Food
An outdoor matchup of fine Marlborough foods and wines makes for a happy culinary collision.
Matching Marlborough foods and wines makes for a happy culinary collision.
One of our advantages when it comes to culinary tourism is that nowhere in the country are visitors far from the farms, sea and vineyards that our food and wine come from. Produce tastes best when it is consumed in the region from which it’s been harvested, as I was reminded at a recent food and wine event, the Picnic at Dog Point, in Marlborough. About 10 years ago, Dog Point winery’s owners, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, held a staff picnic on their property. In a grassy setting surrounded by leafy trees, they enjoyed a long lunch cooked by the team from Wellington restaurant Logan Brown. The day was a hit, so the following year they repeated the event, opening it to paying guests, clients and others. It’s now staged annually.
This year’s picnic began with nibbles, including crayfish in lettuce cups with caramel fish sauce, whitebait fritters, paua fritters and dainty pheasantterrine and fresh-fig sandwiches, washed down with the region’s legendary sauvignon blanc. Dog Point’s owners, whose involvement with sauvignon blanc goes back to the early days of vine-planting in Marlborough, are master producers of this varietal.
A feature of the occasion was the matching of local specialty foods cleverly created by chef Shaun Clouston with wines from the same soil. Wine-barrel-smoked Marlborough salmon was complemented by Dog Point chardonnay, and hearty venison highlighted the complex fruity flavours and hints of gaminess of pinot noir. Excellent – almost stinky – mature local cheeses were served to finish. It added up to a fine collision between the best of the country’s foods and wines.
Back home, keen to recapture the picnic’s flavours and wine matches, I created my own version of the meal with a light salmon dish for the starter and a fresh, healthy venison salad as the main event.
BAKED SALMON ESCALOPES WITH FRESH AUTUMN VEGETABLE PICKLE
600g fresh salmon, cut into 4 pieces 2 tbsp white miso paste (or soy sauce) 2 tbsp grapeseed or canola oil fresh dill sprigs
THE PICKLED VEGETABLES 2 Lebanese cucumbers
1 medium carrot
1 small red onion
2 radishes
2 cups water
1 cup wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp salt fresh dill sprigs
1 tsp dill seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp pink peppercorns
To make the pickles, in a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil with the vinegar, sugar and salt, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve. Simmer for 3 or 4 minutes then remove from the heat.
Place a few sprigs of dill in a sterilised 500ml preserving jar along with the seeds and peppercorns. Cut the cucumbers into thin batons and the carrots into ribbons, using a potato peeler. Slice the red onion and the radishes very thinly using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Then tightly pack all the vegetables into the jar.
Bring the liquid back to a boil, pour it over the vegetables to cover completely, let cool, then cover and refrigerate. The pickles will taste good in just a few hours and even better
after a day or two. Refrigerated, they’ll keep for a couple of weeks.
To cook the salmon, preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the salmon in a dish and rub a little of the miso paste (or soy sauce) over each piece. Drizzle with the oil and pop a sprig of dill on each piece. Bake the salmon for about 10 minutes, so that it is just cooked through. Serve at once with a little pile of pickled vegetables. Serves 4
Wine match: chardonnay.
VENISON SALAD WITH PINE NUTS, FRESH FETA AND BEETROOT
500g venison (Denver leg or fillet)
THE MARINADE a few sprigs thyme, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper
THE SALAD
2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed 1 medium beetroot (cut into matchsticks) 150g fresh goat cheese (or crumbly feta) ½ cup parsley and mint leaves
4 tbsp pine nuts, lightly roasted
THE DRESSING
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt freshly ground black pepper
Place the venison in a small dish. Mix the marinade in a small bowl by chopping the thyme and adding it to the oil, salt and pepper. Pour this over the venison and allow to marinate for an hour or more. To cook the venison, have it at room temperature and heat a frying pan until hot. Place the venison in the pan and sear it well on all sides. If you want it a little more cooked than rare, leave it in the pan for 2-3 minutes longer, but be warned that overcooked venison is dry and tastes a little liverish. Cover with foil and allow the meat to rest while you prepare the salad.
Scatter the spinach leaves evenly over a large, flat salad platter. Neatly distribute the beetroot and fresh cheese or feta on top of the leaves.
Slice the venison and tuck the slices among the leaves and beetroot. Shake the dressing ingredients together and drizzle over everything, adding the parsley and mint leaves and the pine nuts.
Serves 4
Wine match: pinot noir.