What’s hot in the world of summer delights
Alexia Santamaria discovers who Kiwis can turn to for overseas inspiration on summertime food favourites.
As New Zealand swelters through the summer heat, Kiwis are kicking back with an abundance of hearty barbecues, fish and chips on the beach, fresh salads – and of course, plenty of ice cream. And it’s not just the Kiwi classics; many of us are also incorporating traditions from around the world.
From cold noodles to lemon and buttermilk soup, we asked four foodies about what summer eating means in their countries of origin.
Antonio Cacace, owner of La Bella Italia
Antonio Cacace is the grandson of an Italian who lived in New Zealand briefly from 1927 to 1930, and planned one day to bring his style of food to New Zealand. In 1992, Antonio made that dream come true by immigrating and importing Italian foodstuffs – as well as eventually starting up his own eatery, La Bella Italia, in Petone.
‘‘Summer in the south, where I’m from – it can get pretty hot,’’ says Cacace. ‘‘This means food in those months is simple, but tasty. Things like octopus salad, marinated anchovies, fish – we love sarago, which is like tarakihi – or grilled veggies like zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms.
‘‘It was always so amazing walking round our little village in the evening, with all the beautiful smells coming from people’s houses.’’
One of Cacace’s favourite memories is of his grandmother cooking little bowls of pasta for the kids and mixing in fresh tomato, basil, extra virgin olive oil and mozzarella.
‘‘The cheese would melt a little and it would be perfect, but not too hot in the summer weather. It was always about good ingredients enjoyed with family and friends when I was growing up – there’s nothing better than slices of good parma ham with fresh figs or local rockmelon. That’s the essence of summer back home.’’
Caitlin Holloway and Jonas Jessen Hansen, owners of ADJØ
Caitlin Holloway and Jonas Jessen Hansen met and lived in Glasgow before moving to Aotearoa together. Every summer they would travel to Jessen Hansen’s home country of Denmark, and follow the same routine when they landed in Copenhagen – get off the plane, find a supermarket, and buy ingredients for koldskål.
Koldskål translates to cold bowl, and is a summer staple for Danes. It’s a lemon and buttermilk soup, lightly sweetened, and garnished with kammerjunker (small crunchy biscuits) and fresh strawberries. They could never get enough of it, and it’s just gone on the menu at ADJØ – to the delight of their customers.
Jessen Hansen’s summer food memories revolve around country living and fresh and foraged produce like strawberries, elderflower or elderberries and wood sorrel.
‘‘On especially beautiful evenings, we’d make food over a fire, using whatever was grown or found locally. Sometimes it might be beets, at other times new potatoes or charred leeks. We would search the woods for loose branches, carve them down to create spears, then make bread dough by hand and wrap them around the branches to cook them over the fire. As a kid, I’d often get impatient and eat the bread before it was cooked. I guess the older you get, the more you realise with food, patience is key!’’
Fish caught in the local river would be wrapped with veggies in tinfoil to cook in the fire while toasting the bread.
Aromas of bread, fish, and a smokey fire on a hot summer day instantly transport Jessen Hansen back to Denmark.
Carolina Noble, founder of Rocoto Peruvian Chilli Sauce
Carolina Noble came to New Zealand in 2004 after meeting her Kiwi husband in Peru. She grew up near the banks of the Amazon River and learned to cook at her mother’s side.
In 2009, missing the flavours from home, she started making a Peruvian chilli sauce that she now sells at Latin markets and via social media.
‘‘When I think about Peruvian summer food I think about fresh, cold ceviche with a pisco sour by the beach, hanging out with friends and enjoying the whole day in each other’s company,’’ Noble says.
‘‘We eat a lot of fish, and one of my favourites for summer is a river fish called paiche which we used to eat at the Belen market in Iquitos – with lots of lime and lemon juice, chillies, coriander and red onions. So refreshing! It would always be followed by a fresh salad called palmitos (made of heart of palms), and freshly chopped pineapples and caimito (a local fruit). These foods are very popular in the dry summer season in Peru.’’
Something Noble always looks forward to when she goes home are the slushies.
‘‘They are really unique because they come in flavours that you can’t find outside of Peru. I always enjoy visiting the pubs and trying the Amazonian cocktails – we call them tragos regionales, aphrodisiac cocktails – they are made of a wild combination of exotic things like chocolate, chilli peppers, mango, plants, tree barks, herbs and tropical fruits.’’
Makoto Tokuyama,owner and head chef at Cocoro
Makoto Tokuyama moved to New Zealand in 2003 after working as a chef in his native Japan, and then at the famed Nobu in London. He worked at Rikka and Soto in Auckland before opening Cocoro.
One of his fondest memories from summers growing up in Japan is eating somen nagashi.
‘‘Dad was a monk and a principal, so he was always really busy, but every year he would make sure he took me to a local night market that only ran over summer. I have such clear memories of eating somen noodles (a type of thin wheat noodle usually eaten cold).
‘‘It’s hard to explain, but it was actually served in a really wide bamboo pipe full of flowing water. You catch the noodles with your chopsticks, dip them in a cup of mentsuyu sauce (dashi, soy sauce, mirin) and eat it right there.’’
When Tokuyama eats it at home he usually adds thinly-sliced myoga ginger and shiso leaf to the dipping sauce. ‘‘Shiso really reminds me of summer in Japan and my grandmother’s garden. So many of my food memories are from her – like how the local farmers would always give us aubergine and we would end up eating yakinasu (grilled and marinated eggplant) almost every day.’’
His grandmother also made ume (sour plum) cordial, which was served with iced water.
‘‘It was my favourite drink, and she would make so much every year that my family could never drink it all. She’s passed on now, but I really want to go back home one day and see if her ‘library’ of it is still there. She used to keep the leftover bottles every year – for nearly 30 years I think!’’ Tokuyama also fondly remembers walking and talking with his grandfather by clear, cool rivers and waterfalls. ‘‘Afterwards we would always go to some local shop and have ayu (small Japanese trout) – salted and grilled. If it wasn’t ayu it would be koi (carp) sashimi – served with a miso dipping sauce rather than soy. Such great summer memories.’’
‘‘Shiso really reminds me of summer in Japan and my grandmother’s garden.’’ Makoto Tokuyama