wheat and spelt flours to name a few. Over time, their in-house exploration grew into solid expertise.
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The Heath’s moved down to Albert Town where Ruth decided to take her in-house journey to the Wanaka Farmers Market. Sell-out days led to orders for home, cafe and shop deliveries. Jeremy decided to quit the pharmacy and go full-time along side Ruth juggling school runs with the kids and loaf baking in their mobile commercial kitchen alongside of their house. They bought a larger stone grinder from Germany, (made of Larch which Ruth says smells wonderful) made their own proofer (to remain debt free) and organized a consistent grain supply all in order to systemize their hard won process. A process I must add, which is extraordinary in NZ or anywhere in the world. Firstly, they source their grains from Kiwi organic pioneer Harry Lowe of Biograins and biodynamic farmer Ian Henderson of Millmore Downs. These producers provide top quality heirloom grains of wheat, rye and spelt which the Heath’s grind fresh for each batch of baking. I mean, who does that today? Next they add spring water and their own well aged (91 years!) and perfected sourdough starter which brings out extraordinary flavour as well as super-healthy wild yeasts and lactobacilli. Once they form the dough, they let it proof good and long before baking and then delivering fresh to their customers, and now, Raeward Fresh in Queenstown. This is a real gift because you simply cannot buy bread like this anywhere in the country.

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I know this is a lot of talk about bread, and, it’s only bread right? Actually, there’s a real shift occurring in New Zealand that’s transforming how we do everyday food. Sure, white bread and a tuatua fritter is pretty tasty and a warm slice of Vogle’s and marmite is hard to beat. But we know that the commercial process and ingredients in baking these breads is simply unhealthy. We also know that people are developing gluten issues and that has to be addressed. The basic shift seems to be focused on taking these every day food items and finding a healthier and tastier alternative. And bread, being one of the basics of life is a good place to start. Ruth and Jeremy have written a white paper (see below) on the health benefits of freshly ground grains and sourdough cultures and back up their philosophy with 1kg loaves of fresh baked substance. They’re seeing that what people want, like at the Wanaka Farmers Market, is to have a conversation with those who make their food and to come away with something they can give to their family knowing that it’s healthy, substantial and delicious, especially as toast with avocado, or marmite, or a tuatua fritter.
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The Heath’s have named their company The People’s Bread and are now working very hard to share their passion with anyone within their natural reach. Have a look at their Facebook page to see what they’re up to and come by the store for a taste.

Recipe: Smoked trout with chevre cheese and parsley butter on
The People’s Rye Bread
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This simple, lovely and tasty recipe was provided by Ruth who simply got some local smoked trout, added a bit of creamy chevre (goats cheese) and made her own parsley butter (soften some butter and stir in chopped parsley) – all atop her rich rye bread. A simple snack that facilitates all those bicycle deliveries and what not.

