A new cookbook recognises just how far New Zealand's food culture has come.
In 1999, American chef Thomas Keller published The French Laundry Cookbook. It became the definitive work of a genius chef, and is still considered a benchmark for American cuisine. The French Laundry, his restaurant in the heart of California’s Napa Valley, is widely recognised as one of the best in the world.
Recently, Auckland restaurateurs Simon Wright and Creghan Molloy-Wright published a definitive work of their restaurant, the French Café.
This book, in the same vein as Keller’s, demonstrates that a courageous publisher has recognised how far New Zealand’s food culture has come. The French Café Cookbook is an audacious, rich and delicious book that immediately draws you in. From the moment I opened it, I gasped at the beauty of its production – as precise and perfect as its recipes.
The French Café in Auckland’s Symonds St has had a colourful 25-year history, with a number of equally colourful chefs. Since saving the restaurant from liquidation a decade ago, the husband-and-wife team have won a swag of awards and in the process developed an enviable reputation for consistently exquisite and intelligent food.
As well as telling the story of the hard work and commitment needed to run a successful restaurant, the book contains more than 100 recipes, many of which I wanted to try immediately. With its $100 price tag, though, the book is definitely of more interest to chefs, ambitious cooks and serious foodies, and not the one to buy if you need to learn how to make gravy. Still, it is a remarkable statement about the tremendous talent of a passionate and dedicated couple who choose to do what they do in New Zealand.
This clean-flavoured summer entrée recipe from the book is easy to make, but be sure that the figs are ripe, as their sweetness is needed to balance the flavours.
SALAD OF BUFFALO MOZZARELLA, FIGS, ORANGE AND BEETROOT CARPACCIO WITH WALNUT VINAIGRETTE
4 large beetroot
olive oil
salt
2 oranges
150g sugar
200ml water
250g buffalo mozzarella
6 figs, cut in half
watercress leaves
fig vincotto
WALNUT VINAIGRETTE
40ml chardonnay vinegar
50ml walnut oil
80ml olive oil
50g freshly chopped walnuts
1 tbsp chopped chives
salt
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wash the beetroot and cut off the tops. Rub in some olive oil, season with salt and wrap each one in tinfoil. Make 4 small piles of salt on a baking tray and sit the beetroot on top. Bake in the oven for about an hour or until a skewer goes through to the centre easily. Allow to cool. Unwrap the beetroot, peel and slice thinly. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out discs from the slices, then put aside.
Peel the zest from the oranges and cut into strips. Place these strips in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. As soon as the water is boiling, drain and repeat the process twice to extract any bitterness from the skin. Put the sugar into a small saucepan, add 200ml of water and bring to the boil. Add the orange strips and cook over a gentle heat until tender. Use a sharp knife to peel the pith from the oranges, then cut the flesh into segments.
Make the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients.
To serve, lay the beetroot slices slightly overlapping in the middle of a plate. Cut the mozzarella into even slices and place a slice in the centre of each beetroot slice. Arrange the fig halves, orange segments, orange strips and watercress around the mozzarella and drizzle with walnut vinaigrette and fig vincotto.
Serves 4.
IN THIS RECIPE, cooking the pork at such a low temperature ensures that it retains as much moisture as possible. Simon’s method is similar to that of the French dish duck confit, in which the meat is slowly cooked while submerged in either duck fat or olive oil. Once strained, this oil from the pan can be kept and reused.
CARAMELISED PORK BELLY, ROASTED LANGOUSTINES IN SERRANO HAM AND CAULIFLOWER PURÉE
1 small organic pork belly, approximately
1kg
1 tbsp five-spice powder
salt and pepper
6 cloves garlic
3 star anise
1.5 to 2 litres olive oil
2 tbsp liquid honey
ROASTED LANGOUSTINES IN SERRANO HAM
12 large langoustines (scampi), peeled
4 large slices Serrano ham or prosciutto
olive oil
salt
GARNISH
cauliflower purée
baby basil leaves
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 80°C. Place the pork fat-side down on a tray and rub the meat side with the five-spice powder, salt and pepper. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to cure. Take a roasting pan large enough to fit the pork and line the bottom with baking paper. Place the pork fat-side down in the pan, then add the garlic, star anise and enough oil just to submerge the pork in oil. Cover with another piece of baking paper and then cover the roasting pan with tinfoil. Bake in the oven for 12 hours.
Once cooked, lift the pork gently from the roasting pan and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Put another sheet of baking paper on top of the pork, place a tray on top and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Distribute weights totalling about 3kg evenly over the tray and leave overnight in the refrigerator to press.
Roll each langoustine up to form a tight ball. Cut the ham into strips the same width as the langoustines, then place a langoustine at the end of a ham strip and carefully roll it up so that it is tightly wrapped. Repeat the process, then place all the wrapped balls in the fridge until required.
Preheat the oven to 230°C. Unwrap the pork and place on a chopping board. Trim the sides to create an even shape and then cut 12 squares of pork. Heat a little olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan, then add the pork, fat-side down. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or until the fat goes crispy. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the pork over. Add the honey and baste over a medium heat until the pork is nicely caramelised. Keep warm. Heat the cauliflower purée. Heat a frying pan with a little olive oil, season the langoustines with salt and cook for a minute on each side.
To serve, spoon some purée onto a warm plate. Alternate 2 pieces of pork and 2 langoustines. Garnish with baby basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil.
Serves 6.
CAULIFLOWER PURÉE
50g butter
½ onion, finely chopped
salt
1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
400ml milk
200ml cream
Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and gently cook the onion with a little salt until soft. Add the cauliflower, milk and cream and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until the cauliflower is soft – about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking stock. Purée the cauliflower and onion in a blender using a little of the stock to obtain a silky consistency.
Makes 500ml.