A wind gets up in the night. The southerly gusts rattle all the old windows in the hotel and play the sash counterweights like wind chimes. Every now and then a sound I can’t place goes past. It’s like a helicopter is passing close but then disappearing as fast as it came.When I leave for…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Geometry, Fire, Iron and Whisky
I breakfast at a vibrant bakery that also does café service. A dome of scrambled eggs , sausage patty , confit mushrooms and glazed ham all spiked with Szechuan crispy chilli oil. A family dressed like it’s 1983 walk along Lower Stuart Street. They are animatedly discussing the city’s wifi service. They head into one…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – City of Industry
In the morning I note that a bible has jumped to it’s death out of one of the adjoining rooms window. Perhaps it has died so that I may live. I set out in search of breakfast. Dunedin is a city that makes stuff. OR at least it always has been. Wilsons Whisky, Cadbury Chocolate,…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – There is much evil in the world and a great suffering in my head
I slowly become aware of my continuing existence on this mortal coil. Limbs seem to be unhindered , for the moment my gastric processes seem sound . But my head. God . My head. There is a bastard behind the eyes. It feels like a pig shat in my head. What do you mean we…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – By the sea but not of the sea
We pull into Oamaru . The roads are being resealed, dust rises as utes and trucks drive over the metal road surface. A haze fills the sky . I disembark, head to the Lagonda Tea Room. From it’s attached bakery next door I buy the last mutton pie. I walk down to where the railway…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Up with the ghosts
I wake early. Shannon was out last night so I creep around the house, feed the dog, dress and set out with Rubes for an early morning walk. I head up past my family home where the light tells me mum has stirred and is starting her day. I walk a road edged by bush…
Travel : Came on Holiday by Mistake – Holiday at Home
I found myself coming on holiday by mistake. Not because we had lifted a key from Uncle Monty but because a work event I booked for had moved dates when I had already booked tickets and set up dog care. So I found myself setting off for 4 nights in Otago with one night in…
Food : Königsberger Klopse
An old Prussian recipe for aromatic veal, pork, anchovy meatballs simmered in a tart caper broth which is then turned into a sauce with the addition of herbs and sour cream. The meatballs buck our contemporary obsession with frying everything and are deliciously succulent as a result. The broth self-thickens from the flour the meat…
Food : Pork Pie
There is something glorious about the simplicity of traditional pork pie. In effect it has two ingredients , the produce of a pig and wheat flour. We can allow ourselves a few spices , and a torn herb leaf or two, perhaps a few stock veg for the jelly but really it is the triumph…
Food : Spiced Lettuce Soup
Lettuce soup is a surprisingly divisive dish. There is something about taking a green we eat raw and cooking it that really upsets people. The reality is that like spinach, lettuce can work in both raw and cooked applications . I have a few old NZ cookbooks that feature recipes for lettuce soup and with…
Raise the Dawn 