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European Bakery

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(2020 update: Last year the Scheider’s sold the European Bakery to Peter Price & Amanda O’Donoghue who are carrying on the tradition)
The cool thing about Andre and Daniela Schneider is that they’re in love. They love each other and the baking adventures they’ve been on together. They love the craft of making exceptional breads and sharing that with a public on the verge of a bread revolution. And they love raising their family in this uniquely beautiful region, where Andre is still blown away every time he drives through Twizel or goes fishing on Lake Wakatipu. All that love seems to make its way into the bread, which sounds kinda cheesy, until you you’ve taken your first bite of one of European Bakery’s ficelle white loaves.
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Andre and Daniela combine the best of old world bread making skills with an active imagination for the future. They bring an artisanal baking approach to Queenstown that seems to fit perfectly with the region’s growing demand for crusty ciabattas and sweet sourdoughs. As the Kiwi love of simple white loaves gives way to the more complex flavours of breads tasted on holiday in Europe, Andre and Daniela are poised – dark ryes and sourdough fruit loaves in hand – to put something fresh on the table.
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It’s actually a real privilege to have the Schneider’s in town. They’re both classically trained in Europe (Lucern, Switzerland for Andre and Stuttgart, Germany for Daniela) and have and an impressive resumé of baking around the world. They started off by apprenticing at the famous Café Hanselmann in St. Moritz. This amazing bakery has a 115-year tradition, which both Andre and Daniela soaked up during their time in the gorgeous small Swiss town near the Italian border. From there, the couple went on to work with high end cruise lines and hotels around the world – until they heard about the many wonders of Queenstown from a friend while working in Toronto.
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When Andre and Daniela first arrived here in the early ’90s, they felt right at home amongst the tall pines, dramatic alps and deep water lakes so reminiscent of Europe. Some of their early jobs in the region were both fulfilling and frustrating. They really appreciated their bosses at Avanti Restaurant (Chico, Bruce and Ralph) who helped them “settle on dry land” and made Queenstown feel like home. The real challenge though, was having to live with food which to their European taste buds, tasted like “plastic yellow cheese and wet socks white bread”. Not having old world breads in the area actually provided an opportunity which inspired the Schneiders to put a stake in the ground and start their own bakery.
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Andre had been looking for a premise for a few years before the owner of their present location called one night around 10pm, desperate, asking if they wanted to buy the bakery and start running it immediately. Daniela and Andre spent the next six months, working 20-hour days to whip the place into shape. While serving the bakeries previous customers, they worked non-stop to prepare the bakery for making the artisan bread they truly loved.
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They started selling their new sourdoughs, long light baguettes and huge ciabattas at the Queenstown market and word began to spread. Angela saw what they were producing and asked them to sell their beautiful loaves at the Raeward Fresh. The Schneiders appreciated Angela’s eye for quality and the showcase for great food the store had become. European Bakery’s seven or eight bread varieties have been selling out each day at Raeward Fresh ever since.
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It’s still a bit of a slog for Andre and Daniela to convince the average Kiwi that the crusty outside of their huge ciabatta is normal, and that you don’t even have to toast the bread to eat it. Daniela regularly tells her customers that their sourdough are actually really sweet and healthy – even for those with gluten issues – as the sourdough enzymes break down differently than in a typical white bread. Daniela’s often at the store, offering samples and sharing her deep knowledge of baking and health with ex-bread lovers who’d think bread is no longer healthy for them, which breaks Daniela’s heart.
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As for Andre, his heart is focused on quality and innovation. It’s not hard to make a great loaf of bread he tells me, the challenge is to make it great day after day. Andre makes his bread the old fashioned way, and that takes time. Time for the bread to be kneaded and form, time to proof and rise – giving it the artisan crumb and crust European Bakery is known for – and time for Andre to keep inventing. He’s always testing new recipes or improving on the old ones. For example, his sourdough starter (9 years old now) is now used in their fantastic fruit loaf which adds depth to the sweet brown bread packed with walnuts, figs, raisins and apricots. His marshmallow light ficelle white is the product of focused testing and hard work. And their punchy jalapeño bagel is born of the Schneider’s personal sense of whimsy. We’re all looking forward to what these two (and their crew) will come up with next.

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Nutritional advice from Kim Malcolm
The benefits of sourdough bread
When a Sourdough starter is used to ferment the flour over a of period of time, the complex carbohydrates in the flour get broken down into simple sugars meaning that the GI index is lower so the body absorbs the energy over a longer period.
The protein within the sourdough flour is broken down into 18 amino acids, which increases the nutrient density and makes it easier to digest. Sourdough bread also gives you the benefits of vitamin B, zinc, iron, selenium and magnesium.People with allergies to commercially made yeasted breads may not have the same sensitivities if they eat a naturally fermented sourdough bread. When wheat gluten is property fermented it becomes a lot more healthy for the system. When wheat bread is not properly fermented it can become one of the most allergenic foods we consume and perhaps a reason why so many people are now allergic to gluten… just a thought!
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Renés Kombucha

