BBQ SEASON HITS
Witt’s students have created a night market of fusion-focused food. Virginia Winder heads along for an evening filled with food and friends.
There’s a buzz at Witt on a balmy Friday night as people queue up for the last food market of the year. On offer from the Level 3 cookery students are pizzas, kebabs, tortillas and burgers. Because it’s BBQ season, we’re going to focus on the latter, which are all served in slider buns with creative fillings.
This evening, with my foodie husband at my side, we indulge in the hangi, Bombay and lamb burgers.
They are all delicious, but the run-away winner is the hangi burger. This creation consists of a fried bread bun filled with smoked pork belly, watercress, kumara sticks and kelp mayonnaise.
Chef tutor Alex Dickie has been working with the students for weeks on what to create for visitors, many of whom are here to attend the opening of Witt’s graduate art exhibition, UNfold.
‘‘I’m doing it more to give them that experience and for Witt to showcase what our students can do,’’ Dickie says.
The students have made everything from scratch, including the slider buns, pizza bases and flour tortillas.
Much of the food on offer is a fusion of flavours from different ethnicities. ‘‘We have a lot of Ma¯ ori students and Indian students, so we wanted to combine the cultures,’’ he says.
Student James Roil, of Nga¯ ti Ruanui descent, has been working on the hangi burgers. ‘‘I love hangi and everything about them and it’s just good we could shrink it down a bit and give people a taste of what hangi is all about.’’
To provide those earthy hangi flavours, the pork belly has been braised and then hung in a smoker with a tray of manuka chips, soil and kawa kawa leaves placed at the bottom. The pork is grilled afterwards.
Roil says working with food is his calling. ‘‘Growing up I used to love cooking, baking and just being in the kitchen. It always felt happy.’’
He grew up watching Jamie Oliver on TV cooking shows and would like to be a celebrity chef one day too. For now, he’s focusing on his cooking studies and plans to go right through to Level 5.
Student Acquino D’Silva has been working on the Mumbai burger, which is extremely appropriate because that’s where he’s from.
In India, this dish is called wada pav, which means patty bread. This is a vegetarian burger and features patties made from boiled mashed potato and spices, dipped in a chickpea batter and fried. It’s accompanied by a coriander mint chutney and a yoghurt raita.
D’Silva was a teacher in India and his mother had a catering business called Mom’s Spices. ‘‘That’s how I got interested in cooking and a passion for food. I
‘‘Growing up I used to love cooking, baking and just being in the kitchen.’’
James Roil
want to have my own restaurant – that’s why I’m here.’’
He did his research about where to study and found Witt looks after international students well. He learnt that first-hand when he asked for help when he first arrived. The international liaison person picked him up from the bus station and showed him around so he got familiar with New Plymouth.
‘‘The day I landed I felt safe,’’ he says. ‘‘I felt very welcome.’’
Student Damith Wijekoon from Sir Lanka talks about the NZ lamb burgers, which are made from start to finish at Witt. ‘‘We even make the mince here.’’
This Kiwi offering is made in slider buns and features lamb patties, blue cheese, mint jelly and rocket.
Wijekoon says he came to Witt because one of his friends trained here and got a great qualification. ‘‘The New Zealand education system is really good and takes care of the students.’’
His has big dreams in the hospitality industry. ‘‘I just want to go up and up and to be an executive chair of a hotel.’’
The food is ready and being served at a fast pace – there’s no waiting. Outside on picnic tables, it’s social with people eating at chatting.
Artist and drawing tutor Reuben Paterson is here for the art and food. ‘‘I think this is an awesome idea and the food is really beautiful, especially the hangi burger.’’
Former restauranteur Martha Desimone says the market is a great idea because it gives students the chance to participate in the requirements of a real business from those making the food to those serving it.
She has been to other Witt food markets and says the food is always excellent.
Nelson Smart, whose flatmate is one of the student chefs, says the market is a great concept. ‘‘It brings the community together and celebrates the education we have in Taranaki. It was good to see the friends and families of the people who have worked hard all year here to create such a wonderful night.’’
Burger bun dough (used for all burgers)
10g yeast
300ml lukewarm water
500g strong flour
10g sugar
20ml Olive oil
10g Salt
10g Sesame seeds
❚ Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Stir yeast into warm water, then make a well and pour in yeast and oil. Mix to form a dough and knead until smooth and elastic.
