From weeds to feeds
Chef’s mantra: Out of the forest and into the frying pan
Who would have thought that some of the tastiest ingredients at one of New Zealand’s swankiest country resorts would come for free. Wharekauhau’s executive chef Marc Soper isn’t combing the lodge’s garden, farm and coastline to cut down on the kitchen bill – he’s adamant the foraged food is fresher, healthier and more flavoursome.
The luxury resort nestled on Wairarapa’s southern coast has hosted presidents, princesses and tycoons, and it is also home to a smorgasbord of free eats courtesy of Mother Nature.
Soper serves up foraged food in almost all the dishes on the menu at Wharekauhau.
There’s ‘‘urban’’ foraging which entails heading out to the garden and picking fruit off the trees and herbs out of the boxes. Then there’s ‘‘wild’’ foraging which is all about finding plants and edible substances that occur naturally within a larger catchment.
As a former New Zealand Chef of the Year in 2016, three-time Wellington Chef of the Year and the current Ora King Salmon ambassador, Soper knows how to put together a delicious feed. He often rates wild ingredients above their commercially-grown counterparts.
‘‘I’m in the mindset of where we are and what we have around here is all growing naturally so there’s no preservatives in any of this stuff, so it’s better for our bodies.’’
Consumer markets and distribution realities mean some food goes through pretty unpleasant processes to get our plates, he says.
Of course, when you’re out to please a guest’s palate, taste is king, and these foraged ingredients don’t disappoint.
‘‘Most of the time they can’t believe they’re eating weeds. There’s a lot of excitement because it’s not something you’d have at home every day.’’
Some might consider them weeds, but them weeds sure is tasty.
Soper says he can be a bit cynical when some restaurants talk about ‘‘garden to plate’’ because he knows that claim can be tenuous if they are only producing a few of their own ingredients.
When he wanders out of the back door of his kitchen, large stainless bowl in hand, he quickly spies some kawakawa leaves that could be used as a flavouring in a broth.
The berries have a peppery, piquant bite that can add a nice little kick to a dish.
Roaming fewer than 100 metres from the main lodge, he finds delicious ingredients ranging from coastal spinach to watercress, tree mushrooms to pine shoots and garnishes like parsley, wildflowers or chickweed. Smoked manuka bark can add amazing flavours to fish or red meat.
To find some coastal forage we hop in one of the estate’s latemodel Range Rovers and head down the road.
Ocean Beach in South Wairarapa is a unique stretch of coastline with a stony shore often ravaged by howling southerlies. Mountain streams terminate on the gravel screes and the odd Remutaka Rail Trail rider wheels on by as we head around towards Orongorongo.
There are culinary gems scattered along its shores – wild fennel, sea mustard, wild mint and bull kelp.
It’s an unusually serene morning, Soper is able to smell the wild mint before he comes across it. Some of these common ingredients take on a salty, marine quality when exposed to the seaward conditions.
Whether it’s seaweed to go in his awardwinning fish broth – he used some in the dish which won him the Ora King Salmon Best Dish award last year – or woodear mushrooms plucked from the trunks of trees in a nearby grove, the pickings on the doorstep are plentiful.
The Blenheim native loves foraging for a number of reasons. Of course, having access to quality local ingredients is great, but it also fits into his whole philosophy as a chef.
He says chefs need to be grounded or they can be in danger of losing touch with their purpose.
By learning about locally available ingredients he has discovered a richness in flavours that he wouldn’t otherwise have known and that all adds to the story they can share with guests.
Wharekauhau is by no means alone in its drive to utilise the best of foraged environment.
Wellington chef Monique Fiso is a rising star in
the industry and her new Ma¯ ori cuisine restaurant Hiakai includes a lot of foraged food on the menu.
‘‘She’s been doing some great things and getting back to the roots of what her ancestors did,’’ Soper says.
Foraging isn’t just an activity for those in the cuisine industry looking to bring a greater level of authenticity to their locally sourced fare.
The movement is gaining traction among everyday families who love the excitement, economy and food philosophy that foraging can bring to their tables.
Masterton freshwater ecologist and mother Amber McEwan says she’s addicted to foraging and believes it changes the way we eat.
‘‘I get such a buzz. I think most foragers will tell you it’s like the thrill of the hunt. Especially with mushrooms, but for me there is also an element of providing food.’’
She says it is like communing with nature and it reminds people of how they used to live.
‘‘I get this primal thing going where I think ‘I’ve provided for my family and we’re secure for a while’,’’ she says.
‘‘Foraged food is always special. It’s like communion.
‘‘Because it’s such a small thing, but the feeling that goes with it is so pronounced, you go ‘Oh my goodness, this should be normal’,’’ she says.
‘‘When you forage something it tastes different and you eat if differently.’’
McEwan wants to pass on some of the passion she has for foraging and she is even giving presents of dried seaweed to friends for Christmas this year.