Weekend Herald

From the desk

- Chris Schulz, deputy editor chris.schulz@nzherald.co.nz

Little bowls. Tiny little bowls, each filled with condiments: freshly picked herbs, recently ground spices, foraged flowers, pea shoots, rare salts, chunky pepper, crunchy slices of chicken skin; and things that have been pickled, fermented, dehydrated or ground into dust. Those little bowls seem to be the secret to becoming a really great chef. I recently spent time in the kitchen with three of Auckland’s best (turn the page to meet them) and that’s the one thing each of them had in common: bowls of things to pick from and sprinkle over the plate, willy nilly. So I tried this at home. I set up the little bowls, filled them with the things. And it’s true, it works: you can create instantly Instagramm­able meals with edible flowers and gratings of smoked parmesan. But here’s the problem: you’ll spend all night doing all the dishes. When you’re a top chef, I guess you don’t have to worry about the washing up.

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