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Some years ago Kombucha was considered a hippie drink, found only at the most hardcore health stores (you know, the stores that smell like seaweed) or in your alternative neighbor’s pantry along with their stash of ‘herbed’ brownies. That strange brew would have been made from secret recipes and part of even stranger diet regimes. Kombucha was associated with an experimental approach to health and nutrition, where the early pioneers endured the unusual and acrid flavors (and effects) of their concoctions. Today, however, smart people such as René Archner have captured the essence of this drinks’ ancient roots and combined that heritage with a broad nutritional understanding to create a modern and refreshing experience.
René has tracked with Kombucha’s iterations throughout the last two decades alongside of his own experiences with a more radical approach to health and nutrition. Naturally curious and inventive, René followed raw food trends around the world entering competitions, attending and then running cooking classes and working in restaurants where healthy eating was the priority. He’s ridden the extreme of the health food adventure, eating only raw food for years where he discovered the boundaries of alternative diets. He lost too much weight and became unwell living on the fringe of raw food culture. Having hit this natural personal boundary with his health, Rene was wise enough to extract the precious from the worthless through the experience, and began to develop a mature approach to health modernizing the best of these ancient diets.
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One of the outcomes was René’s Kombucha. He had been perfecting his various home brews which he shared with the natural cooking classes that he still runs regularly. The students kept asking where they could buy his well balanced tea (René uses an organic Tulsi or Sacred Basil, and organic green tea as the base of his drinks), so he decided to put his varied experiences together to formulate a series of solid tea-based kombucha recipes which presently include lemon, red berry and pomegranate flavours. Behind these tasty core flavors are a wide range of natural ingredients and processes selected for their ability to naturally unleash all kinds of healthy reactions. Have a look at his website to get the full list but to summarize, René’s kombucha includes these core properties:
• Probiotics which aid digestion and build immunities
• Active enzymes which boost your bodies cell life
• Polyphenols which fight free radicals in your body
• A long list of organic acids which aids your natural homeostasis.
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Many people enjoy some fresh lemon squeezed in warm water in the morning or a bit of raw apple cider to kick start their metabolism as they get going for the day. Kombucha does much the same but with broader results intended to give a more effective result. Understanding and enhancing the body’s metabolism is one of the many things René has learned over his years of research and teaching, all of which he now endeavors to pack into his drinks and cooking classes. He also shares what he’s learning on the web, on TV and while vacationing in Queenstown – where he met our nutritionist Kim Malcom who was also smart enough (and just enough of a hippie) to see the value of René’s experience and product. We suggest you come in and try some for yourself. Start your day with Kombucha for a few weeks, or after your workouts or long sessions in your spring garden to see how it can benefit your daily life too.
PS. René has spent years developing a balanced approach to nutrition, health and the joy of eating great food. Have a look at his web site to see TV interviews, the deeper nutritional profile of his kombucha and approach to food in general and where you can attend his Raw Food Cooking Classes.
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The Kitchen at Raeward Fresh

