Rick Stein’s Food Odyssey in New Zealand

A New Zealand Bush inspired dessert for Rick Stein

One of the world’s most highly respected chefs, Rick Stein is to visit New Zealand this winter with his first ever theatre show on these shores – Rick Stein’s Food Odyssey – at Auckland’s ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, on 4 and 5 August, and the St James Theatre in Wellington on 7 and 8 August 2010.

You can find more details here.

New Zealand Food Bloggers were asked to provide a recipe for the occasion, to celebrate New Zealand Food. But what is New Zealand food today? I am a recent immigrant, and cook mostly Italian food, so I cannot go for 'tradition'. The only tradition I have, in common with my immigrant predecessors, is foraging, an almost forgotten art.

One of the things I love most about New Zealand is the bush, and those who wish to preserve it for future generations, to respect it, and to learn more about it.

A few years back I went foraging with ranger Riki Bennett in the Waitakere Ranges, West of Auckland. The tour was organized by Slow Food Waitakere and it was a fantastic foraging and learning experience.

So here is my foraging story, and my recipe: easy, quick, and a fusion between traditional Māori and European ingredients. This is a recipe that everyone living in New Zealand, in the proximity of the bush, can make. Of course it would be better to make your own pastry with New Zealand butter, but time was a factor (and then, as I said, in this way really everyone can make it, even the kids!).

I made the crème, and Kawakawa leaves are now my native alternative to vanilla!

And to top the flan I used kahikatea berries. They are beautiful! Eat the red part only.

The Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (kahikatea in the Māori language), a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand, is a very tall tree, and the ones in my bush are particularly tall…no chance for me to pick the red fleshy arils from the branches…

I had to pick them from the ground.

I made a flan using some frozen puff pastry as a base, filled with crème flavoured with the peppery and aromatic leaves of another New Zealand plant: kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum).

To make the crème I mixed 3 eggs with 4 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of flour, 500 ml of full fat milk, 100 g of butter and a few leaves of kawakawa. Bring to simmering point and stir until the crème is velvety. Line a flan dish with baking paper, roll in the puff pastry, cover with more baking paper and add baking weights or beans. Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and paper from the top and add the crème (remove the kawakawa leaves). Bake on low for 15-20 more minutes. Let the flan cool down completely and decorate with the kahikatea berries.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©