LOCAL HEROES

Martin Bosley celebrates Marlborough’s makers, growers and abundant produce

Just a 20-minute flight away or a 3½-hour ferry ride from Wellington, Marlborough is an internationally acclaimed wine region encompassing Blenheim, Renwick and Wairau as well as Havelock and the Queen Charlotte, Pelorus and Kenepuru Sounds. To say it’s picturesque is like saying the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a nice painting. It is jawdropping, terrifyingly beautiful.

About 150 wineries produce distinctive, fabulous wines. We already know this; wander into a number of cellar doors and taste some of the mostawarded wines in the world. Dine in any number of restaurants and dig into sumptuous local produce. For anyone who, like me, prioritises food and drink as far more than fuel, Marlborough could well be the ultimate foodie’s adventure with a roll-call of outstanding ingredients such as cherries, mussels, freshly speared butterfish, Cranky Goat cheeses, premier game meats, king salmon and Cloudy Bay clams. Marlborough is now producing food that is more than a match for its wines.

In these uncertain times, we may not be travelling or eating in restaurants as much anymore, but if there is an upside to the crisis it is that the ingredients that our favourite chefs use are finding their way into our homes through the new reality of direct-to-consumer trade. Access to great, regional produce has become viable, right to your door.

Thymebank

Familiar dishes can be given new life by adding handfuls of fresh herbs. The effect of a mixture of different herbs in a dish, where no single flavour stands out, is to work together to give gentle, aromatic notes to your cooking. The idea is to be generous when using them. If, like me, you don’t have herbs growing within 4 metres of your kitchen bench, the Roberts family grow bushy herbs and salad leaves in a hydroponic, sprayfree environment. thymebank.co.nz

The Swiss Butcher

Peter Koller is originally from Appenzell, Switzerland. He moved to Blenheim in 2012 and while working as the chef at Herzog Estate he played around curing various meats. The result is a splendid collection of dried meats, sausages and patés; his prosciutto is cured for 4 weeks before being coldsmoked, then dried for 15 weeks. The result is a deep, sweetly ripe flavour that lingers. theswissbutcher.co.nz

Uncle Joe’s

As well as cracked hazelnuts and walnuts supplied fresh to order, this family-run business produces a range of seed oils and nut oils and a selection of fine, gluten-free flours and nut spreads. Forget all the twaddle about the health qualities of pumpkin-seed oil – for me its interest lies in its deep, dark-green colour and rich nutty flavour to use in salad dressings. unclejoes.co.nz