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It’s no small feat that each and every day the kitchen at Raeward Fresh (formerly the Mediterranean Market) produces a brand new range of salads, savouries, sandwiches, meats and catering orders. The food is always fresh and flows with the seasons. When the figs are ripe, the kitchen is inspired to create a Roasted Kumara and Fig Salad with Blue Cheese. Or, when the beets are plentiful, it’ll be Baked Quinoa and Brown Sugar Beet Slices with Danish Feta in the cabinet ready for lunch or taken away for an outdoor adventure. Customers at the store’s deli and cafe, or who place catering orders, have the opportunity to eat this top notch local fare any day of the week.
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Of course, there are personalities behind the daily innovation and culinary ingenuity that come out of our kitchen. Chef’s Anne Halson and (formerly) Lewis McIntosh bring a diverse range of experiences, cooking styles and their own charm to the party as they roam the isles of the store gathering vine ripened tomatoes or greengage plums for a new salad idea. Anne ran her own restaurant for years, gathering up books full of personal recipes and ideas along the way, and brings a whimsical imagination and a chefs depth to her creations. Lewis has cooked around the world gleaning concepts and styles which add a hearty international flare to his fare.
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Most chefs plan their set menus and then have to order supplies from food vendors or, if they’re lucky (like at Matakauri Lodge or Fishbone), they can grab a few ingredients from their restaurant’s garden. Anne and Lewis however, get to raid the foodies treasure trove – the store’s isles, butchery and fresh produce sections – every day. Sometimes, the cabinet and catering offering will begin with a recipe that Anne or Lewis want to modify because there are crates of ripe peaches to hand or a new range of cheeses just in. Other days may be inspired as the chefs ponder over the fresh watercress or an Angus ribeye roast until “eureka!” – a new savoury idea emerges.
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Angela and Nathan encourage their chefs to use whatever they need from the store to create the kind of dishes and platters Raeward Fresh has become known for. This kind of generosity, a spirit of hospitality, shows up in the abundance of offerings and recipes available to locals and visitors alike. Alongside all this is a really cool cross pollination of ideas and sampling that goes on within the Raeward Fresh as, for instance, our (former) nutritionist Kim Malcolm shares samples of new products with the staff. Having access to freshly pressed olive oils from down the road in Cromwell, or up-to-the-day seasonal produce gives the entire staff a rich experience to share with our increasingly epicurean/foodie customers.
Raeward Fresh’s kitchen puts all this knowledge and style together for what may be a quick business lunch for the locals (who love coming in each day to see what Anne or Lewis have cooked up), a taste of the region for visiting tourists who stop by the shop, or a catered meal for travelers taking a helicopter into the mountains for a little scenery with their canapes.
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Next week, we’ll share more about the catering side of Raeward Fresh and perhaps a recipe or two from our selection of recent dishes.
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Chef Jonathan Rogers & Matakauri Lodge

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(2020 update: Chef Rogers has recently published an outstanding cookbook titled SOUTH – which you can purchase from Matakauri Lodge)
Last week I sat down for a drink in Matakauri Lodge’s main dining room with head chef Jonathan Rogers, talking food and taking in the ambiance of this gorgeous Relais & Chateaux location. The Lodge is nestled in the hills above Lake Wakatipu with stunning views of the Remarkables, Walter Peak and Cecil mountain ranges. The interior design is warm and elegant, created by kiwi designer Virginia Fisher, and provides a tranquil space to breathe in the breathtaking landscape around the lodge. It’s the perfect setting to showcase the exceptional food Jonathan creates using the finest produce available in Otago and Southland.
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Matakauri Lodge makes regular food orders with the Raeward Fresh, which Jonathan also visits a couple of times a week. He tells me that he gets inspired while roaming around the watermelon, radishes or when spotting the huge fresh figs that arrived just that morning. Jonathan also gets inspired by getting out and about. Sometimes its for business, like a trip through Kawarau Gorge to visit suppliers such as Goodies on the Gorge and see for himself what David and Jenny White are harvesting or to pick up a few of their gardening tips. Other times its for pleasure, like a fishing jaunt along Wakatipu’s many rivers. All of these experiences of the region and the local relationships that weave this place together end up making their way into Jonathan’s daily menu planning sessions. It’s a good thing he’s got lots of inspirational material to hand, because its a new menu every day at Matakauri to cater for the dynamic dining experience Relais & Chateaux are known for.
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Being inspired by regional fare has been a journey for Jonathan. He grew up in Papakura where food culture in the ’90s was about pizza and fish n chips. While studying at the Manukau Institute of Technology, however, he saw an entirely different world of food, researching the work of Charlie Trotter and many other chefs who were transforming local ingredients into something truly amazing. Jonathan went from school to real-world cooking with Tony Adcock at Orbit in Auckland before heading to Canada where he had the privilege to learn about regional cuisine from Melissa Craig at Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler. It was at Barefoot that Jonathan first had access to dozens of varieties of local mushrooms and the stunning blueberries of British Columbia. While chef Rogers was learning about this kind of fusion, NZ fare was moving along the same track.
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When he returned, Jonathan chose to avoid the bustle of Auckland and looked to the Queenstown Lakes area to keep honing his craft. He worked at Spire and a few other places before landing in Matakauri, where he now pulls together his years of experience and Otago’s budding food culture. On the day I visited, Jonathan chose to make a light summer lunch featuring Canter Valley duck breast, followed by a playful desert with berries from Goodies on the Gorge. His colourful plating of kale, beet, fig, watercress and walnuts, all dancing around the perfectly seared duck, made it clear that this fine chef loves what he does and the place he’s doing it.
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The relationship between Angela & Nathan’s ability to gather the regions best ingredients at Raeward Fresh, and Matakauri’s elegant lodge environment, is a lovely example of what the Queenstown region is known for; a stunning combination of a dramatic space and some of the best produce in the world. The way Canter Valley conscientiously raises their ducks and the care behind Goodie’s hand-picked raspberries, gives Jonathan a solid platform to build his daily creations. The chef rounds it all out with trips to Matakauri’s own garden where his own globe artichokes, squash or borage may be just the right thing for another beautiful lunch on the lake.


