We’re crackers over CHEESE
Masks are off just in time for NZ Cheese Month this month — which means Kiwis will be able to enjoy cheese tastings again as they shop.
This year — the first NZ Cheese Month in two years without Covid restrictions — will see cheesemakers from farmers’ markets to supermarkets and speciality food outlets popping up in stores and sharing the love of New Zealand cheese.
A specialist New Zealand Cheese Guide, packed with suggestions for how to serve and store cheese, profiles on top 2022 NZ Champions of Cheese Awards trophy winners as well as a guide to the Top NZ Cheese Stores — so people know where to pick up locally produced cheese — are available at specialist cheese stores, New World, cheese factory stores and farmers’ markets.
Additionally, through www. cheeseloversnz.co.nz a year’s worth of New Zealand cheese will be given away. One lucky Kiwi cheese lover who votes in the Rutherford & Meyer Favourite NZ Cheese Company 2022 will win a curated box of NZ specialty cheese every month for a year. At the end of NZ Cheese Month the cheesemaker with the most votes will be crowned “Rutherford & Meyer Favourite NZ Cheese Company”.
These three recipes have been developed by Kathy Paterson for the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association to showcase NZ cheese.
Halloumi is a hugely versatile cheese, it’s perfect on its own, for barbecues, in salads and in curries. Here are some suggestions for how to use New Zealand Halloumi.
HONEY-DRENCHED HALOUMI
Choose a honey with a hint of savouriness rather than full on sweetness, to add extra flavour to the delicious and inspired haloumi.
Ingredients
2 tbsp runny honey
1⁄2 tsp black sesame seeds 1⁄2 tspcoriander seeds 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 190g — 200g packet of NZ Haloumi finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
To serve: leafy green salad leaves, sourdough bread slices, grilled or fresh
Method
Put the honey into a small bowl. Put the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle and roughly crush then stir through the honey. Crush the coriander seeds to a fine powder then stir through the honey.
Heat a large frying pan over high heat for a minute. Add the olive oil and lower the heat to medium. Cut the haloumi into 3-4 slices lengthwise and put in the pan. Pan-fry on each side until golden and crisp. Stand and watch as only takes a few minutes.
To serve, put a slice of haloumi on each plate and drizzle with a little lime juice. Drizzle over the honey and sprinkle with the lime zest.
Serve with a leafy green salad and grilled or fresh sourdough bread slices.
— Serves 3-4