❚ Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, leaving it to ferment until double in size. Knock back and divide the dough into two pieces.
❚ Shape into 45g balls using the palm of your hand. Egg wash and top with sesame seeds.
❚ Leave to Ferment again until they double in size.
❚ Cook at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 to
15 minutes or until golden.
Hangi burger Smoked pork belly 1 smoker with manuka chips
200g braised pork belly
50g kawa kawa leaves from the bush
100g dirt
❚ To braise the pork, use the recipe of your choice. We did a Chinese-style braise for 2.5 hours with chicken stock, star anise and covered with foil.
❚ Or, you could just use pork belly bought from the super market and marinade it and place straight on the BBQ.
❚ The smoking step is easy. Fill the smoker with your chips as normal. Add a metal tray or container of dirt and torn-up kawa kawa leaves. This container must be metal because the heat will need to travel through the dirt to give an earthy taste that resembles a hangi.
❚ Keep the smoker on a low heat for about one hour. You will be able to taste the smoky earthy flavour in the pork belly. You might need to change the manuka chips over during the cooking process.
❚ Cool then slice and cook again on the BBQ until crispy.
Fried bread
150g of bread dough (moulded and scaled)
❚ Small deep fryer filled with oil heated to 180 degrees Celsius
❚ Drop your bread buns into the hot oil and cook until they float and the dough is cooked.
❚ Take out with a spider or slotted spoon, place on kitchen paper so the oil drains off.
Smoked kelp mayo
50g mayonnaise home-made or goodquality bought (best is kupi Japanese mayo)
5g pacific harvest smoked kelp
1g chilli flakes
1⁄2 lemon juiced Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
Burgers
❚ To fill the hangi burgers, we used watercress, BBQ kumara sticks, the pork belly and kelp mayo.
❚ Other suggestions are adding tomatoes or onions cooked on the BBQ.
Mumbai burgers (wada pav)
500g or 3 medium-sized potatoes
7-8 curry leaves
2 green chilies (medium hot)
3 cloves of garlic
2.5g bulb of ginger
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 pinch of asafoetida (optional) Salt and pepper to taste
Batter (or you could just crumb the patties)
250g chick pea flour
2.5g salt
1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
100ml of water cold (to make batter dropping consistency)
❚ Boil potatoes for mashing.
❚ Chop the curry leaves and add to the frying pan with oil and the mustard seeds. Cook until fragrant, taking care not to burn.
❚ Add the mixture of curry leaves and mustard seeds to the potato you have mashed. Your mixture should resemble a potato rosti or fritter mixture. Add turmeric powder and sea salt to taste, make sure you mix well.
❚ Shape into small disks about 20g each. Dip into the batter and either deep fry these or put them straight on the BBQ. You also could just crumb or use the flour of your choice for ease instead of the batter. ❚ Cook these until golden brown and offer as a good vegetarian option for a BBQ.
Coriander mint chutney
1⁄ cup mint leaves
1⁄2 cup coriander leaves
1 2tsp ginger powder
1 chilli med/hot
1⁄2 tsp cumin powder
1⁄2 a lemon, juice Salt to taste
❚ Mix in a blender adding water until a thick paste or puree is formed.
❚ Cut the buns right through and layer all ingredients. Also add yoghurt raita and any salad of your choice.
NZ lamb burgers
200g prime NZ Lamb
5g crushed garlic
10g chopped rosemary
5g fresh mint
5g chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste
5g cumin seeds
❚ Wearing kitchen gloves, use your hands to mix all ingredients together – don’t use egg or your mixture will be far too wet.
❚ Roll the lamb into a cylinder shape or sausage shape. Wrap in cling film, pulling the wrap tight over the roll about 6 to 10 times.
❚ Then roll like a Christmas cracker holding the ends firmly, forming a tight cylinder. Place this in the freezer for about one hour.
❚ Take out of the freezer and cut 2cm thick burger patties to cook on the BBQ.
❚ Choose your favourite buns, or make your own sliders, then fill your burgers with blue cheese, mint jelly and rocket. If these aren’t to your liking, use what flavours you enjoy.