NZ’S top chefs take to the kitchens
Manawatu chefs are sharpening their knives and heating their grills with some of the best in New Zealand as a nationwide culinary challenge is brought to the boil.
The Plate of Origin competition pairs Manawatu restaurants with the best restaurants from each region of New Zealand and challenges them to create a scrumptious showcase featuring two ‘‘hero products’’ from their region.
The teams took to the kitchen on Monday to perfect their dishes and give the judges a taste of their teamwork.
The competition’s second year has brought kiwi cuisine’s creme de la creme to the region, including 2016 chef of the year Marc Soper and internationallyrenowned culinary veteran Fleur Sullivan
The executive chef at Featherston’s Wharekauhau restaurant, Soper teamed up with Nero Restaurant to represent Wairarapa.
He and Nero head chef Scott Kennedy found they shared similar cooking philosophies and even thought alike, as they worked on their entry – a venison dish served with a mushroom custard made with goat curd from Martinborough cheese-makers.
Soper said the dish bridged their regions. The venison comes from red-deer caught in the Tararua Range and it was processed in Feilding.
Fleur Sullivan was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her culinary career stretching more than 30 years and her Moeraki restaurant Fleur’s Place is known to foodies across the globe.
She was partnering up with Aberdeen‘s Craig Robinson to represent Otago.
They were serving Manawatugrown eye-fillet steak, capped with bluff oysters and a side of titi muttonbird from Stewart Island, mixed in with a tawea – a native purple potato mash.
Each team’s dishes will be available in their restaurants between March 13 and 18.