Canter Valley Duck Breast, Beetroot, Goats Curd Mousse & Pickled Walnut Dressing
Chef Rogers was kind enough to share his duck breast recipe with us but for the real deal treat yourself to a few nights at Matakauri, it’s absolutely stunning.
Olive Oil Poached Beetroot
Ingredients:
200gm Baby Golden Beetroot
200gm Baby Purple Beetroot
200gm Baby Chiogga Beetroot
Salt
Thyme Sprigs
Pomace Olive Oil

Method:
• Lightly scrub and trim stalks from baby beetroot.
• Place each variety of beetroot, a tsp salt, and 3 sprigs of thyme in 3 small saucepans to prevent the purple beetroot staining the others.
• Cover with the pomace olive oil and simmer on a low heat until beetroot are tender.
• Remove from the heat and allow the beetroot to cool in the oil.
• Once beetroot are cooled, scrub lightly with a clean tea towel to remove skins.
• Cut into halves.

Butternut Squash Puree
Ingredients:
500gm Butternut Squash
2tbsp butter
Salt
White pepper

Method:
• Sweat the Squash in a covered sauce pan with the butter until cooked, season lightly with salt and pepper.
• Puree until silky smooth in a bar blender, pass through a fine mesh sieve.

Pickled Walnut Dressing
Ingredients:
100gm Castor Sugar
100gm White Balsamic Vinegar
200gm Walnut Halves
1 sprig thyme
1zest of 1 lemon
Method:
• Bring vinegar, sugar, lemon and thyme to a boil.
• Pour boiling pickling liquid over walnuts and allow to cool.

Goats Curd Mousse
Ingredients:
200gm Meadow Croft goats curd
1 Lemon zest and juice
2tbsp Cream
Salt

Method:
• Mix all ingredients together and check seasoning.

• Pickled Beetroot Slices
Thinly Sliced Golden and Chiogga Baby Beets
Ingredients:
100ml white balsamic Vinegar
100gm Castor Sugar

Method:
• Bring vinegar and sugar to a simmer. Whisk to dissolve sugar.
• Pour pickling liquid over sliced beets and allow to cool.

To Serve
2 Trimmed and scored Canter Valley Duck Breasts
Pickled Beetroot Slices
Olive Oil Poached Baby Beets
Goats Curd Mousse
Butternut Squash Puree
Water Cress Sprigs
Pickled Walnuts
Pre heat oven to 180c
• Place the duck breast in a large oven proof frying pan over a low heat skin side down. Keep pouring off rendered duck fat until skin is very crispy, turn the breasts over and place pan in oven for 1 1/2 minutes. Allow the duck too rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.
• Carve the duck breast into cubes.
• Reheat poached beetroot in the oven.
• Reheat butter nut squash puree in a small saucepan.
• Place a line of butternut squash puree down the middle of a plate, artfully arrange the other ingredients around the puree.
• Place a quenelle of goats curd mousse in the top left hand corner of plate.
• Garnish with water cress and lightly sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
• Lightly drizzle the plate with the walnut pickling liquid.
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Chia Drinks with Chloe Van Dyke (and her dad)

