ED’S LETTER

IF I’VE LEARNED ANYTHING OVER the last three years it’s that Kiwis do casual food really, REALLY well. This glorious issue is designed for you to celebrate the casual Kiwi summer and provide you with the perfect diversion for the lazy summer days to come.

It might seem somewhat predictable that we have granitas, popsicles and sorbets at this time of year, but Emma Galloway’s icy creations contain some wild-card ingredients that make them super-special. Ginny Grant’s easy-toprepare carrot pickles are the perfect pairing for your BBQS and will make a great addition as a picnic basket filler (on page 57).

As we head into the new year Fiona Smith is showing us how to create clever recipes that use a little less meat, but still pack in the flavor and Sarah Tuck is serving up a feast of homemade burgers with all the trimmings.

Speaking of burgers we welcome Albert Cho of Eat Lit Food to Cuisine with a roundup of his top five burgers in Auckland. Other new voices in our mix include much-loved food writer Renee Lang with a trip to Nelson Cuisine-style, wine enthusiast and imbiber Mary-therese Kinsella AKA Mermaidmary and Christchurch Energizer bunny and celebrity cook, Jax Hamilton. Lauraine Jacobs returns with a nod to Kiwi ingenuity and a report from a very special Ōra King event in Nelson.

I have also taken you behind the scenes at my lunch date with Heston Blumenthal. I know! Someone had to take him out and introduce him to some serious NZ flavour, but imagine the tremendous pressure for chef Josh Barlow and his top-of-the-tower team at The Sugar Club at Skycity, as they produced lunch for one of the world’s most famous chefs!

I hope you spend your summer break immersed in great food and drink and in the company of people who make you smile, but I also hope you make an appointment to spend some quality ‘me time’ within the pages of Cuisine.

A lot of love has gone into every one of them.

Read on and cook and eat well.