Annabel Langbein
Welcome to the season of grill, drizzle, toss and serve
For the past couple of months, I’ve been salivating over summery food images on my Instagram feed, drooling over platters of barbecued chicken and tomato tarte tatin and amazing piled-up salads of grilled eggplant, peppers and herbs.
That’s the thing about social media — you get to see what everyone else is doing all around the world. While I’ve been rugging up to dig leeks, carrots and silverbeet from my Wanaka garden and raid the cellar for potatoes and pumpkin and other stored sturdy winter veges, up there in the other half of the world people have been filling their faces with peaches and tomatoes, enjoying barbecues, picnics and late-night outdoor soirees.
Then, on a day when I was trying to think of yet another thing to do with leeks, it got hot here, actually real summer-hot.
As the temperatures climbed into the 20s, I found myself discarding my winter woollies for shorts and a T-shirt and heading out (along with a lot of other people, it transpired) to buy tender tomato and cucumber plants, barbecue charcoal and cocktail fixings.
Spring, ever the fickle mistress, quickly put paid to my fun. Just a few days later, the temperature dropped to zero. I put my woollies back on and went for a walk, only to find myself in a little snowstorm, complete with flurries of snowflakes.
But that mini heatwave gave us all a taste of what’s ahead. Ah yes, summer — it’s such a happy, sunny word.
Is it the light and those long, warm nights, or the surfeit of harvests (sweet cherries, waxy new potatoes, juicy tomatoes and tender greens) that tantalise our appetites, or is it just the chance to be out in nature and feel connected to the Earth and its rhythms? Summer awakens our senses to the wonders of the world around us, the warmth of sun on our backs, the smell of fresh-cut grass, the sweet juiciness of sunripened fruit.
For all those reasons and more, summer takes us outdoors, where food always tastes better. The hiss of the barbecue, the chatter of cicadas, long late-light evenings when we’re inclined to stay a while and savour the moment. And with a stash of fridge fixings at hand — tasty dressings and marinades, chutneys and other condiments — summer food is oh-so-easy.
Summer is the season of grill, drizzle, toss and serve — and what better way to herald it in than with simple meals featuring smoked chipotle peppers? Their flavour sings out summer — sweet, smoky, spicy, hot. You can buy them in tiny tins at most good supermarkets. I like to chop or puree the whole can, then keep the puree in a jar in the fridge or freeze spoonfuls in ice cube trays. No fuss, no bother. CORRECTION: Last week’s method for the Japanese prawn and cabbage pancakes should read: Heat about 1 tsp oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and tip ½ cup of batter into the pan, pressing out to form into a thick pancake.