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Chloe Van Dyke is an intelligent, active woman. After completing her Otago University BSC in neuroscience, a post grad focus on Alzheimers and a diploma in Herbal Medicine from the Waikato Centre of Herbal Medicine, she went off to India to trial the the benefits of a food relatively new to New Zealand. With a scientific brain and a desire to be out on the track Chloe wanted to know if the promises of chia seeds, especially hydrated, would prove to be true. During her studies, she was fascinated by the extensive nutritional properties of this tiny seed first farmed by the Aztecs, and wanted to unpack their potential for aiding modern life in NZ. And so, it was on the trail in the Himalayas, loaded with chia seeds and some black currant juice, that Chloe and Chia Drinks began their journey back to NZ.
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After India, Chloe’s father (a medalist swimmer) and sister (a triathlete) helped Chloe test the benefits of chia in their everyday activities, looking to see if hydrated chia really did help with endurance or balancing hydration and electrolytes. After becoming personally convinced that chia did have benefits across the board in health and endurance, the Van Dykes decided to start a business. With the help of a Nelson based food technologist, as well as the wonderful fruit crop of that region, Chloe found the right balance of flavours and juice-to-chia ratio to create a super balanced, superfood drink. I’ve had some chia drinks in the States that are so packed with chia that it’s kinda hard to drink (too slimy). Chloe, however, has managed to strike the perfect balance of rich flavours in her juices (like Blueberry & Apple or Orange Passionfruit & Apple or, her original idea, Black Currant & Apple) along with the right amount of chia for both enjoyment and health.
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With some positive feedback from the locals in Nelson at some regional markets and stores, Chloe went to Wellington to see if the folks in the big city would appreciate her Nelson based hippy/supersmart drink. Health food stores snapped the stuff up (of course) but so did some hip cafes (an excellent alternative to having a coffee!). She also had success with some really great markets like Moore Wilsons. Chloe had always known she would run a business of some kind and it seemed now that she had brought a number of her gifts together to create a niche success for the NZ food scene. Like many others we have profiled in this blog, Chloe followed her intuition and ingenuity to create a beautifully unusual product. Admittedly, some people have to get their head and palette around Chia Drinks – but that’s the unusual beauty of it. If you haven’t tried it, Chloe’s Blueberry Chia arrives as a bottle filled with translucent orbs, defying gravity with their suspension in juicy nectar. It’s an unusual and invigorating experience to drink – or drink and chew the the succulent chia – but it’s fabulous all the same. Chloe’s ability to market this otherworldly culinary experience comes from her heart. It’s her gift in identifying people across the spectrum of activities (from sport to breast feeding) who could benefit from Chia in various ways, along with her scientific attention to detail, that have all come together to pack those bottles with an award winning product.
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Chloe and her father taste test every batch that goes into production and continue to use the product in their own health regimes. And I mean health because gram for gram, Chia is one astonishing little seed. A page on the Chia Drinks site goes into some great detail about how the omegas in chia outweigh those in flax and other seeds. Fruit drinks, even the really fresh ones can be great for taste but often contain so much sugar (even if it’s just fructose) that you really can’t drink a lot of them without unhealthily upping your sugar intake. Chia Drinks, however, have chia seeds as their main ingredient which serves to lower the amount of sugar in each bottle in addition to the goodness packed into those tiny hydrated seeds.
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Chloe is now busy sharing her broader story in classes at Massey Uni, and also through supporting Christchurch TED X conferences, mentoring business start-ups and sponsoring athletes in sporting communities around NZ. She likes talking about the fact that a lot of food communication has come down to what the food DOES NOT have in it, like sugars, fats or chemicals, whereas talking about a great food means focusing on what it DOES contain – such as its great taste and inherent nutritional profile (like chia’s omega 3’s, magnesium, iron, calcium, manganese, selenium, zinc, boron and potassium that take the place of needing vitamin supplements). She’s also evangelizing the larger Kiwi food scene, promoting the benefits of growing chia locally (the present source comes from Aussie), because we can and should diversify our crops with low impact super foods. She’s a natural at sharing from the heart and from her heart has come a lovely addition to food culture in New Zealand.

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